i asked what i could refer to in open media before i got on my high horse. i was asked not to mention that ONTAP version or the projected release date, but was told that it was OK to mention the existence of the feature.
Sounds like typical marketing/sales spin. :) Now, I'm not trying to say you were lied to or mislead. My only point was that capability doesn't exist right now, and might not exist for some time, so you might not want to wait for it. Then again, it might come out tomorrow... even if I knew everything that was on the agenda, I probably couldn't tell you. :)
i can see that keeping RAID reconstruct time low is a win, but arbitrary lines drawn in the sand do tend to look like marketing somewhat more than they look like engineering. particularly, i'd been told some time back that i'd be able to use 9s provided i kept a shelf free for them, which i've done; now i find i can only half-fill that shelf. i can buy another shelf of 4s, but this is essentially lost investment if i migrate up to a bigger system, whereas 9s aren't (if i understand correctly).
I think some people were even told that they could put 9s in the same shelf. Both of these were probably genuine statements of direction at the time, but things do change. Those other people lost their investment as well... they took a calculated risk, right?
[...] the question isn't "what else could i buy to do this", but "how can i get the best value out of my toasters".
my perception of netapp has not, historically, been of a company who will dictate what i'll buy and how i'll use it, but i'm open to being told that it should be otherwise.
Well, I don't want to get into the tricky position of defending Netapp. Nor criticizing them. :) But from what I can see currently, what you want won't work. Netapp doesn't offer that much value in your platform... you would have to upgrade to a newer model. Now, as far as your personal dissatisfaction, I would suggest bringing it up with your sales rep... they might be able to work some deal so you can recoup some of your investment.
Bruce