Itzikr's Blog

In most of my customers conversations, I keep hearing a constant them, Hybrid Cloud, MultiCloud support!

So why are we introducing this set of offers now? Well it turns out multicloud environments bring some challenges

• Management Complexity – According to Forrester Research, the #1 obstacle is the complexity of managing data across environments. Siloes make it hard to cohesively manage data
• Limited Multicloud Visibility – Makes it difficult to get a holistic view of where data lives and what’s happening with that data, this could lead to security and compliance challenges
• Unpredictable cloud costs – CIO Insights found that 79% of ITDMs incurred significant unplanned cloud costs
• Skills Gaps Skills gaps are a major issue when it comes to managing these separate clouds – since there are new tools and frameworks to master for each environment. Developer velocity is negatively impacted due to wasted cycles on incompatible services and APIs (a recent survey found that developers spend only 16% of their time writing code)
• And finally, there is a lack of consistency across public clouds when it comes to security models and compliance obligations.

It’s a multicloud world and Dell is offering a better way for customers to take advantage of multicloud and get ahead of these challenges.

We are introducing a better way to consume file storage in public cloud and by extension multicloud

With the announcement we’re making this year your customers will be able to…

• … consume enterprise storage software innovations in the public cloud
• …leverage their investment in on-prem storage technologies in the public cloud
• …make the most of pre-committed cloud spend.
• …get operational consistency with centralized management.
• …provide high performance in the cloud with the scale-out architecture
• Simplify journey to hybrid cloud with native replication
• OneFS enterprise features: Snapshot, SyncIQ, Multi-Protocol, DRR, CloudPools
• Same user experience as on-prem with WebUI, CLI, APIs
• Seamless scale up to 1PiB per cluster Tier 1 hot data, more when tiering with CloudPools
• Leading file performance from the proven scale-out architecture
  • Up to 10GB/s streaming reads | 4GB/s streaming writes​

  

• With APEX File Storage for AWS – we are bringing Dell’s enterprise-class scale-out file storage as a software-defined offer to the public cloud – starting with AWS
• This offer is based on the existing, proven on-premises technology – PowerScale OneFS which is broadly trusted by customers and recognized in the market  with 17,000 global installed-base customers. This platform which delivered Innovation, leadership and customer value on-prem for a long time, is now available in public cloud
  • It is the #1 global NAS solution as tracked by IDC units and marketplace
  • Dell Technologies is the Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for distributed file and object for 7 consecutive years
• With up to 4.3 times better performance than the closest competitor, APEX File Storage for AWS delivers file storage leading class performance in the cloud.
  • Up to 10GB/s streaming reads | 4GB/s streaming writes
• APEX File Storage for AWS simplifies the journey to the cloud with file storage that you know and trust with these benefits:
  • Facilitate seamless data mobility between on-prem and cloud with native replication without a need to refactor your storage architecture
  • Streamline operations and reduce management complexity with consistent user experience on-prem and in the cloud
    • Simplify operations with the familiar OneFS web UI, CLI and API interfaces and the same  multi-protocol and identity management
    • Leverage your organization’s existing skillsets and reduce the need for retraining, spending  less time managing data and infrastructure
• Take advantage of the same enterprise-class features and built-in security
  • Use enterprise-grade features such as multi-protocol support (NFS, SMB, S3), SyncIQ native replication, snapshots, CloudPools and DRR to run your workloads in the same way as you do on-premises
• Seamlessly scale capacity on-demand in a single namespace from 24TB up to 1PiB Tier 1 hot data per cluster and more when tiering with CloudPools
• Get the most of pre-committed cloud spend to control costs
• Leverage granular performance and cost choices with AWS instance options to achieve the best TCO

This offer is built for hybrid cloud and cloud burst use cases:

• Hybrid use case is about simplifying the journey to the cloud (knowing that the platform is in the cloud as on-prem)
  • Move your file workflows to AWS without having to refactor your storage architecture
  • Use features like snapshots and SyncIQ to natively replicate to the cloud
  • Use the same multi-protocols data services in AWS that you use on-prem
  • Use AWS for your off-prem DR
  • Ideal for IT workloads such archive, backup, file shares, home directories, video and more
• Cloud burst is about using the cloud for burst performance for your workloads
  • Once in the cloud – performance and data services needs – multi-protocol, performance needs. Serve the data to bursted compute workloads. Scale-out arch (perf and capacity under the same namespace)
  • Use the proven scale-out architecture to support leading file performance – up to 10GB/s streaming reads and up to 4GB/s streaming writes
  • Leverage AWS services to accelerate outcomes and control costs
  • Support your compute-intensive workloads for verticals such as M&E, Healthcare, Life Sciences, as well as emerging workloads such as AI/ML and analytics

A big reason, our customers were asking us to put PowerScale in AWS, is an operation consistency, they just love the OneFS features so, Most of the OneFS features our customers know from on-premises appliances are now available in AWS.

Dell APEX File Storage for AWS was designed with customer workloads in mind. It allows IT teams to scale capacity on-demand without disruption – on a scale-out architecture designed for performance to support up to 1PiB of Tier 1 hot data per cluster and more with CloudPools tiering.

The OneFS scale-out architecture supports high performance with up to 10GB/s reads and 4GB/s writes per cluster for hybrid cloud and cloud burst use cases:

• Simplifying the journey to the cloud is at the core of the hybrid cloud use case. The easy movement of data to the cloud using OneFS data replication technology and multi-protocol access facilitates migrating archive, backup, and DR projects. Class leading write performance accelerates the migration of traditional IT file workflows such as home directory.

Another intreseting use case is the Cloud burst use case, centers on boosting the workload performance once in the cloud. File data is served to compute-hungry workloads in the same way as it is done on-premises. The proven OneFS scale-out architecture enables leading file performance which is needed by demanding workloads for verticals such as M&E, Life Sciences and Manufacturing, as well as emerging workloads such as AI/ML and analytics.

PowerScale can be deployed anywhere your data is. We offer 3 types of cloud offerings based on PowerScale OneFS:

• Multicloud adjacent and colocation
  • Faction-based direct connect to several public clouds
  • The PowerScale for Google Cloud offers a cloud native experience to Google Cloud service via Google Cloud Marketplace.
• APEX on-premises private cloud – including APEX Data Storage Services and APEX Flex-on-Demand
• Now also a software-defined
  • Dell’s leading file storage technology, PowerScale OneFS, is now available as a software-defined offer. It can simplify journey to the cloud with file storage our customers know and trust​.

So, now you have it:

Dell APEX File Storage for AWS delivers enterprise-class, high-performance scale-out file storage as a software-defined offer in AWS. Based on Dell’s leading file storage technology that our customers know and trust, this customer-managed solution simplifies the journey to the cloud with seamless data mobility and operational consistency between on-prem and the cloud.