Itzikr's Blog

In today’s digital landscape, businesses are increasingly relying on cloud storage to store and manage their ever-growing data. Multicloud storage, a strategy that involves using multiple cloud providers simultaneously, offers numerous benefits such as improved reliability, increased scalability, and enhanced data security. However, managing data across multiple cloud platforms can be complex and challenging. This is where Dell APEX Navigator for Multicloud Storage comes into play, providing a comprehensive solution to streamline and simplify the management of data across multiple clouds. In this blog post, we will delve into the features and advantages of Dell APEX Navigator, exploring how it helps organizations navigate the intricacies of multicloud storage.

Now that we’ve taken a look at the innovative Dell storage we’re bringing to public clouds, let’s take a look at how we’re simplifying the management experience across these options with APEX Navigator for Multicloud Storage.

This experience provides simple, secure, storage software management spanning multiple storage types deployed in different public clouds, all centrally accessible within APEX Console.

With APEX Navigator for Multicloud Storage you can:

• Centralize Dell Storage software deployment and lifecycle management across multiple public clouds, including configuration and automated provisioning and deployment, a process that only requires 4 simple steps
• Drive data mobility between on-prem and multiple public clouds to meet shifting cloud strategies
• API-first architecture makes it easy to integrate with popular automation tools like Ansible and Terraform to accelerate productivity and embrace Dell storage software in the public cloud as part of your broader IT strategy
• Take decisive action with intelligent insights with comprehensive monitoring across your entire Dell storage estate to track license inventory, system health, performance and capacity with CloudIQ integration
• Accelerate Zero Trust adoption with role-based access control, single-sign and federated identity, all incorporating Zero Trust principles

Now that we talked about how you can easily provision and manage your public cloud storage, let’s take a look how to manage applications on top of that storage within the APEX Console – for enterprises exploring application modernization with containerized workloads

[Login experience via Dell Premier: all current and future Dell Premier users automatically enabled to use Apex Navigator for Multicloud Storage

• Start with a familiar Dell Premier experience, traverse to APEX area, choose Multicloud Storage – it’s that simple!
• First “ITOps” user from an organization is empowered to set up one or more users from their organization
• Bring your own Identity Provider and federate with Dell!
  • Once federated, set up your user roles, permissions, groups for use with APEX Navigator components
• Set up for Single Sign-On across APEX, and Dell Storage endpoints (PowerFlex) on-premises, and in AWS
• Enable your users (IT Users, IT Admins, Operations Admins) to have a seamless SSO experience!
  • Log into APEX Navigator once and experience seamless Link-and-Launch to PowerFlex Element Manager
  • Enjoy unique Data Mobility features (currently Tech Preview) without having to re-enter credentials
  • API First! Enable user identities for API access to PowerFlex functions. Develop artifacts for Ansible, Terraform, Postman and other common tools!

  Deployment and LifeCycle Management (LCM)
  

  APEX Navigator delivers a fully automated deployment and LCM experience for Dell’s block storage on AWS

  Creates EC2 instances, S3, EBS storage, VPCs, Subnets

  Creates the APEX Block storage cluster, installs the block storage software, creates (configures if it exists) a secure connectivity gateway (Dell’s SCG)

  Generate and activate a 90-day evaluation license

  Configures CloudIQ by connecting the deployed instance to SRS and process telemetry displays the deployment status

  Provides In context navigation to the element manager of deployed block storage to enable centralized management

  Track and update configuration changes to the deployed block storage capacity, software version and other LCM operations

• 

  Configure & deploy storage in AWS in 4 steps:

1. Select storage type – APEX Block Storage and version
2. Select the public cloud and region
3. Select or Add an AWS account
   1. Copy trust policy
   2. Copy permissions policy
   3. Provide the ARN
4. Select balanced or performance block storage options with the desired minimum usable capacity, IOPS, availability zones (single/multiple) and AWS VPC network

Monitoring

Monitor key metrics such as health, capacity, performance and license inventory.

Intelligent and actionable insights, will help reduce downtime and optimize usage and spend

Two ways to Monitor Cloud Deployments

• Via Dell APEX Console powered by Dell CloudIQ
  • View health score information for insights on the health of the systems
  • Ability to quickly identify systems with highest risk in the environment, prevent failures or trouble-shoot faster to reduce errors and downtime
  • In context navigation to CloudIQ for detailed insights
• Directly from CloudIQ
  • View information on systems’ health, inventory, capacity and performance
  • View detailed information on License Inventory and expiration information
  • Receive CloudIQ e-mail digest notifying of expiring licenses

Mobility

Enables authorized APEX Navigator users to create on-demand copies of data and move them between on-prem PowerFlex and APEX Block Storage for AWS for test, development, analytics, and other use cases.

• Available via APEX Console and API
• Leverages PowerFlex Snapshot Shipping
  • Subsequent copies only move changed blocks to reduce copy time and network bandwidth usage
• Select one or more source volumes
• Supports on-prem ↔ Cloud
  • Future support for Cloud ↔ Cloud and on-prem ↔ on-prem
• Creates crash consistent copies
• Manage and drill down into completed and in progress mobility jobs
• Manage notifications, such as mobility failures, in the Notification Center

Supports PowerFlex version 4.5 or greater

You can hear Maggie & Caitlin, talks about it below:

Now, lets see some demos:

Multicloud storage offers organizations the flexibility, scalability, and redundancy required to meet the demands of today’s data-driven world. Dell APEX Navigator for Multicloud Storage provides a comprehensive solution to navigate the complexities of managing data across multiple cloud providers. With its unified interface, comprehensive visibility, data mobility, enhanced security, and simplified data lifecycle management, Dell APEX Navigator empowers businesses to streamline their multicloud storage operations, optimize costs, and improve data management practices. By leveraging the capabilities of Dell APEX Navigator