Dell Triples EqualLogic Storage Scalability, Enhances Data Protection for Virtual Infrastructures

Dell added to its EqualLogic product line a new, highly-scalable array - the PS5500E - and introduced advanced software features, including the EqualLogic Auto-Snapshot Manager/VMware edition to improve data protection for virtual server environments.

• Expands EqualLogic Line With a Larger Virtualized Array for Tiered Storage Applications
• Introduces VMware Integration for Snapshots Across Entire EqualLogic Series
• Delivers Additional Availability, Protection and Virtualization Features
  

“We’re seeing tremendous response from customers worldwide for the all-inclusive, enterprise-class software features that the Dell EqualLogic PS Series delivers. It’s a clear choice for those seeking a full-featured, intelligent, easy-to-manage storage solution,” said Darren Thomas, vice president and general manager of Dell Enterprise Storage. “Last quarter, our EqualLogic product line was the fastest-growing part of our storage portfolio, and helped make Dell the number one iSCSI storage provider in the world."

The PS5500E builds upon Dell’s EqualLogic family with 24 or 48 terabytes (TB) of raw capacity in a 4U array – more than doubling the density and tripling the capacity of its predecessor model, the PS5000E, with equivalent hard disk drives. With the PS5500E, an EqualLogic SAN can scale up to 576 TB under a single management interface. This new array can be combined in the same SAN group with the existing EqualLogic systems. It provides an ideal solution for consolidating common tiered business data and applications such as file services, moderate I/O email, databases and virtual server environments. It can also be deployed for capacity-intensive near-line storage tiers and for disaster recovery sites.

Hosting company Sequestered Solutions Alaska recently launched Data Center Vault, an online client backup application for commercial and federal organizations, on an EqualLogic SAN. The company plans to expand the SAN with the new PS5500E, which it has tested thoroughly with its Microsoft SQL Server-based Data Center Vault application.

“By housing up to 48 TB of raw capacity in a single 4U space, the PS5500E leaves us lots of rack space to support other clients and other revenue-generating services,” said Lara Baker, chief technology officer at Sequestered. “Provisioning new storage is simple with EqualLogic -- just a few clicks – allowing us to be more responsive to our clients. Also, other storage vendors sell similar features piecemeal. By working with Dell, we can eliminate those hidden costs and get everything we need up front.”

Dell is also simplifying and enhancing data protection for virtual infrastructures with a new feature included on all EqualLogic SANs: Auto-Snapshot Manager/VMware Edition (ASM/VE). The unique ASM/VE software integrates EqualLogic snapshots directly with VMware Infrastructure 3 (VI3) environments to provide fast online backups and quick restores of VMware virtual machines and VMFS file systems. The company expects to have ASM/VE available by the end of the month as a free download for customers with valid support contracts.

ASM/VE provides an easy-to-use graphical interface that coordinates the creation, recovery and scheduling of EqualLogic snapshots with VirtualCenter and VMware’s native snapshot technology. This offloads snapshot processing from the ESX Server and enhances protection, storage utilization, and performance of VMware-based virtual infrastructures. The resulting hypervisor-aware snapshot (Smart Copy) can be easily and rapidly recovered.

“A data-protection plan is only as good as your ability to restore,” said Cody Page, IT director of Peterson Sullivan, a Seattle-based CPA firm. “With EqualLogic’s Auto-Snapshot Manager/VMware Edition, I can automate the virtual machine backup process and recover a lot faster with a simple, integrated feature. I was up and running in about an hour with this tool. The whole restoration process was extremely easy.”

EqualLogic Product Line Enhancements

In addition to ASM/VE, Dell also announced several new features to products across the EqualLogic lineup.

* 50 percent more capacity in the Dell EqualLogic PS5000XV, the highest performance iSCSI SAN from Dell, with 450GB 15,000 rpm Serial Attached SCSI disk drives. Expected availability for these drives is October 2008.
* Support for RAID 6 to provide an additional fault-tolerant RAID configuration choice to customers. Expected availability for this feature is January 2009 on all new EqualLogic arrays. It will be available at the same time for adoption by existing customers with active EqualLogic array support or warranty agreements.
* New versions of EqualLogic array and Host Integration software that provide a number of scalability, availability and data protection enhancements are currently available for download:
Up to four times the number of iSCSI host connections per SAN, up to 2,048.
Support for Microsoft Windows Server 2008, including the newly-introduced Hyper-V.
Auto-Snapshot Manager/Microsoft Edition Smart Copy for NTFS on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008.
EqualLogic Auto-Replication improvements for ease-of-setup, failback, manual re-synch of replicated volumes and thin replicas for space efficiency.
* Direct integration of Citrix XenServer with EqualLogic SAN and volume management, including SAN-based snapshot and clone capabilities from the XenCenter Management Client. This integration will be provided by Citrix.

Pricing and Availability

The Dell EqualLogic PS5500E is available immediately through all worldwide Dell sales channels including a growing list of PartnerDirect channel organizations. List pricing for the PS5500E starts at $79,000 USD.

Dell EqualLogic PS Series Storage Offers Application-Aware Snapshots for Microsoft Exchange

• In a move that further enhances the Dell EqualLogic PS5000 Series as the midrange SAN of choice for Microsoft Exchange Server, Dell is announcing Auto-Snapshot Manager Smart Copy for Exchange as the latest in a series of “application-aware” snapshot, cloning and data replication capabilities. This application awareness can simplify how IT application specialists can work with PS Series SANs to help improve data protection, disaster recovery and testing-and-development procedures. Smart Copy enhances the PS Series’ host integration capabilities to help reduce the amount of time IT administrators spend managing and protecting Windows -based business applications. In the case of Exchange, Smart Copy allows administrators to easily automate data validation checks and quickly recover from data loss or corruption. The first Smart Copy feature was announced for Microsoft SQL Server in July 2007, furthering the Dell EqualLogic product line’s integration with Microsoft environments and helping to improve the speed and reliability of database and file recovery operations.
• “The Smart Copy feature set is yet another way the PS Series is simplifying storage and enhancing Dell’s overall vision of simplifying IT,” said Kevin Wittmer, senior manager, product marketing, for Dell EqualLogic storage solutions. “Evolving Smart Copy to include Exchange data protection and recovery is part of our initiative to make PS Series storage more application aware. This can empower application administrators by putting sophisticated data management and protection features at their fingertips – at no additional cost – in a safe and easy to-use package.”
• Smart Copy for Exchange will be available in May at no extra cost with all new purchases of Dell EqualLogic PS5000 Series iSCSI SAN storage arrays and for all existing PS Series customers under warranty or with a current support agreement.

Dell Completes EqualLogic Acquisition

Dell today announced the completion of its $1.4 billion acquisition of EqualLogic, a leading provider of high-performance storage area network (SAN) solutions designed for virtualization and ease-of-use. The purchase extends Dell’s leadership in simplifying IT for customers and partners. For additional information, click on dell.com/storage.

“Virtualization and iSCSI are two keys to simplifying IT,” said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO, Dell. “Enterprises are creating data and consuming power at an exponential rate, driving up IT cost and complexity. What we did for PCs and servers we are now going to do for storage. Together with our PartnerDirect channel, we will unleash the power of iSCSI and virtualization to make storing and processing data easier and more affordable.”

“Customers face extreme challenges with data growth,” said Darren Thomas, vice president and general manager, Dell storage. “Their ideal solution is secure storage that uses existing infrastructure, installs in minutes not days, manages itself, grows easily as needs increase and plugs into the virtualized IT ecosystem. That’s EqualLogic. And that’s the incredible value we will deliver to customers.”

EqualLogic Expands Dell PartnerDirect

Dell plans to preserve and build on EqualLogic’s successful channel program in addition to offering products directly from Dell. Starting today in the United States and ultimately around the world, current EqualLogic partners will be enrolled into PartnerDirect and eligible for Dell’s newest certification - Enterprise Architecture. Dell modeled its certification requirements and benefits on EqualLogic’s widely-regarded channel program and include access to Dell’s full server and storage product lines.

“The channel is critical to our go-to-market strategy, and we are committed to our partners’ continued success,” said Bob Skelley, director Americas Channel Group. “This is just the beginning. Dell will continue to innovate and differentiate to earn the business of our channel partners.”

In addition to standard benefits offered through PartnerDirect - deal registration, pre- and post-sale support, partner financing and access to Dell’s partner e-commerce site, partners certified in Enterprise Architecture will be able to take advantage of:

• Free training (once only available to Dell’s direct sales force) for proficiency in Dell’s full enterprise product line, as well as EqualLogic;
• EqualLogic’s same competitive pricing model; and
• Lead generation and marketing incentive funds.