Dell EMC ScaleIO Ready Node Offers All-Flash Software-Defined Path

Dell EMC, part of Dell Technologies, announced ScaleIO Ready Node, a software-defined, all-flash offering running on Dell PowerEdge x86 servers, designed to help customers transform and modernize their data centers by utilizing ScaleIO.

A key component of the company’s software-defined storage (SDS) portfolio, ScaleIO is scale-out, SDS for block-based storage needs (commonly known as server SAN and considered an alternative to traditional SANs). Ready Node combines flexible configurations of PowerEdge servers with ScaleIO software with a Dell EMC validated, and supported SDS solution that makes it easy for customers to purchase, deploy, and run.

Ready Node all-flash configurations scale out and overcome the limitations of previous all-flash storage on server solutions that only supported a single application and, thus, were suitable for a narrow range of use cases. The Ready Node has a scale-out and parallelized architecture, utilizing the power of all-flash to any and all workloads. The SSDs within the Ready Node work in parallel to help eliminate performance bottlenecks. The ability to take advantage of the aggregate performance of the SSDs in a single node makes it possible for performance to scale linearly as nodes are added. For applications that require high performance, the all-flash configurations support critical enterprise applications, backup.

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Innovations:

Next-gen hardware: Ready Node runs on workload-optimized PowerEdge rack servers, designed to deliver performance, flexibility and scalability.
Enhanced caching layer: Caching software makes the most actively used data accessible in faster-responding media for applications utilizing hybrid-based configurations.
OS flexibility: Ready Node delivers a server SAN with the flexibility needed to adapt as business needs and standards change.

Customer benefits:

Comprehensive Solution: A company’s qualified, tested and supported SDS solution that meets the demands of mission-critical enterprise workloads while delivering higher and more consistent performance, capacity and cost efficiency than non-flash and hybrid offerings.

Deployment simplicity: Customers can build a modern data center out of common Dell servers, using few SKUs.
Performance: The servers allow VM and container consolidation while ScaleIO delivers powerful and consistent I/O to all applications.
Operational ease: The solution makes it easy to expand the pool with more servers and also the ability to retire old servers – while avoiding loss to application services.

A 2016 Wikibon report projects the enterprise server SAN market to grow worldwide revenue at a 22% CAGR from 2015-2026, from $2.5 billion in 2015 to $22 billion in 2026. This growth is evidenced with hyperscale web companies rapidly redesigning large data centers by adopting software-defined solutions for the services they deliver – harnessing hardware simplicity and common frameworks for provisioning, management, pooling of storage capacity (gigabytes) and performance (IO/s), pervasive virtualization and containerization. ScaleIO is the SDS layer for such a data center.

Ready Node enables customers to quickly deploy a server SAN that fits within existing infrastructure and reduces the burden of planning and deploying a new architecture. It offers hardware and software from a single vendor and simpler, faster deployment by leveraging streamlined supply chain, services and support. Further, the node provides compelling economics-according to IDC it is up to 50% more efficient compared to traditional SAN infrastructures. It also offers pay-as-you-grow pricing, allowing customers to scale at the right time and the right price.

A performance, scalable SDS solution such as ScaleIO demands a high performing server platform to ensure the optimal outcome for customers. PowerEdge servers are designed with reliability and power efficiency in mind; making them a platform for a ScaleIO based SDS solution.

Management capabilities can also play a critical role in the success of SDS deployments, especially at scale. The capabilities of Dell iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller is designed to allow organizations to monitor, configure, and update the infrastructure powering their SDS environment simply and efficiently.

Ready Node is also hypervisor and OS agnostic, providing the flexibility for users to build a solution for their data centers. It supports vSphere, Windows Server 2012 and Hyper-V, Linux and OpenStack deployments. Customers also have the ability to select from different deployment models (storage-only and hyper-converged) and configurations, including all-flash and hybrid. Customers are not confined by having to growing both compute and storage simultaneously but rather can add these independently.

ScaleIO Ready Node is available.

Stu Miniman, Senior Infrastructure & Cloud Analyst, Wikibon, said: “The server SAN market is booming, signifying a rapid shift towards software-defined storage architectures. Wikibon’s 2016 server SAN forecast indicates that the EMC ScaleIO platform, which has grown 348% in the past year, is the fastest growing solution in this market segment. Users are increasingly evaluating software-based hyperconverged infrastructure solutions. The shift towards software-defined solutions does not obviate the need for reliable hardware and integration, that allows organizations to simply and rapidly scale operations as needed. Dell EMC is looking to take a leadership position in this shift as evidenced by joining ScaleIO with PowerEdge servers.“

Josh Goldstein, VP, product management and marketing, ScaleIO, Dell EMC, said: “ScaleIO Ready Node is a perfect example of Dell EMC’s commitment to best-of-breed enterprise technology. Offering an all-flash version of this blockbuster product not only rounds out our robust portfolio of flash offerings, but provides customers with an easy way to capture the capacity, performance and efficiency benefits of software-defined storage without breaking the bank.“

Ravi Pendekanti, SVP, server solutions product management, Dell EMC, said: “To realize the full promise of software-defined storage deployments, customers need hardware with high levels of reliability and energy efficiency, as well as the ability to monitor and provide updates at scale. With Dell EMC ScaleIO Ready Node running on Dell PowerEdge servers, organizations can confidently execute, monitor and scale efficiently to meet the high performance demands of their mission-critical workloads.“

Resource:
Introducing the All-Flash Dell EMC ScaleIO Ready Node: Transforming Your Data Center Just Became Easier