New Dell EMC ScaleIO Ready Node Offers All Flash Software Defined Path to the Modern Data Center

HOPKINTON, MA - September 15, 2016 -

Dell EMC today announced Dell EMC ScaleIO Ready Node, a software-defined, all-flash offering running on Dell EMC PowerEdge x86 servers, designed to help customers transform and modernize their data centers by utilizing Dell EMC ScaleIO. A key component of the Dell EMC Software-Defined Storage (SDS) portfolio, ScaleIO is scale-out, software-defined storage for block-based storage needs (commonly known as server SAN and considered an alternative to traditional SANs). ScaleIO Ready Node combines flexible configurations of PowerEdge servers with ScaleIO software with a Dell EMC validated, and fully supported SDS solution that makes it easy for customers to purchase, deploy, and run.

ScaleIO 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 ScaleIO Ready Node has a scale-out and highly parallelized architecture, utilizing the power of all-flash to any and all workloads. The SSD drives within the ScaleIO 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 ultra-high performance, the all-flash configurations support critical enterprise applications.

Key Innovations:

• Next-Gen Hardware: ScaleIO Ready Node runs on workload-optimized Dell PowerEdge rack servers, designed to deliver exceptional 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.
• Operating System Flexibility: ScaleIO Ready Node delivers a server SAN with the flexibility needed to adapt as business needs and standards change.

Customer benefits:

• Comprehensive Solution: A Dell EMC 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 very few SKUs.
• Powerful Performance: The Dell servers allow VM and container consolidation while ScaleIO delivers powerful yet 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 percent CAGR from 2015-2026, from $2.5 billion in 2015 to $22 billion in 2026. This growth is evidenced with hyper scale 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 (GBs) and performance (IOPs), pervasive virtualization and containerization. Dell EMC ScaleIO is the software-defined storage layer for such a modern data center.

ScaleIO 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 best-in-class hardware and software from a single vendor and simpler, faster deployment by leveraging streamlined supply chain, services and support. Further, the ScaleIO Ready Node provides compelling economics—according to IDC it is up to 50 percent more efficient compared to traditional SAN infrastructures. It also offers pay-as-you-grow pricing, allowing customers to easily scale at the right time and the right price.

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

ScaleIO Ready Node is also hypervisor and OS agnostic, providing the flexibility for users to build the optimal solution for their data centers. It supports VMware 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.

Find more information on features here.

Availability:

ScaleIO Ready Node is currently available.

Analyst Quote:

Stu Miniman, Senior Infrastructure & Cloud Analyst, Wikibon
"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.”

Dell EMC Executive Quotes:

Josh Goldstein, Vice President Product Management and Marketing for ScaleIO, Dell EMC
“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
“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.”

About Dell EMC

Dell EMC, a part of Dell Technologies, enables organizations to modernize, automate and transform their data center using industry-leading converged infrastructure, servers, storage and data protection technologies.  This provides a trusted foundation for businesses to transform IT, through the creation of a hybrid cloud, and transform their business through the creation of cloud-native applications and big data solutions.  Dell EMC services its customers – including 98 percent of the Fortune 500 – with the industry's broadest, most innovative infrastructure portfolio from edge to core to cloud.