Network-attached storage (NAS) has become an essential technology for many organizations that need to store and manage large amounts of unstructured data such as documents, images, audio, and video files. NAS provides file-level storage accessible over a network using standard protocols like SMB, NFS, and CIFS. Dell EMC offers several NAS solutions that cater to different storage needs and environments.
Isilon
One of the flagship NAS products from Dell EMC is Isilon, which provides scale-out NAS designed for handling massive unstructured data growth and large file workloads. Isilon uses a distributed file system architecture and clusters together storage nodes to create a single shared pool of storage. As you add nodes, the overall capacity, performance, and resiliency scales linearly.
Some key capabilities and benefits of Isilon scale-out NAS include:
- Scales up to 252 nodes and 58 petabytes of storage in a single filesystem.
- Performance scales predictably with capacity.
- Supports a wide range of workloads from home directories to high performance compute clusters.
- Choice of all-flash, hybrid or archive node options.
- Enterprise data protection features like snapshots, replication, and data recovery.
- Support for multiple networking options including 10GbE, 40GbE, and IB.
- Seamless integration with cloud storage tiers.
With its modular architecture, Isilon can start small with a few nodes and scale to handle tens of petabytes without disruption. It provides organizations with a future-proof NAS platform that reduces overhead and management complexity as data explodes in size.
PowerScale
PowerScale, formerly called Dell EMC Unity and VNX, is another popular NAS platform from Dell Technologies. It provides cost-effective scale-out file storage using the PowerScale OneFS operating system.
Some key features of PowerScale include:
- Starts small and scales up to 25 PB of capacity and 400GB/s throughput.
- Mix of all-flash, hybrid flash, and HDD nodes.
- Inline data reduction to optimize efficiency.
- Distributed global namespace eliminates silos.
- Enterprise data resiliency with N+1 through N+4 redundancy.
- Snapshots, clones, replication, and cloud tiering.
- NDMP backup support.
- FC, iSCSI, NFS, pNFS, SMB 3.x support.
PowerScale is ideal for mid-sized organizations that want simple, affordable scale-out NAS without compromising on enterprise features and performance. It consolidates file and block workloads onto a unified platform.
PowerMax
Although primarily positioned as a SAN storage array, PowerMax also offers NAS capabilities through its PowerMax File Services. This allows organizations to consolidate block storage and file storage workloads onto a single enterprise-class platform.
Some of the key NAS features of PowerMax include:
- Onboard NAS supports NFS and SMB protocols.
- Up to 256 file systems and snapshots.
- Non-disruptive migration from file servers.
- Seamless data mobility between SAN and NAS.
- QOS policies to prioritize workloads.
- Compression, deduplication, and zero detect.
- Supports NVMe-oF for high performance.
- Active-active storage controllers for HA.
PowerMax unifies mission-critical NAS and SAN workloads while providing enterprise data services, performance, availability and scalability. This consolidation simplifies management and reduces overall storage costs.
Conclusion
Dell Technologies offers industry-leading scale-out NAS solutions to meet various customer needs. Isilon leads the Dell EMC portfolio with the ability to scale into multiple petabytes of capacity and performance. PowerScale provides a cost-efficient mid-range NAS that can start small and grow smoothly. For organizations that want to converge block and file workloads, PowerMax enables both SAN and NAS on a single platform.
The choice comes down to factors like budget, capacity requirements, performance needs, and whether consolidating workloads is a priority. Larger organizations with exponential unstructured data growth stand to benefit the most from the extreme scalability of Isilon. Budget-conscious IT teams can meet basic scale-out NAS needs with PowerScale. And enterprises that want to simplify their architecture can leverage PowerMax to unite SAN and NAS environments seamlessly.
By providing multiple NAS systems tailored for different needs, Dell EMC cements its position as an industry leader in scale-out storage. Customers have the flexibility to select the right platform based on their environment and use cases.
| Product | Scalability | Ideal For |
|---|---|---|
| Isilon | Up to 252 nodes, 58PB single filesystem | Massive scalability for huge unstructured data environments |
| PowerScale | Up to 25PB capacity, 400GB/s throughput | Affordable scale-out NAS for midsize organizations |
| PowerMax | Mission-critical performance and availability | Converged SAN and NAS workloads |
Isilon Use Cases
Here are some common use cases where Isilon’s extreme scalability makes it an ideal choice:
- Media & Entertainment: Isilon is built to handle massive video files and bandwidth-intensive media workflows for production, post-production and broadcast.
- Life Sciences: Research organizations can consolidate genomic sequencing, microscopy imaging, and simulation data onto a single Isilon cluster that scales easily.
- Oil & Gas: Isilon manages seismic data, subsurface modeling, and exploration data seamlessly as it grows over time.
- Manufacturing: Smart factory and IoT sensor data that can reach petabytes is made accessible through Isilon’s scalability.
- Cloud Services: Isilon provides the backend storage infrastructure for IaaS and PaaS cloud providers to store customer data.
In each of these industries, unstructured data is exploding exponentially. Isilon enables seamless scalability to tens of petabytes without disruption, making it the ideal NAS platform.
PowerScale Use Cases
Here are some examples of great fits for PowerScale scale-out NAS:
- Remote and Branch Offices: PowerScale provides distributed multi-site NAS for ROBO environments with centralized management.
- Healthcare: Hospitals use PowerScale for PACS image storage, Electronic Medical Records, genomics data, and more.
- Education: Schools and universities leverage PowerScale for home directories, shared storage, and student records.
- State & Local Government: Video surveillance, disaster recovery, citizen data repositories benefit from PowerScale NAS capabilities.
- General File Serving: Any organization needing network file shares and storage consolidation can benefit from PowerScale.
For budget-conscious IT organizations without extreme scalability needs, PowerScale hits the sweet spot between affordability and enterprise capabilities.
PowerMax Use Cases
PowerMax is ideally suited for these types of environments:
- Transactional Databases: PowerMax accelerates Oracle, SQL Server, SAP and other mission-critical databases by unifying SAN and NAS.
- Virtualized Environments: Consolidating VMware, Hyper-V and RHEV virtual machine storage onto PowerMax streamlines operations.
- Private Cloud Infrastructures: PowerMax enables consolidated block, file and object storage services on a single enterprise platform.
- High Performance Computing: Research organizations and universities benefit from high speed SAN and NAS capabilities.
- Big Data Analytics: PowerMax allows both analytics platforms and unstructured data to co-exist on the same storage.
Any enterprise with mixed workloads and a need for mission-critical availability and performance can benefit from consolidating their SAN and NAS onto PowerMax.
Conclusion
Dell EMC’s industry-leading Isilon, PowerScale, and PowerMax platforms provide customers with the right scale-out NAS solution for their specific needs. Isilon was purpose-built for massive scalability into the petabyte range. PowerScale hits the sweet spot for affordable enterprise NAS. And PowerMax provides unified SAN and NAS for mixed workloads. By delivering choice, flexibility and unmatched experience through its storage portfolio, Dell Technologies cements its leadership in the NAS market.