Dell EMC ObjectScale and VMware: Better Together

Out of Early Access, Dell EMC ObjectScale on VMware vSphere® with Tanzu™ will be available for download later this calendar year.

Last year at VMworld 2020, we announced a partnership between VMware and Dell Technologies that enables customers to deploy our enterprise-class object storage platform, Dell EMC ObjectScale, directly from their VMware vSphere™ with VMware Tanzu™ environment. As part of that partnership, we launched the ObjectScale Early Access program – a pre-general availability beta for select Dell Technologies customers to test the technology. We received amazing feedback, including from VMware IT. 

“VMware IT uses Dell EMC ObjectScale, which is a faster and more efficient deployment solution for containers,” said Manoharbabu Katuri, Sr. Cloud Infrastructure Engineer, VMWare.

With that said, we are excited to announce that later this calendar year, ObjectScale will be officially released and available for download! This provides VMware customers with enterprise-class, Kubernetes-native object storage to support their cloud-native application development initiatives and is directly deployable from within the VMware vCenter UI.

The integration of Kubernetes into vSphere enables IT operations to manage traditional and modern applications within the same VMware experience while providing developers with on-demand, self-service storage via Kubernetes APIs, accelerating application innovation, lowering TCO and empowering a true DevOps culture. Using ObjectScale and VMware vSphere with Tanzu*, customers can support a global business on a scalable, software-defined storage foundation while optimally configuring compute and storage resources dynamically to meet the unique resource requirements of enterprise workloads. 

ObjectScale streamlines operations and ultimately allows VMware IT to deliver a better, faster service offering to our internal engineers.” – Manoharbabu Katuri, Sr. Cloud Infrastructure Engineer, @VMWare

Next-generation object storage

Dell Technologies has a long heritage in the object storage space. We introduced the first CAS-based commercial object storage system in 2001 – Dell EMC Centera – and we have reinvented our portfolio time and again to meet our customers’ needs.

ObjectScale is no exception. Built from the codebase of our proven platform, Dell EMC ECS, ObjectScale inherits the global scalability, rich S3 compatibility, data protection and security advantages that made ECS a market leader in on-premises object storage. With ObjectScale, we have refined ECS into a software-defined, microservices-based architecture that leverages Kubernetes orchestration capabilities to deploy services in a highly efficient and distributed manner. This allows IT operators to run cloud-native applications alongside ObjectScale on the same storage infrastructure.

With no theoretical limit to the amount of data stored, ObjectScale scales up to meet the data growth challenges facing your business. ObjectScale also features a unique capability called ObjectScale Replication which enables you to copy buckets across any number of sites to create a globally accessible data lake. Bucket replicas break down data silos from edge to core, placing data near the applications and users that need it. Development teams can simply copy data to another location and use it in their dev and testing initiatives.

As a multi-purpose platform, ObjectScale is engineered for cloud-native apps, analytics, AI/ML, media content and long-term archives, all while ensuring exceptional simplicity, manageability and reliability. 

Check out the following video to see how easy it is to deploy ObjectScale from the vCenter interface.

ObjectScale on Dell EMC VxRail

Because Dell EMC VxRail supports the latest version of vSphere with Tanzu, VxRail can serve as the underlying infrastructure.** ObjectScale can run on VxRail to extend the reach of the leading HCI system¹ to power modern workloads such as AI, analytics and cloud-native applications that require S3.

Best of all, your IT staff doesn’t need to learn new skills or manage an external storage footprint. You can use the VMware tools and skills you’ve built in-house to support developers with the cloud-native storage they require, lowering TCO. Plus, you get the added benefit of a single vendor solution and a one-stop shop for services and support from Dell Technologies. This is an excellent example of how the joint engineering between VMware, VxRail and ObjectScale unlock new opportunities for your business. 

A streamlined upgrade path for ECS customers

For our ECS customers, we will provide an easy, data-in-place upgrade path to ObjectScale in a future release, ensuring continuity of operations and allowing you to take advantage of the new architecture on existing ECS appliances you are running today.*** We will continue to innovate on ECS in parallel to ObjectScale until we are ready to bring the products together. Stayed tuned for additional ECS announcements coming soon. 

Next steps

There are many more exciting features to explore and we encourage you to download and try out the product. We will offer a free, Community Edition of the software up to 30TB with no expiration so you can test ObjectScale in your data center.

For those attending VMworld 2021, be sure to check out our on-demand session – VMware and Dell EMC ObjectScale: Deploying Software-Defined Object Storage – and vBrown Bag session – Better Together Enterprise Storage on VMware with Dell EMC ObjectScale – to hear what Dell Technologies and VMware are doing together to revolutionize the data center and support modern applications at scale.

*Requires VMware vSphere 7 U3+, VMware vSAN, VMware Tanzu and VMware NSX+.

**Requires the VMware vSAN Data Persistence platform, VMware vSphere 7 U3+. On VxRail systems, this requires VxRail Manager 7.0.300+.

***Applies to ECS Gen 2 U-Series and Gen 3 EX-Series appliances.

¹ IDC WW Quarterly Converged Systems Tracker, Vendor Revenue (US$M) Q3 2020, December 15, 2020.

About the Author: David Noy

David Noy brings 25 years of experience in the storage and data management industry. He spent nearly a decade leading engineering and product management teams for numerous companies, including Dell Technologies, NetApp, Veritas and Cohesity. Today, David leads two industry-leading technology divisions at Dell Technologies, Unstructured Data Storage and Data Protection, where he is helping to embolden innovation around data management and hybrid cloud; and driving advancement of holistic solutions to help heighten business success for customers worldwide.