Less is definitely more when it comes to datacenter space. Consider how datacenter costs are rising on the whole and, despite data growth from traditional channels, social media and IoT (Internet of Things), datacenter budgets and space are not expanding at the same rate. That conundrum reminds me of moving from a 2700 square-foot house to a 1700 square-foot house with a spouse that keeps everything. In the same way that I looked for the sleekest storage container options, savvy datacenter specialists are seeking dense storage with advanced software that can streamline data management through workload consolidation, compression and virtualization.
The new Dell Storage PS6610 Series arrays offer up to 504TB in one array and can scale out capacity and performance linearly by adding arrays in a group. It is an ideal solution for secondary storage/archival, workload consolidation and applications that require high performance and high capacity. The PS6610 offers 3.5x the capacity[1] and 2.8x the density per U[2] over the previous generation with an ultra-dense, sleek design. With newly designed powerful controllers, the PS6610 is part of the PS Series 10G iSCSI next generation of products that also includes the PS4210 and PS6210. Alan Hunt, Director of Network Operations, Dickinson Wright, said “The Dell Storage PS6610 chassis is very impressive and shows a new level of elegance I haven’t seen before. It’s like the Ferrari of chassis design.”
I can claim from personal experience, since my garage is a bit of an archaeological discovery site, storage is only useful if you can easily access what you need- when you need it. To accommodate different workload requirements, the Dell Storage PS6610 comes in three different models and offers various 2.5” and 3.5” SAS, NL-SAS, SSD and SED drive options. The PS6610ES is an 84-drive hybrid array that automatically tiers data from SSDs to HDDs, offering up to 7x performance improvement[3] over the previous generation and up to 98,000 IOPS random read performance[4]. The PS6610E is the densest array in the PS Series line with a 6TB drive option, and the PS6610X offers a balance between capacity and performance. Both the PS6610E and PS6610X are available in 42 or 84 configurations. All PS6610 models ship with the latest EqualLogic PS Series Array 8.0 software that includes a new compression feature that offers up to 50% space savings by compressing snapshots and replicas[5].
As part of the Dell PS Series all-inclusive software licensing, existing customers with a valid support contract can take advantage of the new features added to the comprehensive PS Series software suite. Array Software 8.0 offers new space saving features, Smart tags and vSphere Virtual Volumes support. Following the array software release, customers can take advantage of the updates to the Host integration tools (HIT) Kits for VMware, Microsoft and Linux as well as updates to the monitoring and analysis tool SAN HQ. NAS customers can benefit from operational and functional improvements with FluidFSv3 and Array Software 8.0.
The PS6610 and the software updates will be available in early Q3, when I am in the midst of my garage re-organization. Please talk to your Dell representative about your datacenter goals to see how the PS6610 can accommodate your dense storage requirements. Your Sales Representative can also help you identify Consulting, Deployment and Support Services that can help maximize your datacenter efficiency. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest in datacenter best practices.
[1] Based on internal Dell analysis of total capacity in October 2014 comparing PS6610 arrays to PS6510 arrays
[2] Based on internal Dell analysis of total density per unit in January 2015 comparing PS6610 arrays to PS6510 arrays.
[3] Based on January 2015 Dell performance testing the PS6610ES hybrid-flash arrays and the PS6510ES hybrid-flash arrays using IOmeter with 4KB block and 70/30 read/write random IOs. Actual performance will vary depending on the workload and drive type.
[4] Based on January 2015 Dell performance testing the PS6610ES hybrid-flash arrays using IOmeter with 4KB block and 100% random read IOs. Actual performance will vary depending on the workload and drive type.
[5] Based on September 2014 internal Dell analysis of the EqualLogic Array Software 8.0 compression feature with PS6210 arrays, using real-world home share environment comprised of snapshots and replicas. Requires a PS6210 or PS6610 in the environment. Results will vary based on configuration, data types and usage.
