Dell PowerVault DL4000: Data access and protection evolved

Do you remember the days of using microfiche readers in a library to dig up bits of historical data and facts? Can you even imagine a serious business venture starting up now without having almost instantaneous access to critical business data at all times? We expect to have data at our fingertips with virtually no wait. Being without that data for any significant amount of time represents a cost that is just too high—in dollars as well as in customer satisfaction and employee productivity. So, today we’re excited to announce the availability of the Dell PowerVault DL4000 powered by AppAssure—a fully configured 1U backup appliance that integrates 5.5TB of storage capacity and 2 standby VMs with award-winning snapshot, replication, deduplication, and compression software to quickly recover applications and data. This is a true step in the evolution of protecting your business data—enabling you to set up and maintain your backup and recovery system quickly and efficiently, so you can recover your data and applications in minutes, not hours.

Here’s an overview of the DL4000 from Joseph Hand, one of our Dell AppAssure experts:

The DL4000:

  • Helps eliminate your backup window.
  • Creates snapshots as often as every five minutes.
  • Maintains standby virtual machines to quickly restore critical servers.
  • Offers integrated inline block-level deduplication and compression, combined with optimized backups for WAN replication.
  • Provides an Appliance Configuration Wizard to automatically provision DL4000 storage and iDRAC for remote management.
  • Expands capacity another 30TB  with a PowerVault MD1200  for a total of up to 35.5TB

Much of the inherent value of the DL4000 is in the intellectual property bought to us by one of our recent acquisitions, AppAssure software. Take a look at this case study with the University of West Alabama (UWA). When the IT team at UWA needed to improve their data protection strategy to recover critical systems and increase the overall efficiency of its data infrastructure, they turned to Dell AppAssure.

What sold them on Dell AppAssure?  Ease of use and reliability were critical for this small team with a lot of responsibility. Their six-person IT team manages “everything that flashes, blinks or plugs into the wall.” From servers, networks, and PCs to ID cards, phones, security cameras and door access, this team does it all. An easy-to-use and easy-to-deploy disaster recovery plan was the right fit.

AppAssure’s Universal Recovery and data deduplication and compression features convinced UWA to trust AppAssure and they were impressed with the results.   Since transitioning to AppAssure software, UWA’s recovery speed of critical systems increased fivefold and the university has seen 50% space savings on direct-attached backup.

We’re able to do so much more than ever before using Dell AppAssure,” said Michael Pratt, Director of Office of Information Technology. “We can now set specific, realistic, enforceable guidelines, policies and timelines for our backups and DR plans.

The DL4000 is a great example of how Dell is using its IT scale and skills to the benefit of its customers.  With the DL4000, we’re leveraging our expertise and economies of scale as a worldwide leader in servers, and combining them with our award-winning AppAssure software. What does this do for our customers?  One of our existing customers said it best:

We’ve relied on AppAssure for recovery and peace of mind for years on a variety of storage platforms,” said Michael Rapp, information security officer, Center for Information Technology in Education, College of Education, University of Houston. “Dell’s integration of this data protection software into a purpose-built platform could make it even easier for customers to deploy an AppAssure-optimized solution with a minimal amount of set up and configuration work.

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Peter Waugh

About the Author: Peter Waugh

Peter is a Marketing Director responsible for all product marketing activities related to Dell Technologies PowerEdge server products. Peter joined Dell from IBM, where he played a key role in developing and executing their next generation network telecom strategy. His diverse background also includes experience in general management consulting and international consumer goods marketing. Peter holds a BA from Middlebury College and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is based in Austin.