05/10/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/10/2022 07:13
With the pressure to compete on a digital playing field and an acute IT labor shortage, there's more urgency than ever for a solution that accelerates DevOps.
Three storage software innovations are central to the solution:
Here's how Dell applies them today and highlights of the 500+ software advancements in Dell storage systems planned for global availability in Q3 2022 and now in our CloudIQ AIOps application unless otherwise noted.
DevOps-ready infrastructure drives productivity, and Dell has the broadest DevOps-ready platform portfolio fully validated with all major hyperscalers and container orchestration platforms.1
Dell Container Storage Modules (CSM): Built on industry standard Container Storage Interface (CSI) specification, open-source CSM gives developers a rich service catalog for assigning storage services (provisioning, snapshotting, replication, observability, authorization and resiliency) to containerized applications. Dell PowerStore, PowerMax, PowerScale, PowerFlex and Unity XT all support CSM.
What's New:
Dell Adaptive Software Architectures: Dell storage APIs let DevOps use their favorite tools to custom-automate specialized services for their applications. Benchmarking shows that Dell programmable storage (e.g., PowerStore) reduces deployment time frames from days to seconds.3
What's New:
Storage with built-in software intelligence lets ITOps allocate and operate resources for DevOps more efficiently and cost effectively.
Automated Storage Network Configuration: Dell's groundbreaking SmartFabric Storage Software for NVMe/TCP automates up to 99% of the configuration steps for NVMe/TCP systems in an end-to-end configuration5 (end-point registration, connectivity, zoning and storage services).
What's New:
Self-Optimizing Storage: Dell storage systems' Adaptive Software Architecture handles scores of labor-intensive tasks, such as auto-tuning efficiency, performance and availability without manual intervention (e.g., 4:1 data reduction guarantee for PowerStore).6 Self-optimization frees storage admins for more DevOps collaboration.
What's New:
VMware Integration: PowerStore is the industry's only purpose-built array with a built-in VMware ESXi hypervisor for running any application directly on storage8. Tightly integrated with VAAI, VASA and vVol to create vVols in seconds upon initialization9, PowerStore is designed for ground-breaking DevOps speed, app mobility and flexibility.
What's New:
Expansions and Upgrades: Built-in software provides automation and guard rails for data-in-place expansions and upgrades, (e.g., PowerStore Anytime Upgrade), and we're extending them.
What's New:
To proactively identify and address capacity, performance and security risks to DevOps resources, IT is turning to AIOps software. End-user surveys indicate that CloudIQ, Dell's AIOps application, speeds time to resolution of infrastructure issues by 2X to 10X10 and saves IT staff one workday per week on average.11
What's New:
Companies with higher developer productivity achieve up to 5X revenue growth, 20% higher operating margins, and higher scores on innovation, CSAT, and brand perception.12 What could be a more compelling reason to embrace intelligent storage software solutions?
Learn more about Dell Technologies Storage Innovation and AIOps.
1 Based on Dell analysis of integrated systems for Kubernetes distributions, March 2022.
2 ASW EKS, Azure Arc-Enabled Kubernetes, Google Cloud Anthos, Red Hat OpenShift, Rancher Kubernetes, and VMware Tanzu, based on Dell Analysis, March 2022.
3 Based on Dell analysis of effort required to deploy workloads on PowerStore with and without Ansible and vRO orchestration integrations. Factors in effort required to monitor, plan, define and execute volume migrations. Actual results will vary.
4 Based on Dell analysis comparing primary PowerMax REST API interface capabilities vs. competitive storage solutions, March 2022.
5 Based on internal analysis comparing NVMe/TCP discovery and registration with PowerMax/PowerStore using SmartFabric Storage Software vs competitive storage solutions, March 2022.
6 Based on 4:1 average rate guaranteed across customer applications. Rates for individual applications may vary. See Future-Proof Program terms and conditions for details.
7 Based on Dell 's Future-Proof program that offers 4:1 data reduction guarantee based on PowerMax data reduction tools (dedupe and data compression) for open systems storage, March 2022. Actual data reduction rates will vary.
8 Based on Dell analysis of publicly available information on current solutions from mainstream storage vendors, April 2022.
9 Based on Dell analysis of PowerStore's native capability that lets you create vVol-based VMs as soon as you initialize your appliance. VASA provider, storage container, datastore and protocol endpoints are all created and configured automatically. Actual results will vary.
10 Based on a Dell Technologies survey of CloudIQ users conducted May through June 2021. Actual results may vary.
11 Based on a Dell Technologies survey of CloudIQ users conducted May through June 2021. Actual results may vary.
12 McKinsey, "Developer Velocity: How software excellence fuels business performance," April 2020.