dell.com/compellent 2011 Issue Fluid Data with the Dell...
Transcript of dell.com/compellent 2011 Issue Fluid Data with the Dell...
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Prime movers: Executive Q&A with storage mavens Darren Thomas and Phil Soran
Architectural advancement: Eight key technologies form a strong foundation for the Dell Compellent SAN
Data intelligence: Automated tiered storage strikes a continual balance between performance and cost
Competitive edge: How CIOs are accelerating business growth through a dynamic storage foundation
Fluid DataManage burgeoning data flexibly and efficiently with the Dell Compellent Storage Center SAN
2011 Issue
Dell Compellent storage special edition
dell.com/compellent
Fluid Data knows if it should
be in the slow lane, the fast lane,
or the speed-of-light lane.
Store and manage your data dynamically and intelligently with Fluid Data from Dell.
Dell’s acquisition of Compellent adds to our suite of award-winning Fluid Data
storage solutions. Today, as more companies challenge the cost of running IT, Dell is
helping Efficient Enterprises simplify IT environments and reinvest savings in strategic
initiatives. Learn more about Fluid Data solutions at DellStorage.com/FluidData.
Fluid_Data_Freeway_Sign_PwrSolutions_Ad.indd 1 5/18/2011 2:23:25 PM
PB 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition | dell.com/compellent dell.com/compellent | 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition 1
Based on Dell™ Fluid Data™ architecture, the Dell Compellent™
Storage Center™ storage area network integrates eight key
technologies that advance efficiency—helping enterprises
manage data growth flexibly and reduce costs through a
highly virtualized infrastructure.
By Thea Hayden
6 cover story
Defining the virtual era with Fluid Data architecture
featuresDell Compellent storage
9 Architectural advantages of Dell Compellent
automated tiered storage
By Bob Fine
Tight integration, granularity, and system intelligence
enable Dell Compellent storage area networks to build
exceptional efficiency, automation, and scalability
into sub-volume storage tiering on a fully virtualized
infrastructure for the enterprise.
12 A dynamic storage foundation for enterprise growth
By Scott Horst
CIOs play a pivotal role in driving business growth with
technologies that can be rapidly deployed, managed, scaled,
and adapted to changing conditions. Dell Compellent storage
is a primary enabler for this virtual data center scenario.
2011 Issue
Dell Compellent storage special edition
dell.com/compellent
3 executive Q&APrime moversThe recent acquisition of Compellent Technologies
significantly expands Dell’s award-winning enterprise storage
portfolio. Join Darren Thomas, general manager and vice
president of Dell storage, and Phil Soran, co-founder
and president of Dell Compellent, to learn more about their
shared vision for the Dell Fluid Data architecture.
Reprinted from the 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition of Dell Power Solutions. Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
2 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition | dell.com/compellent
Index to featured Dell Compellent customers
Appleby ...................................................................... 16
Credit Market Analysis ........................................6, 14
Gaston County, North Carolina ........................... 12
WhereToLive.com .....................................................11
customer perspectives14 Credit Market Analysis: How Fluid Data architecture
pays off for CMA
Dell Fluid Data technology granted three big IT wishes for Credit Market
Analysis (CMA): a scalable, centralized data center; host-based recovery;
and a shared, in-house infrastructure capable of managing client systems.
16 Appleby: Simplifying global disaster recovery
With Dell Compellent Storage Center arrays spread worldwide,
Appleby needed an advanced replication and recovery system.
The Dell Compellent Portable Volume kit helped cost-effectively save
months of integration time and connection upgrades.
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Editorial staffEditor-in-chief and publisher Tom KolnowskiManaging editor Debra McDonaldSpecial edition editor Dawn DavidsonFeatures editor Kathryn WhiteContributing writers Bob Fine, Thea Hayden, Scott Horst, Liem Nguyen, and Anthony PolisenoSenior editors James Hurd, Catherine Luo, and Terrence O’DonnellEditorial assistant Amy J. ParkerArt director and cover designer David ChanDesigner Cynthia WebbBusiness operations manager Cissy Walker
Advertising salesSales director Kyle Walkenhorst (323-340-8585)Sales manager/Western U.S. and South/Central America
sales Shaun Mehr (949-923-1660)Eastern U.S. and Canada sales Steve Branda (201-483-7871)EMEA and APJ sales Mark Makinney (805-709-4745) Ad coordinator Kathy Hartlove
Reader servicesThe Dell Compellent storage special edition of Dell Power Solutions Magazine is complimentary to qualified readers of Dell Power Solutions. To request additional print copies, e-mail our Reader Service team at [email protected]. To sign up as a new subscriber to Dell Power Solutions or change your existing subscription, access the Subscription Center at dell.com/powersolutions. Visit the digital edition online at zinio.com/powersolutions.
About DellDell Inc., headquartered in Round Rock, Texas, near Austin, listens to its customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell is a leading global systems and services company and No. 34 on the Fortune 500 list. For more information, visit our Web site at dell.com.
Dell cannot be responsible for errors in typography or photography. Dell, the Dell logo, Dell Compellent, Data Instant Replay, Data Progression, Dynamic Capacity, Storage Center, EqualLogic, Fluid Data, and PowerVault are trademarks of Dell Inc. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this publication to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.
The Dell Compellent storage special edition is a supplement to Dell Power Solutions, which is published quarterly by Dell Inc., Dell Power Solutions, One Dell Way, Mail Stop RR3-68, Round Rock, TX 78682, U.S.A. No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without permission from the editor-in-chief. Dell does not provide any warranty as to the accuracy of any information provided through Dell Power Solutions. Opinions expressed in this magazine may not be those of Dell. The information in this publication is subject to change without notice. Any reliance by the end user on the information contained herein is at the end user’s risk. Dell will not be liable for information in any way, including but not limited to its accuracy or completeness. Dell does not accept responsibility for the advertising content of the magazine or for any claims, actions, or losses arising therefrom. Goods, services, and/or advertisements within this publication other than those of Dell are not endorsed by or in any way connected with Dell Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Printed in the U.S.A.
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2011 Issue Dell Compellent storage special edition
DPS-201102-COMP
Dell Compellent storage special edition
Reprinted from the 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition of Dell Power Solutions. Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reprinted from the 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition of Dell Power Solutions. Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reprinted from the 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition of Dell Power Solutions. Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
dell.com/compellent | 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition 3
How does the Compellent acquisition
impact Dell’s storage business?
Darren Thomas: Storage is a strategic
market for us. Dell storage has come
a long way in the past three years. The
company as a whole is transitioning into
a comprehensive solutions provider—
including not only storage, but also servers,
clients, networking, and services. However,
storage is a key investment area for the
company. Information is the most valuable
asset in the data center. Dell wants to help
organizations make the right decisions for
their businesses by allowing them to extract
value from their data.
Over the years, we’ve brought
together the technologies that support
our development philosophy to provide
customers with open, capable, and affordable
solutions. The successful acquisition and
integration of EqualLogic in 2007 was the
first step. Compellent shares many of the
same values as EqualLogic, while adding key
capabilities to the portfolio. We are focused
on using these acquisitions—along with other
intellectual property we have in scalable
file systems and deduplication—as the core
of our Fluid Data architecture. We believe
this is the most cost-effective approach to
storage in the industry.
Phil Soran: I am very excited about the
vision and mission of Dell Storage. Dell is a
company that matches the entrepreneurial
spirit, history of innovation, and focus on
listening to customers that we have had
at Compellent. Dell is investing in the
Compellent business unit, and we’re rapidly
growing our team worldwide in key areas
such as engineering, support services, sales,
and marketing.
Dell is also adopting many of the tools
and capabilities Compellent has developed
for customer support and channel sales.
A great example is our Copilot Support
team, which serves as an extension of our
Dell recently acquired Compellent
Technologies, a network storage
provider based in Eden Prairie,
Minnesota. The move significantly
expands Dell’s award-winning
enterprise storage portfolio, which
includes Dell™ EqualLogic™ and
Dell PowerVault™ storage area
network (SAN) arrays.
Here, Darren Thomas, general
manager and vice president of Dell
storage, and Phil Soran, co-founder
and president of Dell Compellent,
share some of their experiences in
transforming Dell into an innovative
provider of storage technology and
services. Along the way, they describe
their shared vision for the Dell Fluid Data™
data management architecture.
Another point they have in common:
a very Texas way of viewing storage.
Prime moversExecutive Q&A
Dell Compellent storage
4 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition | dell.com/compellent
Dell Compellent storage
Reprinted from the 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition of Dell Power Solutions. Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reprinted from the 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition of Dell Power Solutions. Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
customers’ IT departments. Each of our
support engineers operates as a virtual
copilot sitting alongside a customer’s
storage administrators, and can access
tools to proactively uncover and address
potential threats to their data centers.
Another is our channel program for sales
registration. The Dell PartnerDirect program
will provide long-term deal registration to
help partners protect, enhance, and nurture
their relationships with customers.
Dell has a huge global distribution
network and its reach will help us scale
faster. Dell has a technology plan and vision
to redefine the data center for enterprises
and cloud computing—and storage is
a foundation for this vision. Combining
Compellent with the award-winning Dell
storage portfolio will help transform Dell
into a storage market leader with the most
innovative storage products on the planet.
When I look at the legacy vendors, I think of
the old Texas saying, “Big hat, no cattle!”
What does Compellent add to the
Dell storage portfolio?
Thomas: If you look at the role that
explosive data growth, cloud computing,
and server virtualization play in the
data center today, Compellent enables
best-in-class scalability, efficiency, and
ease-of-management. These features are
important to our enterprise and cloud
service–provider customers. Compellent
adds intelligent data tiering within and
across systems, making it possible to
move data to the right place at the right
time for the right cost—all automatically.
Compellent also gives customers
multi-protocol enterprise storage along
with virtualization, automation, and
no-forklift upgrades. With Dell EqualLogic,
PowerVault, and Compellent, our block
and file storage products now span every
layer, from low- to mid-range systems for
public institutions and small and medium
businesses (SMBs), to high-end enterprise-
ready offerings for large organizations
and the cloud. So far the acceptance and
excitement from customers and partners
have been tremendous.
Soran: The Dell Compellent™ Storage
Center™ SAN is a highly virtualized storage
array with built-in intelligence about data—for
instance, the type of drives used to store the
data, the performance level, and the frequency
of access. We leverage this intelligence, or
data about the data, in a way that is designed
to automatically place information on the
right storage tier to optimize performance
and maximize cost savings. By combining a
data movement engine, intelligent software,
and modular standards-based hardware,
Compellent storage technology automatically
allocates inactive data to lower-cost storage,
saving you up to 80 percent on storage
costs. Our customers can scale up and out
on a single platform, adopting technologies
such as solid-state disks, 10 Gigabit
Ethernet (10GbE) Internet SCSI (iSCSI), or
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) as
they emerge. They can create a strategy
for business continuity using integrated
features such as snapshots, replication,
and data migration. This intelligent storage
architecture, which is a key component for
Dell Fluid Data, helps customers establish a
grid of virtualized storage as the basis for
a private or public cloud.
What is Fluid Data?
Soran: We realized early on that our
vision for storage tied really closely to
Dell’s vision for helping enterprise and
cloud customers optimize their storage
investments. This vision is Fluid Data.
Compellent first started using the term
Fluid Data to explain how our hardware,
software, and customer support all work
together to manage information efficiently.
With Fluid Data, customers can scale on a
single hardware platform built from off-the-
shelf components. This means they can add
capabilities without forklift upgrades. Our
storage virtualization software automates
“ Information is the
most valuable asset
in the data center.
Dell wants to help
organizations make
the right decisions
for their businesses
by allowing them to
extract value from
their data.”— Darren Thomas
General manager and
vice president, Dell Storage
May 2011
dell.com/compellent | 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition 5Reprinted from the 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition of Dell Power Solutions. Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reprinted from the 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition of Dell Power Solutions. Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
the movement and management of data
throughout its life cycle, so that customers
can constantly adapt to business needs.
And we back this dynamic IT infrastructure
with our Copilot Support, which goes
beyond traditional support offerings by
identifying and resolving issues, often
before problems occur.
The essential truth about storage—I call it
the Fluid Truth—is that data isn’t static. It’s not
something to be stored. Data is something to
be actively, intelligently managed.
Thomas: That’s right. This philosophy will
continue to guide us as we deliver on our
vision for data management. We’ve set out to
address three big challenges that customers
face in the virtual era: the significant
growth of their data; the velocity at which
IT requirements change; and the rigidity of
traditional, legacy storage infrastructures.
These challenges require customers
to move beyond simple storage
management. They require a sound
strategy for managing data end-to-end.
It takes new thinking about storage. Over
three years ago, Dell laid out a strategy to
help change the way our customers buy,
implement, and deploy storage. We believe
the centerpiece is Fluid Data. The Fluid
Data architecture is about having the right
capabilities integrated across the entire
storage infrastructure, making it possible
to move data wherever and whenever it’s
needed in support of the business. In other
words, Fluid Data allows you to move
data efficiently, even automatically, while
reducing your storage footprint.
What’s next? How do the Exanet
and Ocarina acquisitions enhance
Dell’s overall strategy?
Thomas: We’re seeing unprecedented
data growth and we don’t anticipate
that slowing down anytime soon.
Other vendors are trying to position
themselves for the next generation of
data management. Some are jettisoning
legacy architectures. We didn’t have to do
that and, instead, have acquired next-
generation storage companies that we
believe allow customers to dramatically
reduce their storage cost today while
investing in a technology that will help to
future-proof them.
Over time you’ll see us pushing on
Compellent for innovations addressing the
midrange to the high end of our customer
base, and on EqualLogic for the small
business to midmarket. Ocarina Networks
provides exceptionally efficient data
compression as well as content-aware
deduplication that we will implement
across platforms for leading-edge wide
area network (WAN) optimization. Exanet
technology brings outstanding scalability
to business network attached storage
(NAS). This capability, delivered as the
Dell Scalable File System, was recently
announced on the PowerVault NX3500
unified storage platform and plans are
to integrate it with EqualLogic platforms
later this year.
We’re continuing to build these
technologies into the Dell Compellent
Storage Center SAN array to expand our
Fluid Data solutions. All of these capabilities
are stopping points in our strategy to
deliver solutions that matter to customers.
Customers want to move from storage
management to data management, and we
are developing solutions to help them at
every stage in their journey.
Soran: It’s an exciting time to be
in storage at Dell. We’ve demonstrated
the value of our virtualization features
such as automated tiered storage, thin
provisioning, thin replication, and Live
Volume. And we’re broadening our vision
to scale out further into the enterprise,
with plans for a series of upcoming
product releases that expand upon the
Dell Fluid Data architecture, integrate
with Dell enterprise solutions, and reach
beyond our existing platform.
“ The essential truth
about storage—
I call it the Fluid
Truth—is that data
isn’t static. It’s not
something to be
stored. Data is
something to be
actively, intelligently
managed.”
— Phil Soran Co-founder and president,
Dell Compellent
May 2011
Dell Compellent storage
6 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition | dell.com/compellent
Today’s dynamic business
landscape has no place for
complex, inefficient systems.
A highly virtualized approach
to storage can complement server
virtualization by providing ready access to
critical data, while avoiding unnecessary
hardware purchases and the associated
power, cooling, and management
expenses that go along with them. Overall,
a virtualized data center infrastructure
expedites backup and recovery operations,
avoiding gaps in productivity and backlogs
in business transactions.
Dell Fluid Data architecture enables
organizations to break through the rigid
boundaries of traditional storage systems with
a single, scalable platform that is as dynamic
as the data center it lives in. By automating
and optimizing the movement and
management of data throughout its life cycle,
Fluid Data architecture constantly adapts
to changing business conditions, helping
ensure that information is available when and
where it is needed. For example, Fluid Data
architecture moves information intelligently
within and across storage products, from the
desktop to the server to the cloud. Leveraging
policy-based automation for block, file, and
object-based data, this storage architecture
combines capability with flexibility to help
enterprises scale up and out easily.
In addition, adopting Fluid Data
architecture allows IT organizations to
manage information with fewer people,
helping to reduce time and cost for any
given workload. Ultimately, this agile, virtual
storage platform enables IT departments to
move from a fixed cost center to a flexible
productivity center—helping to simplify IT
management, slash spending, and secure the
enterprise against downtime and disaster.
Eight storage technologies that
heighten data center agility
Based on Fluid Data architecture, the
Dell Compellent Storage Center storage
area network (SAN) combines block-level
Based on Dell™ Fluid Data™ architecture, the
Dell Compellent™ Storage Center™ storage area
network integrates eight key technologies that
advance efficiency—helping enterprises manage data
growth flexibly and reduce costs through a highly
virtualized infrastructure.
Defining the virtual era with Fluid Data architecture
Reliable data
Ryan Sclanders, IT infrastructure manager for Credit Market Analysis, describes how Fluid Data architecture enables dependable performance, efficiency, and reliability in an industry where time is literally money.
dell.to/mQQ7E3
By Thea Hayden
dell.com/compellent | 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition 7
intelligence, storage virtualization,
integrated software, and modular,
platform-independent hardware to enable
exceptional efficiency, simplicity, and
security. This open, cost-efficient enterprise
storage infrastructure heightens data
center agility by integrating eight leading-
edge storage technologies into the Dell
Compellent Storage Center SAN.
1. Intelligent data management
Storage systems that manage data in
complete volumes restrict system flexibility
and performance from the outset. Managing
data at a more granular level enables
administrators to increase storage efficiency
and, in turn, reduce data center costs.
The Dell Compellent Storage Center
SAN tracks and records real-time information
about each block, providing real-time system
intelligence to dynamically store, recover,
and manage data. This data about the data,
gathered with minimal system overhead,
can be extensive—including the type of
data stored, disk drive used, RAID level, time
written, and access frequency. Empowered
by this intelligence, storage automation built
into the Dell Compellent Storage Center
SAN optimizes the provisioning, placement,
and protection of data.
2. Storage virtualization
Block-level data management enables the
Dell Compellent Storage Center SAN to
virtualize storage at the disk level. Not only
does storage virtualization help consolidate
resources and reduce disk costs, but it
also enhances system flexibility—allowing
administrators to avoid allocating specific
drives to specific servers. Instead, the storage
virtualization engine creates a shared pool
of storage resources designed to span every
drive in the system and to make all storage
resources always available to all servers.
Administrators can provision and map
virtual storage volumes to servers instantly.
In addition, the Dell Compellent Storage
Center SAN expands volumes automatically
when an application requires additional
storage. This ability to change, shift, and
dynamically scale storage on demand helps
minimize disk expenditures, save staff time,
and ensure continuous availability.
Because the Dell Compellent Storage
Center SAN virtualizes storage by spreading
read-write operations across all drives, the
SAN can process multiple I/O requests in
parallel. This approach avoids hot spots
associated with conventional storage
systems while expediting data access and
boosting application and OS performance.
When administrators add capacity to the
shared resource pool, the Dell Compellent
Storage Center SAN is designed to
automatically restripe data across every
available drive for hands-free load balancing
and performance tuning.
3. Thin provisioning
In the traditional storage-allocation model,
administrators estimate the capacity required
for a given application and preallocate
extra physical disk space to accommodate
growth. Other applications cannot use
the preallocated disk space, and it cannot
be reclaimed later. In many cases, only
a fraction of the preallocated capacity is
actually used, resulting in stranded storage.
Such inefficient disk utilization inflates
total cost of ownership (TCO), requiring IT
organizations to purchase and house excess
disk capacity and to manually provision this
storage—which may also incur downtime.
In contrast, the Dell Compellent Storage
Center SAN includes Dell Compellent
Dynamic Capacity™ thin provisioning
software, which separates storage
allocation from utilization. Administrators
can provision any size virtual volume up
front, and the SAN consumes physical
capacity only when it writes data to disk.
This approach allows administrators to
purchase only the disk space necessary to
meet current data requirements and add
capacity when needed.
4. Automated tiering
In conventional information life cycle
management, IT policy makers must classify
and reclassify data based on its changing
importance to the organization. The process
of manually moving data between high-
performance drives and more cost-effective,
capacity-oriented drives can be complicated
and time-consuming. Add-on migration
engines typically require administrators
to move each volume in its entirety and
continuously fine-tune data placement over
time. The alternative—retaining all data on
high-performance drives—typically increases
disk and data center expenditures.
The Dell Compellent Storage Center
SAN avoids the need to manually move data
between tiers. Using Dell Compellent Data
Progression™ automated tiered storage
software, the SAN dynamically classifies the
importance of data and migrates data to
the optimum tier based on actual usage
(see Figure 1). Because much enterprise
data is inactive, organizations can
significantly reduce disk expenditures using
automated tiered storage.
At the same time, enterprise data
remains readily available, regardless of the
current tier. Customizable tiering algorithms
determine how once-inactive data is
promoted to a higher tier if it becomes
regularly accessed again.
RAID 5-5
RAID-10
Tier 1
RAID 5-5
RAID-10
Tier 2
RAID-6
RAID 5-9
Tier 3
Solid-state drives 15,000 rpm Fibre Channelor Serial Attached SCSI
(SAS) drives
7,200 rpm SAS
Figure 1. Data dynamically cascades from tier to tier according to access frequency, freeing high-performance drives for mission-critical applications
Dell Compellent storage
8 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition | dell.com/compellent
5. Continuous snapshots
Protecting enterprise data from server failures,
viruses, power outages, human error, and
other compromising circumstances is critical
to ongoing business success. Although
continuous snapshots offer effective data
protection, many snapshots require full mirror
images and subsequent full-volume clones.
Such a heavy burden on disk resources
hinders system performance and delays
recovery. Also, the number of snapshots taken
may be limited—often just 10 per volume.
Given few recovery points, mission-critical
applications risk extended downtime.
The Dell Compellent Storage Center SAN
uses Dell Compellent Data Instant Replay™
software, which is designed to take a large
number of space-efficient snapshots. By
capturing only changes in data since the last
snapshot, or Replay, the software enables a
dramatic reduction in the amount of disk space
required. Replays can be captured continuously
in short intervals for a high level of security
using minimal capacity. Recovery is designed
to occur in seconds, and volumes may be
mapped to different servers without disruption.
6. Thin replication
For off-site backup, replicating data between
locations typically requires identical site
configurations and pricey high-speed data
links. Even then, replication can be slow
and unreliable, especially when the process
requires the transfer of full-volume clones.
Remote Instant Replay thin replication
software provides cost-effective, verifiable
multisite data protection. Following initial site
synchronization, only Replays are replicated.
The Dell Compellent Storage Center SAN is
designed to maintain space-efficient Replays
without affecting system performance and
can easily map Replays to any server for
near-instant recovery to any point in time.
Because the SAN intelligently transfers
only changed blocks of data, it optimizes
bandwidth utilization, obviating the need for
high-speed connections. Thin replication
does not require identical site configurations,
giving administrators the flexibility to deploy
low-cost drives at remote sites.
7. Unified user interface
All too often, the expense of managing
conventional storage systems exceeds the
cost of the storage platform itself. In many
cases, administrators must manage storage
using multiple stand-alone user interfaces.
The Dell Compellent Storage Center SAN
features an intuitive point-and-click interface
that provides a comprehensive view of the
entire storage environment. Wizards guide
administrators through system setup and
application configuration, helping to simplify
advanced operations. In addition, the interface
automates repetitive, time-consuming tasks,
empowering administrators to focus on strategic
projects rather than routine maintenance.
The interface automatically monitors and
displays storage consumption and usage
trends, avoiding the need for manual capacity
planning. Plus, a PhoneHome feature provides
automated real-time alerts and notifications
for remote diagnostics and monitoring.
8. Scalability on a single platform
The Dell Compellent Storage Center SAN
provides a single scalable platform designed
to support enterprises as they grow or as
application demands change over time. The SAN
supports a combination of industry-standard
server interfaces and drive technologies in the
same storage system and simple adoption of
technologies on the fly, helping to eliminate
the need for forklift upgrades. In addition,
administrators can implement upgrades,
port modifications, and other configuration
changes on demand without disruption.
Capacity can be scaled incrementally
on the same platform in line with business
needs. By using Dell Compellent Live
Volume software, administrators can scale
performance horizontally by shifting peak
I/O loads on a volume to a second Dell
Compellent Storage Center SAN. Moreover,
a perpetual software-licensing model means
that enterprises do not need to repurchase
any software licenses when they upgrade
controllers to integrate new technologies.
An integrated, automated, and
resilient foundation for growth
Based on Dell Fluid Data architecture, the Dell
Compellent Storage Center SAN provides a
dynamic, virtualized storage platform that
readily adapts to constant change. Block-level
data management optimizes storage resource
utilization to cut storage costs. Built-in
intelligence and automation streamline data
management, helping to save staff time
and minimize human error. And advanced
snapshot technology enables continuous
availability without squandering storage
resources. Moreover, an agile, technology-
independent hardware platform safeguards
storage investments. Leveraging the Dell
Compellent Storage Center SAN enables
organizations to significantly reduce the cost
of managing enterprise data throughout its
life cycle, while scaling capacity quickly for
fast, flexible business response.
Learn more
Author
Thea Hayden is director of marketing
communications for Dell Compellent. In this
role, she is responsible for core marketing
content, brand communications, design, Web,
and the Voice of the Customer program.
For more information about Dell Fluid Data
architecture, scan this QR (quick response) code
using a smartphone or tablet computer equipped
with a camera and QR reader app.
Dell Compellent Storage Center:dell.com/compellent
compellent.com/powersolutions
PB 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition | dell.com/compellent dell.com/compellent | 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition 9
Dell Compellent storage
In today’s data-driven world, an
optimized storage infrastructure
with intelligent data management
is at the heart of business process
efficiency. Automated tiered storage
offers an attractive way to help
manage rapid data growth and control
costs. But organizations face a broad
array of possibilities. By identifying
key differentiators in the underlying
architecture, IT decision makers
can effectively evaluate the cost
benefits of tiered storage systems and
determine the approach that best suits
their particular enterprise.
For example, many tiered
storage offerings attempt to match
data with drive type, typically
placing mission-critical data on
high-performance drives and placing
less-valued data on high-capacity
drives. However, tiering profiles
in this type of scenario are often
limited in scope and require manual
intervention to move and reformat
data from a disk group to a pooled
configuration. Also, application
licensing may be restricted to a
particular hardware platform. Such
limitations make it challenging to
respond quickly and flexibly to
changing business conditions.
In comparison, the Dell Compellent
Storage Center™ storage area network
(SAN) was engineered from the
ground up to include automated tiered
storage with built-in data management
intelligence. Dell Compellent Storage
Center SANs are based on the Dell™
Fluid Data™ architecture, which is
designed to intelligently manage data
throughout its life cycle—helping to
ensure that information is available
when and where it is needed. This
built-in intelligence enables Dell
Compellent Data Progression™ tiering
software to integrate seamlessly with
Dell Compellent storage technologies
to maximize storage performance,
efficiency, and manageability.
A highly virtualized environment
provides an excellent foundation
for automated storage tiering. The
intelligent storage architecture of the
Dell Compellent Storage Center SAN
is designed to enable true disk-level
storage virtualization by creating a
single pool of storage resources that
spans all disks and RAID levels. In
contrast, typical enterprise storage
architectures pool only a subset of
the storage resources by stretching a
volume, or logical unit (LUN), across
a predefined set of drives.
Tight integration, granularity, and system intelligence
enable Dell Compellent™ storage area networks to
build exceptional efficiency, automation, and scalability
into sub-volume storage tiering on a fully virtualized
infrastructure for the enterprise.
By Bob Fine
Architectural advantages of Dell Compellent automated tiered storage
Smart, responsive, and well connected
Dell Compellent Storage Center SANs
provide the advanced automation
and built-in intelligence to help
enterprises manage data flexibly,
based on its business value. Fluid Data
architecture also provides exceptional
application responsiveness by
enabling integration across the
data center infrastructure—helping
IT administrators make dynamic
connections across storage, servers,
and networks.
10 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition | dell.com/compellent
Dell Compellent storage
Dell Compellent storage technology
is designed to deliver the right data to the
right application at the right time through
a dynamic, virtualized storage pool that is
always available to servers. Administrators
can create the entire array as a single pool
of high-performance storage or configure
particular subsets of the array as individual
pools. Unlike typical enterprise storage
systems, in which administrators must
confine sub-LUN tiering to a distinct set
of drives with predefined storage ratios
for each tier, all Dell Compellent storage
participates in the automated tiering.
Granularity and system intelligence
facilitate precise data movement
The Dell Compellent array facilitates a
highly granular approach that enables
data movement with great precision and
efficiency within the tiered environment.
Dell Compellent technology divides data
into pages—preformatted collections of
allocated and unallocated disk blocks. The
pages are 2 MB by default (with 512 KB and
4 MB options). Details about each block are
captured in action at the 512-byte level, the
smallest addressable data block.
The Dell Compellent Storage Center
SAN identifies blocks that are eligible for
movement based on access frequency.
Then it moves only the pages that include
those blocks to the appropriate tier or RAID
level. In contrast, typical enterprise storage
architectures use blocks ranging from 16
MB to 1 GB in size. If only a small quantity of
data in the block changes, the system must
move the entire block regardless of size.
Dell Compellent storage continuously
captures use characteristics about each
block, including creation time, location,
access frequency, and data type. This
in-flight metadata enables Data Progression
to determine what pages should be moved to
a different storage tier (freeing capacity in
the higher-performance tier) or a different
RAID level within an existing tier (sustaining
read performance while reclaiming
capacity). This block-level intelligence is
designed for negligible system overhead
while helping to ensure that data always
stays in tune with application needs.
Typical enterprise storage architectures
limit which blocks can migrate because
they move data between tiers but do not
offer more than one RAID level within each
tier. Moreover, they may require a server-
side agent to determine whether data
should be moved. Because the agent runs
periodically or on demand, the information
it collects may be outdated by data
migration time.
Advanced automation streamlines
tiering administration
Data Progression enables fully
automated, profile-based sub-LUN tiering.
Administrators apply custom or predefined
policy-based profiles to drive data
placement and movement on each LUN
or group of LUNs. Profiles specify not only
the tiers but also the disk types, rotational
speeds, and RAID levels within each tier.
Administrators can change profile
settings, expand volumes on the fly, and
add capacity without system disruption.
When drives are added to a tier, the
Dell Compellent system is designed to
automatically restripe all data across
appropriate RAID levels during the next
migration cycle. Moreover, the migration
process—which occurs automatically or
on demand—runs in the background while
the system is online to avoid affecting data
availability or application performance.
In storage approaches that do
not provide a comparable degree
of flexibility, volumes are not easily
expanded. As a result, administrators may
need to compress data as volumes fill up
and decompress if data becomes active
again, which may delay access to vital
enterprise information.
Snapshot integration accelerates
write and read performance
Not only does Dell Compellent
Data Instant Replay™ software enable
continuous data protection, it also helps
to optimize performance in an automated
tiered storage environment. Data Instant
Replay creates snapshots, or Replays, that
use minimal storage space because they
capture only data written to the volume
since the previous Replay.
By default, Data Progression writes new
data to tier 1, RAID 10 storage for optimal
write performance. Over time, it converts
infrequently accessed data blocks to read-
only and moves them to a lower storage
tier and RAID level, or to a different RAID
level within the same tier—freeing space
Figure 1. Data Progression software writes all data to tier 1, yet snapshots automatically move to a lower tier—freeing space on high-performance drives for mission-critical applications. Virtual pointers use block metadata to retain data continuity among associated blocks.
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
New write
Read-onlyVirtualpointer
Snapshot
24 h
ou
rs
dell.com/compellent | 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition 11
on the higher tier or RAID level. Migration within
the same tier maintains read performance. To
further free tier 1 space, Replays automatically
move to a lower tier during the next migration
cycle. Because most enterprise data tends to be
inactive, organizations may reclaim significant
capacity from more expensive tier 1 storage
simply by migrating read-only data to a lower
storage tier.
When new data needs to be written to
a once-inactive block, Data Progression
automatically allocates a new writable block to
tier 1, RAID 10 storage, incurring no write penalty
for migrating data to lower tiers. Virtual pointers
maintain continuity between associated blocks
(see Figure 1).
Unlike typical storage system architecture,
Dell Compellent storage does not require
administrators to reserve space for snapshot or
write data. Furthermore, Replays do not reside
within the volume alongside active production
data; they sit outside the production volume in
pages within the general virtual storage pool.
Consequently, Dell Compellent storage allows a
large number of Replays.
Efficiency-boosting features maximize
tiering benefits
Thin provisioning, disk performance
optimization, and streamlined administration
features are also tightly integrated with Data
Progression to enhance efficiency in the Dell
Compellent virtualized storage environment.
Dell Compellent Dynamic Capacity™ software for
thin provisioning helps create the flexible storage
pool required for effective tiering. Administrators
can expand or shrink volumes on demand
without being bound to RAID set capacity or
performance limitations. Other storage systems
require administrators to predefine RAID sets and
later format additional space to accommodate
LUN expansion.
Dell Compellent Fast Track optimizes disk
performance by placing the most active data
blocks on each spindle together on the outer
tracks of each drive, helping to reduce the seek
time of those blocks. And Dell Compellent
Enterprise Manager helps simplify administration
by providing a comprehensive view of the entire
Dell Compellent storage environment, including
real-time tiering statistics. Following initial setup,
tiering functionality is designed to be fully
automated. However, at any time administrators
may configure and control the tiered storage
without system disruption.
Because Data Progression is not tied to
any particular Dell Compellent storage system
model or platform—a common limitation with
other approaches to sub-LUN tiering—it enables
organizations to scale up and out freely without
incurring downtime. Incorporating automated
tiered storage into an existing Dell Compellent
system does not require a costly, large-scale
upgrade; it is as easy as activating that particular
built-in software module. Nor do upgrades require
a change in licensing and service agreements,
unlike storage systems that tie the tiering license
to particular hardware.
Integrated automated tiering optimizes
virtualized storage efficiencies
Without a virtualized storage platform that is
engineered for automated tiered storage, even
sophisticated, policy-based approaches may
fall short of achieving the potential benefits of
tiered storage. Characteristic limitations include
poor tiering integration; lack of granular system
intelligence; labor-intensive, inefficient data
movement schemes; and limited scalability. All
too often, such limitations offset the time-saving
and cost benefits of virtualized storage.
Based on Dell Fluid Data architecture, Dell
Compellent storage technology brings high
levels of efficiency, automation, and scalability
to sub-LUN tiering. Designed to be continuously
aware of each granular data block spanning the
entire storage system, built-in Dell Compellent
automated tiered storage enables organizations
to strike a constant balance between
performance and cost.
Fluid Data storage makes sense for WhereToLive.com
Ben Higginbotham, director of new technology, shares his passion for what he calls “world-changing” Fluid Data technology.
dell.to/inAxX5
Learn more
Author
Bob Fine is director of product marketing for Dell
Compellent. In this role, he is responsible for product
release communication, competitive analysis, field
enablement, and product education.
For more information
about advanced automated
storage tiering, scan this QR
(quick response) code using
a smartphone or tablet
computer equipped with a
camera and QR reader app.
Dell Compellent storage:dell.com/compellent
compellent.com/powersolutions
Dell Compellent storage
12 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition | dell.com/compellent dell.com/compellent | 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition 13
In the virtual era, CIOs are meeting the demands of
a fickle global economy by leveraging intelligent,
automated technology designed to keep data
center operations in alignment with changing
business policies. Dell™ Fluid Data™ architecture
helps lay the groundwork for a virtualized IT stack
by automating and optimizing the movement and
management of data throughout its life cycle. By
automatically provisioning, deploying, and scaling
storage capacity, servers, and applications in response
to changing conditions, Fluid Data–based solutions
help reduce cost, management overhead, and risk
from the desktop to the server to the cloud.
The Dell Compellent Storage Center™ storage
area network (SAN) leverages Dell Fluid Data
architecture to complement virtual server strategies
with a dynamic pool of shared storage resources
designed to be available to all servers, all the time.
The result is a dynamic, scalable approach to
storage that supports an end-to-end virtual data
center by helping to simplify IT management, slash
storage spending, and secure the enterprise against
downtime and disaster.
Improving efficiency to lower storage
total cost of ownership
The Dell Compellent Storage Center SAN works with
server virtualization products such as VMware® ESX
and Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server to dynamically
allocate storage capacity for business-critical
applications, enabling servers and applications to be
deployed quickly, easily, and flexibly. Advanced virtual
server performance, minimized administration and
maintenance, and a flexible storage architecture lead
to savings that allow CIOs to reallocate IT staff to
strategic initiatives and end-user support activities.
CIOs play a pivotal role in driving business growth with technologies
that can be rapidly deployed, managed, scaled, and adapted to changing
conditions. Dell Compellent™ storage is a primary enabler for this virtual
data center scenario.
By Scott Horst
A dynamic storage foundation for enterprise growth
Storage that serves Gaston County
Brandon Jackson, chief information officer, discusses how the efficiencies of Fluid Data architecture from Dell Compellent have revolutionized a once-strained staff and IT infrastructure.
dell.to/lW1RP3
Dell Compellent storage
12 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition | dell.com/compellent dell.com/compellent | 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition 13
Dell Compellent storage boosts performance by
allowing the SAN to process multiple I/O requests in
parallel, and by avoiding hot spots associated with
conventional storage systems. When capacity is
expanded, the Dell Compellent Storage Center SAN
delivers hands-free load balancing and performance
tuning, minimizing costs associated with hands-on
IT maintenance. Policy-based profiles enhance data
management agility, enabling automated placement
and movement throughout the data life cycle.
In addition, intelligent storage automation
expedites preventive maintenance. For example,
the SAN’s automated monitoring features are
designed to alert administrators of the need to
replace drives and power supplies before an actual
failure occurs.
The open hardware architecture of the Dell
Compellent Storage Center SAN incorporates cost-
effective, industry-standard components, which also
helps simplify maintenance. Moreover, standardized
hardware helps reduce technology risk and free
organizations from proprietary vendor lock-in. The
ability of Storage Center to mix and match server
interfaces and drive technologies, and to easily
integrate emerging technologies, helps protect
existing data center investments and avoid the
necessity for large-scale upgrades.
Boosting business continuity
to protect the enterprise
Automated storage management features of the
Dell Compellent Storage Center SAN are designed
to accommodate changing data capacity and
utilization requirements at any time without
human intervention—helping to protect data,
maximize uptime and availability, and preserve
business continuity.
To protect critical information and applications,
the Storage Center SAN includes efficient snapshot
recovery and remote replication software. Data can
be shifted on demand across data centers, enabling
always-on availability. An IT team can recover files
immediately or set up multisite replication using a
point-and-click interface. These features help reduce
capacity, hardware, and bandwidth costs, allowing
the IT team to replicate data across any number of
global locations at a fraction of the cost of traditional
replication solutions.
Data protection is built into the hardware.
Failover features include dual-active clustered
controllers, redundant power supplies and fans,
and battery-backed cache.
Increasing agility to advance
competitive advantage
Transitioning to a fully virtualized IT stack that
comprises both virtual servers and virtual storage
helps CIOs accelerate business resilience and
growth opportunities. The Dell Compellent Storage
Center SAN and the Dell Fluid Data architecture
are designed to enhance IT flexibility and business
agility by automatically moving storage resources
where they are really needed, when they are
needed. When incorporated into an end-to-end
data center virtualization strategy, they heighten
competitive edge by enabling reduced overall
storage costs, fast implementation of business
applications, always-available information for
decision making, instant deployment of emerging
technologies, and continuous data protection.
With a powerful data movement engine,
intelligent storage management features, and
a single scalable platform that helps eliminate
the need for forklift upgrades, Dell Compellent
storage systems powered by Fluid Data
technology are designed to provide a cost-
efficient, enterprise-class infrastructure with
virtually limitless growth potential.
“ Compellent [storage] has enabled our team
to measurably reduce IT costs while
increasing the efficiency, utilization, and
flexibility of our storage infrastructure.”
– Brandon Jackson CIO, Gaston County, North Carolina
February 2010
Learn more
Author
Scott Horst is executive director of marketing for
Dell Compellent. In this role, he is responsible for
product marketing, marketing communications,
corporate communications, and marketing programs
and events worldwide.
For more information about
Dell Compellent storage
innovations, scan this QR
(quick response) code using
a smartphone or tablet
computer equipped with a
camera and QR reader app.
Dell Compellent storage:dell.com/compellent
compellent.com/powersolutions
Customer perspective
Established in 2001 by a group
of frustrated credit specialists,
Credit Market Analysis (CMA) is
an independent organization
operating out of London and New
York. Now a subsidiary of the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange, it develops pioneering
approaches enabling traders to graphically
view, organize, and store the quotes it
receives in real time, and provides a new
way of verifying prices to obtain a more
accurate market view and end-of-day
position evaluation.
CMA’s innovative approach to
market analysis creates large volumes
of highly sensitive data that require
secure management and bulletproof
storage. “My team’s role is twofold,”
says Ryan Sclanders, IT infrastructure
manager at CMA. “Firstly, we provide
comprehensive, real-time customer
data services to numerous leading
financial services organizations with an
understandable emphasis on redundancy
and security. And secondly, we are
also responsible for the infrastructure
within CMA itself, including the network,
servers, all hardware, and software. The
only technical role we aren’t directly
involved in is actually developing the CMA
applications themselves.”
Building a foundation for the future
Much of the data stored by CMA comprises
vast volumes of credit quotes received by
traders in real time from numerous sources.
CMA applications efficiently extract all
this information from e-mails and other
messaging platforms and prepare it to
populate real-time or historical databases
for short- or long-term storage. The
organization is extremely transaction heavy,
so all databases must be readily available.
“We process around 70 million hits on
our central servers a day, about 4 quadrillion
transactions per database server over a
60-day period, and our systems pass a million
e-mail messages per day,” explains Sclanders.
Dell™ Fluid Data™ technology granted three big IT wishes
for Credit Market Analysis (CMA): a scalable, centralized
data center; host-based recovery; and a shared, in-house
infrastructure capable of managing client systems.
Credit Market Analysis
How Fluid Data architecture pays off for CMA
14 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition | dell.com/compellent Reprinted from the 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition of Dell Power Solutions. Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
CMA services are provided either as
in-house or shared solutions. If a customer
decides to procure an in-house solution,
its database and application “talk” to CMA’s
secure central environment, passing quotes
for processing. If the customer opts for
a shared solution, the application server
and database are often hosted in the CMA
production environment, leaving traders
with just a graphical user interface (GUI) on
their desktops that can communicate with
the shared solution.
When Sclanders joined CMA, he
immediately set about designing an entirely
new infrastructure, built from scratch using
a Dell Compellent™ Storage Center™
storage area network (SAN) based on
Dell Fluid Data technology and VMware®
virtualization. CMA has been running Dell
Compellent enterprise storage for over two
years now and has established a mature
configuration. CMA currently operates two
separate Dell Compellent systems. The
first, a 14 TB SAN, takes care of the live
production environment; the second,
a 19 TB SAN, runs a combination of host-
level disaster recovery and corporate
services, such as Microsoft® Exchange
messaging, authentication servers,
databases, and test environments.
Breaking the boundaries
of traditional storage
Before Sclanders joined CMA, the
production environment operated solely
on a packaged server cluster with direct
attach storage (DAS). Sclanders audited the
organization’s requirements for existing
systems and future scalability, and quickly
discovered a clear need to enhance storage
capabilities because the legacy environment
would not cope with the sophisticated real-
time services that CMA wanted to offer its
clients. Explaining his decision to procure
Dell Compellent storage, Sclanders said,
“A lot of vendors we looked at were sitting
on old architecture. Dell Compellent set a
new standard. The Fluid Data architecture
provided the flexibility, scalability, and
performance that we required.”
Sclanders identified three key
requirements for the infrastructure. The
first was being able to build a scalable
central production system that would
enable CMA to grow its databases and
access historical data. At that time it
already had approximately 100 databases
in its production environment, with
many ranging from 40 GB to 60 GB
each. The second requirement was to
implement host-based recovery, an option
unavailable in its previous system. The
third requirement was to build a shared
infrastructure in which CMA could host
application servers in-house for customers
and undertake the responsibility of
managing client systems.
Today CMA leverages the block-
level intelligence of the Dell Compellent
Dynamic Capacity™ feature to dynamically
move and manage data within its three
tiers of storage. Using this automated
tiered storage feature, frequently
accessed data remains on fast Fibre
Channel storage, while archive
information finds its level on Serial ATA
(SATA) drives. A large virtual environment
of approximately 100 virtual machines
sits on the second and third tiers. In
general, a significant amount of data sits
on fast, highly accessible storage, virtual
application servers sit in the middle,
and all historical data sits on the SATA
drives. Not only has the Dell Compellent
approach help cut administration time
and reduce overall storage costs, it has
also helped boost performance of critical
applications—automatically.
Benefiting from a virtualized
environment
Virtualization has perhaps been the single
major enhancement for CMA, in terms
of manageability, cost savings, space
reduction, and environmental impact.
Instead of nearly 100 physical servers,
each dedicated to a single client without
any real redundancy, the IT infrastructure
services team now maintains more than
100 virtual servers on just four physical
systems—which can represent significant
savings in administrative overhead, energy
costs, data center space, and regular
capital expenditure (see the sidebar,
“Dynamic results”).
Dell Compellent Storage Center
creates a smart, shared pool of storage
resources that allows Sclanders to change,
shift, or dynamically scale the virtualized
environment without disruption to clients.
This shared pool of resources avoids
the guesswork of capacity planning and
helps simplify storage provisioning for any
number of servers, helping provide CMA
with dramatic, cost-effective reductions in
time and disk space.
dell.com/compellent | 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition 15
Dynamic resultsA scalable, virtualized environment helped CMA achieve the following:
• Cost-effective reduction in energy consumption, administrative overhead,
and environmental impact
• Essential redundancy features and recovery capabilities
• Consolidation of a high number of aging physical servers through virtualization
• A leading-edge, secure environment to support remote and on-site managed
client applications and internal demands
Reprinted from the 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition of Dell Power Solutions. Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Customer perspective
Appleby—a global provider
of legal, fiduciary, and
administration services—is
a major presence in several
of the world’s leading offshore business
centers. The organization provides legal
and business solutions for many clients,
including global public and private
corporations, financial institutions, and
high-net–worth individuals.
Because Appleby operates data centers
in several geographic regions, replication for
disaster recovery purposes is a top concern
for the organization. However, its previous
decentralized storage infrastructure seemed
to make multisite replication prohibitively
costly and complex.
Implementing cost-effective
disaster recovery
To address these concerns, the Appleby IT
team launched a storage strategy based on
Dell Compellent Storage Center storage area
networks (SANs) built on Dell™ Fluid Data™
technology. Three island locations installed
these modular, highly scalable SANs, and
Appleby installed additional SANs in its Hong
Kong and British Virgin Island offices.
Unlike other approaches to replication,
Dell Compellent Remote Instant Replay™
replication leverages lightweight Data
Instant Replay™ snapshot technology
between local and remote sites to help
ensure cost-effective business continuity.
“I think it would have cost us double
to use a different replication method,
based on the extra hardware and the
time investment,” says Jack Fleming,
infrastructure manager at Appleby. “That’s
why we are replacing our older SAN in
Mauritius. With Dell Compellent Storage
Center, I can replicate the data for as many
servers as I want for the same licensing fee.
So as we expand into new locations, the
savings could be exponential.”
Getting a savings jumpstart
on Isle of Man
When Fleming added a new location on
the Isle of Man, he didn’t have to sacrifice
performance for cost at the small site. He
installed tier 1 Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
drives at the Isle of Man location knowing
that the drives were designed to provide
similar performance to Fibre Channel drives
at a reduced cost. Dell Compellent
Data Progression™ automated tiered
storage intelligently migrates inactive data
down to low-cost Serial ATA (SATA) drives.
Unlike other storage vendors, Dell
Compellent does not require identical
configurations at remote sites. It provides the
flexibility to mix and match drive types within
the same system. Appleby can purchase
systems sized to match the locations they
serve and scale each location as it grows.
Once the system was installed, Fleming
turned to the Dell Compellent Portable
Volume kit to help drastically reduce the
initial synchronization time between the
primary data center and the Isle of Man
location. Within hours of plugging one
of the 2 TB external USB drives into the
controller, the Isle of Man location was
fully synced with its Jersey location. The
whole process took less than 24 hours
to complete, including transit time—a
remarkable accomplishment given the
10 MB connection between sites.
“Setting up a site like this over the wire
with our current connection would have
taken nearly six months,” says Fleming.
“Our other option would have been to
temporarily upgrade our bandwidth, which
could easily have cost US$10,000 a month
until we were fully replicated.”
Making storage administration a snap
The ability to remotely access and manage
distant SANs using the Dell Compellent
Enterprise Manager console also can make a
big difference in staffing for an organization
with locations worldwide. Appleby does not
have to staff a specialized storage expert
at each location. “With Dell Compellent,
storage management is a no-brainer,” says
Fleming. “We can even manage those
processes remotely. And as a result, we
have an easy, scalable approach to disaster
recovery that helps to secure the business
against whatever Mother Nature brings.”
With Dell Compellent™ Storage Center™ arrays spread
worldwide, Appleby needed an advanced replication and
recovery system. The Dell Compellent Portable Volume kit
helped cost-effectively save months of integration time
and connection upgrades.
Appleby
Simplifying global disaster recovery
16 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition | dell.com/compellent
“ I’ve used other SANs before—but nothing else was as simple to use.”— Jack Fleming
Infrastructure Manager at Appleby
February 2011
Reprinted from the 2011 Dell Compellent storage special edition of Dell Power Solutions. Copyright © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
vStart virtualization from Dell.It really is that simple. vStart from Dell takes the complexity and time out of virtualizing your enterprise by delivering it at the push of a button. Pre-configured servers, storage, networking and VMware software managed via a single console can be deployed in hours not days. And it’s just as simple to find out more by going to www.dell.com/vstart or join the conversation at #vstart on Twitter.
Efficient Enterprises do more with Dell.dell.com/vstart
Store and manage your data dynamically and intelligently with Fluid Data from Dell.
Dell’s acquisition of Compellent adds to our suite of award-winning Fluid Data
storage solutions. Today, as more companies challenge the cost of running IT, Dell is
helping Efficient Enterprises simplify IT environments and reinvest savings in strategic
initiatives. Learn more about Fluid Data solutions at DellStorage.com/FluidData.
Fluid Data always knows
the most efficient way to get where
it needs to go.