Dell outlines storage vision
Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) has lifted the lid on some new products in its EqualLogic range that highlight a coherent storage strategy, combining elements from its acquisition and its continued courtship of the channel.
The new products, the EqualLogic PS4100 and PS6100 Series are aimed to appeal to SMBs up to larger enterprises. Capacities range from 4 TB to 72Tb in a single array and up to1.2PB in a single group. The units have either 2 or 4 GigE ports and support both block and file through iSCSI. Architecturally, the units have been beefed up with Dell claiming up to 60 percent performance improvements through improved cache design, and most importantly will use the new operating system it acquired from Exanet
In the view of John Everett, EMEA storage business manager at Dell, this is critical: “Exanet underpins our real fluid data vision from the server to the cloud,” he says, adding its inclusion in the EqualLogic range will in future spread to the Compellent and PowerVault ranges to form a single unified architecture for all its storage platforms.
Another aspect of the new EqualLogic PS Series arrays is firmware upgrades to legacy products to allow them to integrate into a mixed group. Customers under current maintenance contracts will get the software upgrade free and Everett confirmed that there are likely to be a number of promotional activities around upgrades for customers trading up to the new PS series. The old legacy products will cease manufacture within 90 days of the arrival of the PS range.
In Everett’s view, storage in general has been a real shot in the arm for the relationship between Dell and the channel and he confirms that it has grown its certified partner community by around a fifth to more than 550 members in the last six months alone.
The release also marks a closer alignment to virtualisation drivers, and particularity its relationship with VMware. Towards the end of the year, Dell will launch new EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for VMware 3.1 to provide enhanced storage visibility and management through tighter integration with VMware vSphere 5.0. The firm is also launching new Compellent Storage Replication Adapter for vCenter SRM 5.0 to support automated failback from a disaster event and new work flows for planned migrations and downtime.
Everett believes that in the past rivals have claimed that Dell had no vision, however now he believes that roadmap items like the extension of its Exanet technology across the portfolio, 10GigE and its purchase of networking company Force 10 show that it is building a credible stack.
Channel Pro comment
Dell currently does more than 25 percent of its revenue through the channel and that number is growing consistently. The firm is clearly courting the channel and many partners have forgotten that Dell used to be “the enemy” based on the current love-in. The channel will happily lose a few laptops to a fancy direct touch website if they can deliver high margin storage, virtualisation and network projects.
Internally, the firm is appointing smart people that understand the channel to get the job done. (Everett for example is ex-Sun Microsystems and typifies a more partner focused mindset that the company is pursuing in terms of products like Compellent and Kace.)
Dell is clearly building a stack and the storage element is looking in better shape with this release. Some say that networking and maybe VoIP around its Force 10 purchase will be the next phase.
Analysis: What does Dell’s changing shape mean to the channel?Dell shares storage strategy with channelNow is the Time for Storage Efficiency
