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Dell EMC PowerStore Breaks Ground in Storage Infrastructure Performance and Flexibility

Dell EMC PowerStore Breaks Ground in Storage Infrastructure Performance and Flexibility

SOURCE: Dell Technologies

Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL), the leader in enterprise storage[1], announces Dell EMC PowerStore – a modern infrastructure platform built from the ground up with superior technology and expertise to address the challenges of the data era.

“Customers tell us a main obstacle keeping them from achieving their digital transformation initiatives is the constant tug-of-war between supporting the ever-increasing number of workloads–from traditional IT applications to data analytics –and the reality of cost constraints, limitations and complexity of their existing IT infrastructure.” said Dan Inbar, president and general manager, storage, Dell Technologies. “Dell EMC PowerStore blends automation, next generation technology, and a novel software architecture to deliver infrastructure that helps organizations address these needs.”

Modern Infrastructure for the Data Era
Organizations can accelerate decision making, data access and application performance with PowerStore, which is designed for six-nines (99.9999%) availability[2]:
•  Any Workload: PowerStore simplifies IT infrastructure by supporting a wide range of traditional and modern workloads with its scale-up, scale-out architecture for block, file and VMware vVols.
•  Performance Optimized: PowerStore is seven times faster[3] and three times more responsive than previous Dell EMC midrange storage arrays[4], because of its end-to-end NVMe design and support for Storage Class Memory as persistent storage powered by dual port Intel® Optane™ SSDs.
•  Efficiency Without Compromise: Customers can save on IT budget and capacity with always-on deduplication, compression and a guaranteed 4:1 data reduction[5].

Machine learning and intelligent automation allows for faster delivery of applications and services with up to 99% less staff time to balance volumes[6]:
•  Programmable Infrastructure: Streamlines application development and reduces deployment timeframes from days to seconds [7], with VMware integration and support for leading management and orchestration frameworks including Kubernetes, Ansible and VMware vRealize Orchestrator.
•  Autonomous Infrastructure: Built-in machine learning automates labor-intensive processes like initial volume placement, migrations, load balancing and issue resolution.
•  Infrastructure Insights: Dell EMC CloudIQ storage monitoring and analytics software combines machine learning and human intelligence for real-time performance and capacity analysis and historical tracking for a single view of Dell EMC infastructure. Dell Technologies will integrate CloudIQ across the full Dell Technologies infrastructure portfolio for even greater insights.

PowerStore transforms data center operations and allows organizations to evolve their infrastructure in lockstep with everchanging business needs:
•  Container-Based Architecture: PowerStoreOS, the system’s container-based software architecture, enables feature portability, standardization and rapid time-to-market for new capabilities.
•  Introducing AppsON: The only purpose-built storage array that includes a built-in VMware ESXi Hypervisor[8] , administrators can deploy apps directly on the array for greater flexibility. An industry-first, AppsON is ideal for data-intensive workloads in core or edge locations and infrastructure applications.
•  Ease of Migration: New native tools within the PowerStore Manager wizard allow customers to automate entire migrations in fewer than ten clicks[9]. Customers can take advantage of a number of non-disruptive options to migrate from existing storage like Unity, SC, PS Series, VNX and XtremIO.
•  Dell Technologies On Demand (DTOD): With DTOD, PowerStore customers can respond to workload spikes and new service requests with elastic capacity and cloud economics. Organizations can choose between two flexible pay-per-use consumption models with short-and-long term commitment options, including a new one year term for flexible consumption. Global support, deployment and managed services can be included to help simplify IT infrastructure management.

Dell EMC Future-Proof Program Adds Anytime Upgrades
PowerStore is covered by the Dell EMC Future-Proof Program, which provides greater choice, predictability and investment protection through new Anytime Upgrades, the industry’s most flexible controller upgrade program[10].

Unlike other controller upgrade programs, customers can expand or enhance their PowerStore performance and capacity after 180 days[11]. The combination of Anytime Upgrades and Dell EMC PowerStore’s adaptable architecture effectively ends disruptive platform migrations.

Cloud Flexibility with PowerStore
Customers can deploy PowerStore in the way that best meets their cloud strategy and business needs:
•  Dell Technologies Cloud Validated Designs for PowerStore for deployment flexibility of demanding workloads in hybrid cloud environments.
•  Dell EMC Cloud Storage Services can directly connect PowerStore to all major public clouds including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure and Google Cloud as a managed service. Cloud Storage Services provide Data Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) to VMware Cloud on AWS.
•  PowerStore can be deployed as a storage option within Dell EMC PowerOne autonomous infrastructure, which accelerates an organization’s shift to cloud-like operations.

Availability
•  Dell EMC PowerStore is now generally available globally.
•  Dell EMC PowerStore will be available as an option for PowerOne autonomous infrastructure this summer.

Customer Quotes

Steven Kuovo, technology architect, Core Technology Service Group, Boston Scientific
“Dell EMC PowerStore’s unique architecture and intelligent automation helps us ensure our resources are being used as efficiently as possible while also making sure we’re prepared to scale compute and storage as we need it. We’re excited at the potential that Dell EMC PowerStore has to transform our IT infrastructure.”

Heather Hitchcock, chief commercialization officer, MIC
“At Medical Informatics Corp. (MIC), scale and flexibility are critical to the success of our clinical surveillance and analytics solutions. Dell EMC PowerStore’s innovative AppsON capability gives us compute and enterprise-class storage in one system, simplifying our infrastructure while reducing our overall storage footprint. It’s a critical feature as we’re helping hospitals rapidly expand bed capacity and creating flexible, scalable remote monitoring of data across connected devices. Now our healthcare providers have the data they need to intervene faster and provide quality care from any location.”

Analyst Quote

Eric Burgener, research vice president, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies Group, IDC
“As organizations modernize their IT infrastructure, they must embrace technology that streamlines operations, eliminates complexity and can scale in the face of exponential data growth. By developing Dell EMC PowerStore through an infrastructure-centric lens, the company has created a platform that can tackle today’s IT challenges while being flexible and scalable enough to meet future IT needs.”

Partner Quote

DeMond Sullivan, chief technology officer, Cumberland Group
“Dell EMC PowerStore’s unprecedented design, automation and flexibility are gamechangers for external and midrange storage architectures.This new platform represents a massive opportunity for us in a key segment of storage and we look forward to our customers seeing it firsthand.”

5 Workflows That Can Jeopardize Your Organization’s Cyber Security

Evaluating These Processes Provides Map for a Robust Security Strategy, Positioning Your Company, Your Customers, and Your Bottom Line for Best Possible Outcome

By Colin D’Cunha

When discussing data breaches, the adage, “It’s not a matter of if, but when” is truer today than ever. Technology’s breakneck pace cuts both ways: The same innovations that emerge to help society can (and will) be manipulated by bad actors to hurt it.

Adding insult to that injury is the unwelcome sidecar of significant cost. Ask the City of Atlanta, which dealt with a ransomware attack in March 2018 to the tune of about $50,000. That initial loss paled in comparison to the recovery cost, which has been reported as more than $2.5 million. But that’s just a flesh wound compared to Equifax’s 2017 trauma that’s racked up more than $240 million to date. And earlier this month, a little-known marketing and data firm named Exactis reportedly leaked information on hundreds of millions of Americans. The financial fallout from that is yet to be seen.

These all reinforce a critical message for organizations: While keeping your systems as bullet proof as possible should be part of the goal, the complete plan must include ways to minimize damage of an inevitable breach. The key component in all of this is early containment, which is commonly referred to as “shifting left in the cyber kill chain.” The earlier a breach is contained, the faster incident response procedures can go into effect and you can minimize damage to the enterprise and restore normal operations. This all translates to less impact to customers, reputation, and bottom line.

Breaches are most effectively contained when the security strategy has addressed at least five primary areas of risk, so starting here will help your organization assess its own risk-profile, find the weaknesses, then manage them for the best continuous visibility and most robust overall plan.

  1. Endpoint Management – Because every endpoint that can connect to resources and host sensitive data is a target for bad actors, organizations can do themselves a world of favors by first identifying these endpoints then ensuring they are properly patched. This includes making sure any applications running on them are fully updated. Improving visibility here also aids in a good detection-and-response strategy.
  2. Email security – Email is still the most popular way in for the bad guys. From phishing to business email compromise, the methods are endless and a constant glimpse into dark creativity. That means organizations should prioritize evaluating this component of their enterprise from top to bottom. Starting with an assertive security awareness and training program that will empower employees and ensure a strong email security posture. Your enterprise security position can improve significantly by just promoting a “do not click it” policy.
  3. Network change compliance and cleanup – A company that knows what its access control list looks like and continuously monitors it for changes is a company that’s committed to staying a step ahead in a race full of troublemakers. This is especially true in agile environments. Cleaning up stale rules and scanning for overly permissive rules should be part of any organization’s continuous visibility strategy.
  4. Data visibility and governance – The thought of a breach that leaks an organization’s most sensitive information is enough to make any executive break out in a cold sweat. One of the most important steps in preventing that nightmare scenario is to identify where your most sensitive data reside and ensure appropriate controls are in place to know who has accessed what, when, and why.
  5. Identity and Access Management – The policies and technologies your organization puts in place to ensure the principle of least privilege is enforced by giving authorized employees roles-based access is critical to your cyber security strategy. Take a close look at your IAM strategy to see if multifactor authentication and privileged access management are part of the program. Additionally, review your user identification lifecycle management process, where provisioning/ deprovisioning protocols and entitlement reviews, are important.

 

With careful review of these five areas, your organization will have a strong template for both where it stands currently and how it should prioritize addressing security concerns. The added benefit of such an evaluation is the resulting map it provides. Knowing where your endpoints are, for example, is the first step in creating a response plan that addresses a breach that uses them as a point of entry. Same for identifying data. Like so much in life, awareness is also key in the world of cyber security. With preparation then continuous monitoring, you’ll be in the best possible position for a successful outcome.