Dell EqualLogic PS4000 Arrays: Cost-Effective iSCSI SANs for SMBs and Remote Offices

Small and medium businesses (SMBs) and remote or branch offices (ROBOs) within large organizations have traditionally avoided the perceived cost and complexity of networked storage. But although internal server storage and direct attach storage (DAS) are generally easy and relatively inexpensive to deploy compared with networked storage, they also come with a variety of disadvantages.

New Dell^TM  EqualLogic^TM  PS4000 Internet SCSI (iSCSI) storage area network (SAN) arrays are designed with SMBs and ROBOs in mind. For SMBs, the arrays incorporate the same enterprise-class features as EqualLogic PS6000 arrays, but optimized and scaled down for limited deployments at a lower cost of entry—while still integrating with higher-end EqualLogic arrays to support scaling as business needs grow. For ROBOs, the arrays can work with EqualLogic arrays in the primary data center to enable simplified data protection and administration. And for large enterprises looking to use iSCSI for departmental applications, they offer an easy way to quickly get a full-featured iSCSI SAN up and running while helping ensure that administrators can later scale up the deployment.

Benchmark tests performed by Principled Technologies in June 2009 help demonstrate EqualLogic PS4000 capacity and performance. Under three simultaneous workloads—Dell DVD Store Version 2 (DS2) with a Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 database workload, Microsoft Exchange Load Generator (LoadGen) with an Exchange Server 2007 messaging workload, and Microsoft File Server Capacity Tool (FSCT) as a file server workload—an EqualLogic PS4000XV array was able to support up to 2,700 total users with sufficient I/O headroom to handle additional tasks.

For SMBs and ROBOs within large enterprises, minimizing costs and complexity is critical. Dell EqualLogic PS4000 iSCSI SAN arrays offer powerful enterprise-class features and high levels of reliability, performance, scalability, and data protection in a simple, capable, cost-effective storage array.

By Suresh Jasrasaria

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