Dell DX Object Storage Platform

Object storage is the intelligent evolution of disk storage - creating, storing and distributing variable-sized data objects, and their associated metadata, rather than simply placing blocks of data on tracks and sectors. Each object has its rich metadata inextricably linked to it, enabling long-term preservation while ensuring data remains safe and accessible over time.

Simple architecture A flat-address-space design removes file-system complexity and the need to manage LUNs and RAID groups.   Cost-effectiveness Automated management, SATA and near-line SAS based storage and modular scaling approach offers low total cost of ownership.   Metadata By incorporating metadata into objects, you can apply preservation, retention and deletion policies, lower management resources, and facilitate enhanced discovery.   Enhanced scalability An extremely large number of available addresses means a common pool of storage can support literally billions of objects.

Information is only valuable when it can be accessed, but keeping it readily available can be cumbersome and expensive. With Dell DX Object Storage Platform, you can simplify data management while easily expanding capacity.

Object-based and metadata-aware disk storage lets you identify and retrieve information quickly, better leverage your data for decision-making, automatically manage that data from creation through deletion, and minimize your dependence on complex and sometimes unreliable tape storage.

Policy-based management features automated, object-level retention and deletion based on metadata, eliminating the human errors, access and preservation problems that increase risk and drive up costs. Self-healing function continuously self-manages the integrity of stored objects to detect and repair errors and automatically reconfigures and regenerates objects without the need for IT intervention. Easy interface employs simple HTTP, optional DX6000G for CIFS/NFS, and offers a native API SDK integration toolkit. Dell ProConsultTM  Services* can work collaboratively with you to help design a system that fits your specific needs.

Dell DX Object Storage Platform is also supported by a large and ever-growing number of independent software vendors (ISVs) who can help maximize your investment by utilizing a common object-storage pool for multiple applications.

Dell is developing integrations with partners in areas such as medical archiving, file, e-mail and SharePoint archiving, as well as eDiscovery and enterprise content management spaces. Information for ISV partners who would like to be a part of this program can be found here.

You can be confident that DX Object Storage will scale to keep pace with your growth. Ideal for large-scale digital content and long-term data storage, object storage empowers your organization to add capacity without the setup and management complexity and the costs of performance storage.

Massively expand your system, scaling in amounts as small as 3TB* up to multiple petabytes and billions of objects, without the complexity or limitations of a traditional file system. Flexible, peer-scaling architecture allows you to scale at your own pace, ensuring a perfect balance between capacity and throughput. Cloud enabling DX Object Storage allows users to build a digital content cloud that can be leveraged across an organization for governance, discovery and business intelligence. Multi-Tenancy with Named Objects allows customers to store and retrieve objects using a single name. As a result, it means that DX Object Storage can support multi-tenancy, which is the ability to separate data from different users on one big pool of storage, maintaining access to different sets (domains and buckets) of data by only certain users. This is a technology that is appealing to cloud storage providers and users who are looking to implement private clouds in their organization. Transparent Read Cache: DX nodes can cache frequently read objects in memory using a configurable amount of RAM leading to greatly reduced latency in providing data to the user. This provides improved performance for accessing content that is in high demand – similar to how content delivery networks operate. Foundational Storage Tier provides access to unstructured data for multiple applications, securing data in one place for risk and cost management and enabling enhanced discovery and decision-making capabilities.

Superb cost management The eye-opening value of DX Object Storage can help cut storage costs versus traditional performance storage methods, allowing you to affordably store and access your digital content without locking yourself into a costly, inflexible strategy. Standards-based x86 hardware Built on Dell’s rack-based server platform that is optimized for storage. End-to-end solution Fully integrated hardware and software solution with available design, implementation and support services. Transparent upgrades As storage needs evolve, you can easily add, replace or retire nodes without any manual migration requirements. Power optimization Configure power-optimization features, such as drive spin-down, to meet specific use-case and cost priorities.

Dell DX Object Storage Platform offers several configurations to meet current and future customer needs:

	DX6000 Cluster Services Node provides content routing, network and replicator services for the DX solution.
	4-drive DX storage node
	12-drive DX storage node
	(Optional) DX6000G Cluster File Server provides standard CIFS and NFS file protocol access to the DX solution

Base configurations consist of one (1) DX6000 and two (2) of the same type DX storage nodes. Optional inclusion of a DX6000G Cluster File Server node for CIFS/NFS accessibility.