Key software features Dell Compellent Benefi ts

Dynamic CapacityTM

Thin Provisioning – included

in every system, charged as

an expansion license

Dell Compellent Thin Provisioning eliminates the pre-allocated but

unused capacity of traditional storage systems by allocating capacity

only when data is written to a user volume.

Dell Compellent provides advanced Thin Provisioning features

for the entire storage pool, including Free Space Recovery

and Thin Import.

Fluid Data Architecture

The Foundation of

the Dell Compellent SAN

Fluid Data architecture records and tracks specifi c information about

each block of data and provides the Storage Center intelligence on

how each block is being used.

This powerful data management and movement engine

uses block-level information to store, migrate and recover

data cost-eff ectively.

Thin Import

Data Migration Functionality

Migrate data without server tools and eliminate allocated but

unused space.

“White space” is “squeezed” out during data migration,

delivering more usable capacity.

Boot from SAN Diskless server boot image and operating system can be stored on

the SAN. Able to copy and replicate the boot image.

Other SANs may consume excess capacity with full volume

clones of boot images, and limit the number of boot images

and servers that can boot from the SAN.

Enterprise Manager

Single Pane of

Glass Management

Intuitive management console provides comprehensive monitoring

and customizable reporting for capacity and performance of all local

and remote Storage Center systems.

Other SANs may provide similar capabilities but at a higher cost.

Require expensive third-party software integration and use

multiple, diffi cult to manage interfaces.

Dynamic Controllers

Redundant Controllers

Dual controllers provide a robust solution and create high-availability

clusters, on-the-fl y maintenance and upgrades.

Other SANs may require downtime for software upgrades, limit

controllers to redundant pairs for failover or have a backplane

with a shared point of failure.

Data Instant Replay

Snapshot Software

Pointer-based snapshot software with no pre-allocated space

requirements and a high number of snapshots for instant recovery

from a point in time.

Other SANs may require pre-allocation of space and support

a limited number of snapshots. Also require identical SAN

confi gurations at remote sites.

Remote Instant Replay

Remote Replication Software

Asynchronous and/or synchronous replication of continuous

snapshots between local and remote sites helps to deliver disaster

recovery at a fraction of the cost.

Other SANs may require space reservation for replication and

expensive add-on components.

Live Volume

Dynamic Business Continuity

Live Volume acts as a storage hypervisor, actively presenting storage

to two Dell Compellent arrays at the same time, allowing organiza-

tions to provide continuous data availability.

Live Volume is a fraction of the cost of other solutions. Live

Volumes can be easily created, deleted or updated without

downtime. And it is fully integrated with the Fluid Data

architecture.

Data Progression

Automatic Block-Level Data

Migration between Disk Tiers

Automated, block-level data migration “inside the volume” that

moves blocks of data to the optimum storage tier and RAID level

based on usage and performance needs.

Proven, mature, in-use technology with 5 years of customer

results in production. Granular integrated and automated.

Not model or platform specifi c.

Fast Track

Automatic Block-Level Data

Movement to the Fastest

Tracks on a Disk

Automatically moves the most frequently used data to the fastest

outer tracks of each disk drive, off ering increased performance of

up to 25 percent.

Compellent Fast Track technology is designed to enhance 

Data Progression by placing the most frequently accessed

data on the fastest, or outer, tracks of each disk drive.

Portable Volume

Enterprise-Class External

Drives to Jumpstart

Replication

Preconfi gured for use with Dell Compellent storage, Portable

Volume can cut initial replication synchronization time from months

to days without the need for dedicated high-speed data links or

duplicate arrays.

Dell Compellent is the only vendor with a fully-integrated

solution for initial replication synchronization.

Virtual Ports

Virtualize, Share and Move

FC or iSCSI Port Connections

Virtual Ports simplifi es confi gurations and helps lower hardware costs

by reducing the number of physical I/O ports required in network

switches and Dell Compellent controllers.

More fl exibility and availability than legacy solutions.

Dell Compellent Copilot Support: helps identify and solve problems before they happen.

Perpetual Software Licensing

Base License covers the fi rst 16 ACTIVE disk drives regardless of size/capacity.

Expansion Licenses cover increments of 8 ACTIVE disk drives over the initial 16 ACTIVE disk drives, regardless of size/capacity. Spare drives are not counted in the license, only active drives.

No additional software license charges when the confi guration exceeds 96 ACTIVE disk drives.

Long Term Financial Value

Perpetual Software – Customer “owns” the software license in perpetuity. Please note: maintenance/support is required for patches, updates, new versions, etc.

Persistent HW Architecture – Protect technology investment by integrating latest generation hardware in existing platforms.

Dell Compellent Fluid Data Storage: Redefi ning the Data Center

Storage Area Network (SAN) with a single-model

architecture designed to scale from 6 disk drives

to 1,008 disk drives in a single footprint. No more

forklift upgrades. Supports iSCSI, Fibre Channel

and NAS connectivity with an intermix of Fibre

Channel, SAS and SSD drives.

The Best Questions to Uncover SAN Opportunities

Have you adopted server virtualization? Do you have a SAN to support it?

To take full advantage of server virtualization, you need to leverage storage

virtualization as well. The Dell Compellent SAN can help amplify the benefi ts

of server virtualization, increasing utilization and improving availability.

Do you have a Disaster Recovery plan? How long does it take you to recover?

With Dell Compellent, you can recover to a server in seconds and implement

replication at lower cost than traditional systems.

What is your storage growth rate? Are you storing inactive data on high-

performance drives? How do you decide what data to store on your

highest performing drives?

If you think about it, email data, old attachments and calendar invites really

shouldn’t be on your highest performing storage. Your Dell Compellent

account team can explain how to automatically tier your storage to help

save you both time and money.

What percentage of space is unutilized or underutilized?

Think about what saving capacity could do for your budget. Set up some

time with a storage architect to discuss the space-saving benefi ts of new

storage features like Thin Provisioning.

Talking to Your Customer About Dell Compellent

Customer Pain Points

Storage Utilization: Storage capacity is often wasted on empty but allocated

space. Dell Compellent only uses space for actual data.

Inactive Data: A majority of enterprise data is inactive and stored on high-

cost disks. Dell Compellent maximizes low-cost, high-performance drives.

System Complexity: Traditional storage systems may be diffi cult and time-

consuming to manage. Dell Compellent allows a single user to manage

more storage.

Data and Disaster Recovery: Outages consume resources and impact

production. Recovery from tape is slow and unreliable. Dell Compellent

helps users restore quickly from a large quantity of snapshots.

Forklift Upgrades: Technology obsolescence and wasted capex is a real risk.

Dell Compellent scales on a single platform.

Need for Virtual Infrastructure: Infl exible data centers can’t support

changing business demands. Dell Compellent complements any leading

virtual server platform.

Power, Cooling and Floorspace: Energy costs are skyrocketing, and

many organizations are running out of power and data center fl oorspace.

Dell Compellent optimizes resource utilization to help reduce energy

consumption, the data center footprint and overall storage costs.

1 To learn more, customers and Dell Channel Partners should contact local sales representative

for more information, or visit www.dell.com/services or www.compellent.com.

Key Diff erentiators

Effi ciency

• Data spread across all spindles per tier, rebalances automatically when more spindles added

• Automatic, bi-directional, block-level movement of data between storage tiers, RAID levels and arrays

• No reserve space required for snapshots or replication

• Eliminate costly software upgrades between platforms

Agility

• Learn to manage your Dell Compellent SAN the same day it is installed

• Provision new capacity in seconds

• Easily and quickly customizable

Resiliency

• High quantity space-effi cient snapshots per volume

• Replication simulation and bandwidth QoS tools

• Any-to-any Thin Replication (FC, IP, sync or async)

Scalability

• From 1 to 1,000TB on a single platform, upgrade quickly

• Scale out with Live Volume

Persistent Hardware

• Adapt to new technologies as they become available

• Connectivity intermix (iSCSI, FC, NAS)

• Drive intermix (SSD, FC, SAS)

Dell Compellent Copilot Support 1

• Copilot Support provides auto-pilot for your SAN

• Single point of contact for your entire storage environment

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