Dell Compellent Storage Center
Enterprise storage for virtualized data centers and the cloud

Overview:

The Dell Compellent™ Storage Center SAN is an all-in-one storage array that allows organizations to actively manage data at a highly granular level using built-in intelligence and automation. With its Fluid Data architecture, Storage Center always puts data in the right place at the right time for the right cost. This ultra-efficient, easy-to-manage storage solution optimizes drive utilization, dynamically moves data between storage tiers and RAID levels, continuously protects data against downtime and disaster, scales on demand, and quickly adapts to ever-changing business needs. Storage Center enables organizations to cut the time, cost and risk of managing enterprise storage—today and in the future.

Empowered by real-time system information about each block of data, Storage Center optimizes data placement management and protection throughout its lifecycle. Storage is provisioned without wasting capacity. Data is moved where and when it’s needed based on actual use and performance needs. And data is continuously protected using pointer-based snapshots. This level of awareness also enables Storage Center to virtualize the storage infrastructure by creating a pool of high-performance storage shared by all servers and applications.

Dell Compellent™ Storage Center with Fluid Data technology delivers an all-in-one storage array that always puts data in the right place at the right time for the right cost — and dynamically adapts to meet changing business needs.

• Automate and manage your entire infrastructure.
• Protect your data against downtime and disaster.
• Experience best-in-class enterprise support with immediate response.
• Dynamically scales to meet business requirements. Start with any size Storage Center array and expand over time—from 2TB to nearly 2PB, without downtime or disruption
• Supports an intermix of SSD, FC, SAS and SATA drive technologies as well as iSCSI, FCoE, and FC front-end interconnects—all in the same system at the same time
• Supports a unified storage solution for both structured and unstructured data
• Provides Thin Provisioning and Automated Tiered Storage to deliver optimum disk utilization and intelligent data movement
• Delivers Space-Efficient Snapshots and Thin Replication for continuous data protection without wasted capacity
• Provides built-in automation and unified storage management to streamline storage provisioning, management, migration, monitoring and reporting

Manage and virtualize your data efficiently

Dell Compellent Storage Center delivers optimized efficiency, agility and resiliency to scale on a single platform and secure data against downtime and disaster with the multi-protocol Dell Compellent Storage Center featuring Fluid Data technology.

	Efficiency Dell Compellent Storage Center is an enterprise data storage array that delivers high performance with fewer drives, power and space. In fact, with Fluid Data storage, your cost per gigabyte can actually decrease as you grow. Storage virtualization — storage is virtualized at the drive level, creating an ultra-efficient, high-performance pool of storage shared by all servers and applications. Thin provisioning — virtual volumes of any size are provisioned upfront, yet physical capacity is only consumed on write. Automated tiered storage — using granular real-time intelligence, snapshots and inactive data automatically move to lower-cost drives, while new writes and active data remain on high-performance drives.
	Agility Dell Compellent Storage Center forms a solid foundation for flexible grid storage, allowing you to scale up and out with dynamic business continuity. What’s more, you can do it all without downtime or disruption. Technology independence — mix and match the latest drive and interconnect technologies, and easily add new technologies as they become available. Non-disruptive architecture — add capacity, dynamically change system configuration and initiate new functionality online without disrupting operations or suspending data access. Unified storage management — easily manage your entire storage infrastructure and save time and effort through built-in automation. Dynamic business continuity — non-disruptively migrate volumes between storage arrays and data centers, creating an on-demand cloud infrastructure.
	Resiliency The Dell Compellent Storage Center enables you to continuously protect data against downtime and disaster—without the need for full-volume clones, capacity pre-allocation or high-speed data links. Fully redundant hardware and advanced failover features help to ensure high availability. Space-efficient snapshots — once an initial snapshot is taken, only incremental changes in data need to be captured, allowing you to take continuous snapshots for near-instant recovery to any point in time. Thin replication — cost-effectively replicate data synchronously or asynchronously over Fibre Channel or IP connections. Only subsequent changes are replicated following initial site synchronization. Highly-available architecture — deliver uninterrupted data access with clustered controllers, automated failover, dual paths from servers to drives, virtualized ports, and fully redundant power supplies and fans.

Key Benefits:

Manage data differently with a Fluid Data architecture

Storage Center leverages a patented Fluid Data architecture that changes the way organizations manage data. Empowered by real-time system information about each block of data, Storage Center optimizes data placement, management and protection throughout its lifecycle. Storage is provisioned without wasting capacity. Data is moved where it's needed, when it's needed, based on actual use and performance needs. And data is continuously protected using pointer-based snapshots. This level of data awareness also enables Storage Center to virtualize the storage infrastructure, bringing new efficiency, agility and resiliency to enterprise storage by creating a pool of high-performance storage shared by all servers and applications.

Scale on a persistent, open, agile platform

Storage Center is built on a flexible, persistent hardware platform that dynamically scales to meet business requirements. Unlike systems that require you to rip and replace technology as your business needs change, Storage Center supports the continual adoption of new technologies as you grow. You can easily mix and match drive technologies and build a unified storage solution without ever worrying about a forklift upgrade.

Organizations can start with any size Storage Center array and expand over time, only having to replace components if upgrading to new technologies. You can intermix SSD, FC and SAS drive technologies, as well as iSCSI, FCoE and FC front-end interconnects—all in the same system at the same time. This allows you to use any combination of industry-standard technology at any time, and you can add capacity or make configuration changes without downtime or disruption. Incorporating the latest data center technologies is as simple as plugging in new components on the fly. Storage Center adjusts automatically, restriping data across all drives and updating the in-flight use characteristics.

Increase storage efficiency with intelligent, automated software

Dell Compellent Fluid Data technology empowers organizations to move beyond simply storing data to actively managing data. Built-in intelligence and automation optimize the storage environment, and every enterprise feature is fully integrated for optimum efficiency, flexibility and performance.

Storage Center leverages a comprehensive software suite with advanced functionality. At the core of the solution is true storage virtualization, which pools all resources across the array for maximum efficiency and performance. Thin provisioning software, called Dynamic Capacity™, ensures capacity is only utilized on write. Data Progression™, automated tiered storage software, dynamically moves data to the optimum tier and RAID level. Space-efficient snapshot technology, called Data Instant Replay™, ensures near-instant recovery to any point in time. Remote Instant Replay™ provides thin replication to provide a cost-effective yet highly robust disaster recovery solution. And dynamic business continuity software, called Live Volume™, allows for the online movement of volumes between arrays without disruption. Plus, you can manage your entire storage infrastructure using advanced automation and a single pane of glass.

Product Views:

GalleryFeatures

	16 x 3.5" Drives FC Enclosure Front View
	12 x 3.5" Drives SAS Enclosure Front View
	24 x 2.5" Drives SAS Enclosure Front View
	Network Attached Storage Front View
	Storage Controllers Front View

	16 x 3.5" Drives FC Enclosure Rear View
	12 x 3.5" Drives SAS Enclosure Rear View
	24 x 2.5" Drives SAS Enclosure Rear View
	Network Attached Storage Rear View
	Storage Controllers Rear View

Storage Controllers Allows organizations to select single- or dual-controller configurations with a combination of industry-standard front- and back-end interconnects to meet cost, performance and availability requirements.	Network Attached Storage Enable you to consolidate file- and block-based data onto a single unified platform designed for efficiency and scalability.
Disk Enclosures Feature the latest industry-standard technology, including 6Gb SAS interconnects, so organizations can scale up and out with ease.	Drives Organizations can combine SSD, Fibre Channel, SAS and NLSAS drives in the same system.

Technical Specifications:

The Dell Compellent Storage Center SAN is built on a flexible, persistent platform that supports the continual adoption of new technologies as you grow. You can easily intermix drive technologies and build a unified storage solution without worrying about a forklift upgrade. Integrated software applications allow you to move beyond simply storing data to actively, intelligently managing data to cut the time, cost and risk of enterprise storage.

Interface	Hardware
Management interface Centralized interface streamlines administration and speeds common storage management tasks.	Host connectivity FC iSCSI FCoE Drive & enclosure connectivity FC SAS NAS Dell NX3000 for Dell Compellent Dell Compellent zNAS Controllers Clustered controllers provide automatic failover Seamlessly connects to any open-systems server without the need for server agents Mix and match Fibre Channel, FCoE and iSCSI server connectivity
Software
Applications A powerful suite of enterprise capabilities to manage your data. Automated tiered storage Thin provisioning Storage virtualization Continuous snapshots Remote replication Reporting and alerts (APP)

*Requires Storage Center 6.0 and optional memory upgrade **See Dell Compellent Compatibility Matrix for latest supported Operating Systems.

Hardware:

Storage controllers The Dell Compellent Fluid Data architecture allows organizations to select single- or dual-controller configurations with a combination of industry-standard front- and back-end interconnects to meet cost, performance and availability requirements. The Storage Center SAN supports 4/8Gb Fibre Channel, 1/10Gb iSCSI and 10Gb Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) front-end connectivity as well as 4Gb Fibre Channel and 3/6Gb SAS for back-end connectivity. Dell Compellent storage controllers connect to open-system servers without server-side agents, and automatically fail over to another controller when clustered. Redundant, hot-swappable power supplies and cooling fans help to ensure non-stop operation and high availability. Virtual ports increase port capacity, disk bandwidth, I/O connectivity and port failover. Persistent hardware architecture for no forklift upgrades Upgrade and add technology over time on same platform Standards-based hardware helps to avoid technology lock-in Connect servers and disks with ease via PCI cards Controller clustering for high availability Shared-nothing approach for no single point of failure High-speed mirrored, write-back cache to prevent data loss

Network Attached Storage

Beyond the multi-protocol SAN capabilities of Storage Center, Dell Compellent also extends the benefits of Fluid Data into network attached storage. Dell Compellent NAS solutions enable you to consolidate file- and block-based data onto a single unified platform designed for efficiency and scalability.

Dell Compellent’s NAS portfolio allows you to select the best architecture for your IT environment. The Dell Compellent zNAS is ideal for midsize and large organizations with pure NFS or mixed CIFS/NFS environments, while the NX3000 for Compellent is optimal in pure CIFS environments. 

With Dell Compellent NAS solutions, file serving operations remain separate from application operations to avoid bottlenecks from CPU-intensive processes. Clustered configurations, hardware redundancy, and the ability to add storage capacity on the fly further enhance availability, with active/ active failover and advanced multipathing (MPxIO) helping to ensure that there is no single point of failure.

Disk enclosures

Dell Compellent disk enclosures feature the latest industry-standard technology, including 6Gb SAS interconnects, so organizations can scale up and out with ease. Administrators can mix SSD, Fibre Channel, SAS and NLSAS drives in the same system as well as different speeds and capacities in the same enclosure.

Any combination of enclosures can be housed in an array to balance cost and performance. Users can change configuration on demand—adding, replacing or updating enclosures—as new technologies emerge and business needs change. Migrating data to new enclosures can be performed without disruption.

Drives

Dell Compellent drives feature the latest industry-standard innovations. Organizations can combine SSD, Fibre Channel, SAS and NLSAS drives in the same system. Administrators simply choose the drive types, capacities, form factors, transfer rates and rotational speeds that make sense for their business and application needs. Dell Compellent Data Progression software automates the movement of data among drive types in the storage pool—between tiers and RAID levels, including RAID levels within the same tier.

Dell Compellent 3.5" disk drives support 4Gb Fibre Channel and 3/6Gb SAS back-end connectivity. Also available are 2.5" 6Gb SAS drives, which deliver twice the performance, yet consume much less power than conventional 3Gb SAS drives.

With Dell Compellent Fluid Data storage, you can add disk capacity on the fly as business needs change. Also, migrating data to new drives can be performed without disruption.

• Scale from 2TB to nearly 2 PB on a single system
• Expand or migrate storage online without disruption

Software:

Intelligent, automated software

Fluid Data technology empowers organizations to move beyond simply storing data to actively managing data. Built-in intelligence and automation optimize the storage environment, and every advanced enterprise feature is fully integrated for optimum efficiency, flexibility and performance.

Dell Compellent Fluid Data technology virtualizes storage at the disk level, accelerating data access by spreading read/write operations across drives so multiple requests are processed in parallel. You can create high-performance, ultraefficient virtual volumes in seconds without allocating drives to specific servers, complicated capacity planning or manual performance tuning. Remove the limitations of physical drives and dynamically change and scale your virtualized pool without disruption or downtime.

Dynamic Capacity: thin provisioning

Built into every Dell Compellent Storage Center system, thin provisioning delivers efficient storage utilization. Our advanced thin provisioning, called Dynamic Capacity, completely separates storage allocation from utilization, enabling users to allocate any size volume upfront yet only consume physical capacity on write. You can even reclaim capacity that is no longer in use by applications, automatically reduce the space needed for virtual OS volumes and convert traditional volumes on existing storage to thin-provisioned capacity.

Data Progression: Automated tiered storage

Based on actual use and performance requirements, Dell Compellent Data Progression automatically classifies and migrates data to the optimum tier an d RAID level. All new data is written to Tier 1, RAID 10, for the highest write performance, yet snapshots automatically move to the lowest tier and most cost-effective RAID level within 24 hours. The most active blocks of data remain on high-performance SSD, Fibre Channel or SAS drives, while inactive blocks dynamically migrate to lower-cost, high-capacity NL-SAS drives. With Data Progression, organizations can dramatically reduce ongoing costs of storage.

Data Instant Replay: Space-efficient snapshots

Dell Compellent Data Instant Replay enables organizations to take thousands of continuous snapshots to speed recovery to any point in time. Fluid Data technology doesn’t require full-volume clones — not even to provide a base snapshot. Instead, after first write an initial snapshot is taken of that write data only. Subsequently, only incremental changes in data are captured and the system uses real-time intelligence to create virtual pointers between all associated blocks. Stored on lower-cost drives to free up Tier 1 capacity, in most cases these readable/writable snapshots can be used to recover any size volume to any server in less than 10 seconds.

Remote Instant Replay: Thin replication

Dell Compellent thin replication technology, called Remote Instant Replay, leverages space-efficient snapshots between local and remote sites to deliver a cost-effective disaster recovery solution. After initial site synchronization, only incremental changes in data need to be replicated regularly, cutting hardware, bandwidth and administration costs. You can choose between replicating data over Fibre Channel or native IP connections, depending on your unique business requirements.

Live Volume: Dynamic business continuity

Dell Compellent Live Volume enables organizations to move volumes on demand between Storage Center arrays within a local storage grid. All migration occurs transparently while applications remain online. And the functionality is fully integrated into the virtualized storage platform, eliminating the need for additional hardware or server-side agents. Live Volume supports any virtualized server environment. In fact, migrated volumes automatically map to associated hosts regardless of physical location to Dell complement leading virtual machine movement engines.

Storage Center GUI: Intuitive management

Dell Compellent Storage Center features a unified, point-and-click interface that cuts administration time and eliminates the need for specialized skills. The intuitive interface automates repetitive, time-consuming tasks so data center staff can focus on other important projects. Complex allocation, configuration and administration functions are easily accomplished with wizards to guide the process. And comprehensive PhoneHome capabilities deliver remote, diagnostic and monitoring tools coupled with automated alert and notification services.

Enterprise Manager: Enterprise storage management

Enterprise Manager simplifies storage resource management by providing comprehensive monitoring and management of all local and remote Dell Compellent Storage Center systems. You can gain instant visibility and control of a multi-terabyte, multilocation environment, streamlining administration and reducing operating costs. Configure and verify remote replication processes, monitor storage capacity and disk utilization in real time, and generate comprehensive storage usage and performance reports — all from a single pane of glass.

Data Center Automation: Technology partner integration

With aggressive platform integration, ongoing interoperability testing and collaborative design efforts, Dell Compellent delivers best-of-breed data center automation for industry-leading applications. Dell Compellent has a vast array of integration points with VMware to manage storage and virtual machines together including a vSphere plug-in, a vCenter SRM adapter and VAAI plug-in support.The Storage Center Command Set for Windows® PowerShell streamlines system management with an intuitive scripting interface. Replay Manager provides consistent, automated backup and restore for Microsoft® Exchange, SQL Server and Hyper-V data. These certified and validated platforms ensure seamless interoperability and support.

Fluid Data Architecture:

A Dell Fluid Data architecture enables Dell Compellent network storage to manage enterprise data at a more granular level. Details about each block of data are captured in action, providing real-time system intelligence. A powerful data management and movement engine uses this information to actively store, migrate and protect data efficiently and cost-effectively.

With a Dell Fluid Data architecture, Dell Compellent breaks through the boundaries of traditional data storage systems to deliver solutions with the future built in. Business applications are implemented faster, information to make decisions is available when it's needed, new technologies are readily adopted and deployed, and data is protected against downtime and disaster.

Dell Fluid Data Architecture Delivers

• Breakthrough efficiency—buy fewer drives and use more Tier 3 storage, saving on power and space
• Intelligent storage automation—simplify your IT infrastructure with zero-touch management
• Single platform scalability—scale on demand with a persistent, technology-independent platform
• Continuous data protection—protect data with space-efficient snapshots and multi-site replication
• Best-in-class comprehensive enterprise support—like having a Dell Compellent expert on staff

Services:

Dell Compellent Copilot Support

Dell Compellent Copilot Support delivers proactive, comprehensive 24x7 technical support that covers the entire storage infrastructure. Operating out of a state-of-the-art U.S. call center, Dell Compellent Copilot engineers continuously monitor system performance and alert customers of potential issues. Dell Compellent Copilot Support provides:

• 24x7 access to highly trained Dell Compellent Copilot Support engineers.
• Priority or next business day on-site* response by Dell Compellent-certified technicians.
• Priority, next business day or UPS ground delivery of replacement parts.
• Real-time storage system monitoring via integrated PhoneHome technology.

Dell Compellent Copilot Support enables you to choose the right level of phone support, on-site support and parts delivery for your unique business needs. Every call is answered by a highly trained Copilot engineer, who takes ownership of the entire storage infrastructure, including third-party technology partner products.

Dell Compellent Services

Dell Services storage experts go beyond everyday administration to help you improve the performance and utilization of your Compellent Storage Center system. The Dell Compellent Services portfolio provides system installation and implementation, as well as training. From disaster recovery planning to physical relocation, the Dell Services team is available to provide professional assistance when you need it.

• Dell Compellent Deployment. Implement fast. Implement correctly. Implement once. No need for your IT staff to spend time researching correct processes and advanced configuration task sequences, or purchasing the correct tools. We can reduce costs and relieve your IT department of the time consuming implementation tasks that otherwise divert valuable IT resources from business critical activities. 
  
  We bring two unmatched values to every implementation: deep knowledge of our products and broad experience deploying them. We do 1000’s of deployments every year across the globe, in just about every type of customer environment. From this vast experience we have acquired best practices that are integrated into our processes. As a result we are very well aware of what undocumented activity must occur to avoid mistakes. In addition to doing it right the first time, we rarely encounter situations or issues for which we are not prepared. So, you can be confident your new Dell Compellent storage system is installed properly, configured per the design specifications and that your data is migrated safely from your legacy storage system without disrupting operations or end-users.

• Dell Compellent Training. Our Administration and Management and Advanced Instructor-led courses are designed to help you understand how to manage and maintain your Storage Center on an ongoing basis to ensure efficient utilization and continuous availability. These courses are led by our knowledgeable storage experts who will guide you through hands-on exercises to ensure you gain the necessary skills to maximize your Storage Center performance.
  
  Dell Education Services trains over 10,000 individuals a year for companies and organizations just like yours. We are committed to offering essential courses and programs with options to fit your unique needs. We create a wide array of training plans that work for you ranging from convenient online self-paced training, to Live Distance Learning which allows you to virtually be in the classroom with a live instructor while sitting in front of your own computer, to hands-on instructor-led classroom training offered at various sites or at the convenience of your location.

Dell Storage Consulting Services

Storage Consulting from Dell helps customers develop transformational strategies to meet their complex Data Management business needs. By engaging Dell, customers can optimize the way that data is stored, protected and managed, allowing customers to free up valuable resources, budget, and time. Here are just some of the areas with which we can assist you:

• The consolidation of storage infrastructure within one/multiple data centers
• The optimization of storage infrastructure for virtual environments
• The development and adoption of data protection processes or improvement of backup operational processes
• The classification and categorization of data for storage tiering
• The planning, design and implementation of an IT Disaster Recovery plan or simply Data Disaster Recovery

Documentation:

Dell Compellent Storage Center Datasheet (.PDF)

Dell Compellent Storage Center Specsheet (.PDF)