Dell Compellent Storage Enclosures
Balance cost and performance with the right technologies

Overview:

Dell Compellent enterprise-class storage enclosures feature the latest industry-standard technology, including 6 Gb SAS interconnects, so organizations can scale up and out with ease. Administrators can mix SSD, Fibre Channel and SAS drives in the same system, as well as SAS drives with the same form factor (but different speeds and capacities) in the same storage enclosure. Using identical rackspace, 24-bay 2.5" SAS enclosures accommodate more than twice as many drives as 16-bay 3.5" Fibre Channel enclosures. Any combination of Fibre Channel and/or SAS enclosures can be housed in an array to balance cost and performance. And users can change configuration on demand – adding, replacing or updating enclosures – as new technologies emerge and business needs shift. Plus, migrating data to new enclosures can be performed without disruption or downtime by using Live Volume software.

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.

Key Benefits:

Scale on a single, modular hardware platform

With Dell Compellent drives and enclosures, organizations can start with any amount of storage capacity and expand over time, only having to replace components if upgrading to new technologies. You can easily combine drive and enclosure technologies to build a storage solution that optimizes capacity for maximum efficiency with a minimal footprint. Incorporating new technologies is as simple as plugging in new components. And redundant, hot-swappable power supplies and drives, support for multiple RAID levels, and automatic drive failover and rebuild help to ensure data protection.

Store your data on 3.5" or 2.5" drives

Dell Compellent drives feature the latest industry-standard innovations. Organizations can intermix SSD, FC and SAS drives in the same array. 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 3.5" drives support 4Gb FC or 6Gb SAS back-end connectivity. When utilizing 3.5" FC drives, you can select between 15K 300GB, 15K 600GB or 10K 450GB capacities. With 3.5" SAS drives, the options are 15K 450GB, 15K 600GB, 7.2K 1TB or 7.2K 2TB drives. Also available are 2.5" 6Gb SAS drives, which deliver improved performance yet consume about half the power of conventional 3Gb SAS drives. When utilizing 2.5" SAS drives, you can select between 15K 146GB, 10K 450GB, 10K 600GB or 7.2K 1TB.

No matter the combination of drives, your storage environment remains optimized with true storage virtualization. All drives are abstracted and aggregated across the array, creating a high-performance pool of shared storage. With multiple I/O requests processed in parallel, I/O bottlenecks are minimized. Adding automated tiered storage software, called Data Progression™, further increases efficiency and performance by dynamically moving inactive data to lower-cost, high-capacity drives.

You can always add more capacity on the fly to accommodate changing business needs. The system adjusts automatically, restriping data across all drives in the array. Also, migrating data to new drives can be performed without disruption using Dell Compellent Live Volume™ software.

Select the right enclosures for your environment

With Dell Compellent enclosures, administrators always know their systems can benefit from the latest industry-standard innovations, such as 6Gb SAS interconnects. You have the flexibility to mix and match a variety of enclosures—FC or SAS—in the same Dell Compellent Storage Center system. In fact, you can combine SAS drives with the same form factor and transfer rate but different capacities and rotational speeds in the same enclosure. The result is an optimum balance of performance and cost.

Product Views:

	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

	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

Technical Specifications:

* The maximum usable capacity supported by a system varies based on configuration. ** SATA drives and enclosures are supported on existing Storage Center SANs, but are not available for new customers.

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 Drives, Enclosures Datasheet (.PDF)