Dell EMC PowerMax: VMAX Product Line's Powerful New Successor

Newest Dell EMC offering at work in the ATC

Customers are constantly lining up to get their hands on the latest storage innovations in our Advanced Technology Center (ATC). As one of the first technology solution providers to bolster lab functionality to support NVMe storage arrays, we are able to showcase how this newer storage technology can impact their applications and on-premise highest tier workloads.

Significant investment has been made in the ATC to demonstrate specifically how NVMe and NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) can dramatically increase the performance they need to support the highest demanding application and database performance.

In the fall of 2018, ATC architects deployed Dell EMC’s PowerMax 2000 NVMe-based array into our state-of-the-art Flash lab testing facility. WWT architects worked directly with Dell EMC to beta test this array early in 2018, prior to its general release to the public announced at Dell EMC World 2018 in May.

We now have the ability to present this array to our customers that have a heightened interest in how the PowerMax differs from its predecessor, VMAX All-Flash (250F/950F). The PowerMax 2000 is Dell EMC’s take on “NVMe done right.”

PowerMax differentiation: a solid foundation

Over the course of my seventeen years working with Dell EMC storage products, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the evolution of the products that make up the portfolio. They continue to innovate with every release, and PowerMax is no different.

This product is a game changer, as its place in the portfolio will do to the industry what the VMAX did to the Symmetrix and in turn, what the VMAX3 and VMAX All-Flash systems did to the first generation of VMAX platforms.

In the past we all can remember how Symmetrix products offered up game-changing stability with advanced architecture that was OEM-locked for on-demand modifications (think bin file changes, disk expansions, cache slot modifications, etc.). Innovations like Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST and FASTVP) were instrumental in allowing customers to dip their toes into the All-Flash Storage Market.

From an architecturally advanced, detailed direct matrix symmetrical system that was locked down to a much more customer friendly deployment today — Dell EMC continues to innovate in this space without jeopardizing the reputation of the platform.

PowerMax 2000 test lab in the ATC

PowerMax Lab in the ATC

Always preparing for the road ahead

Data center teams across the world have deployed VMAX for its stability and reliability. PowerMax gives customers this same level of comfort while adding NVMe to the equation. In future releases of the product, PowerMax will be the foundation needed for customers to deploy Storage Class Memory (SCM) into the tier one class storage array space.

As one of the very first to provide NVMe storage testing, the ATC houses the infrastructure needed to show how the transition will look from today’s traditional storage protocols, as NVMe-oF matures and SCM grabs ahold of the storage world.

If you have an IT infrastructure challenge that might benefit from a different approach to data center modernization, you’re invited to bring it to us. Experience a hands-on demonstration of WWT’s unique approach using the ATC ecosystem, or as we like to call it: “Silicon Valley in St. Louis.”