Storage Software

(editor's note - The virtualization news from VMworld continues to abound...this post comes to us from Achmad Chadran in our EqualLogic solutions group)

Citrix just released an integration module that sets a new high-water mark for virtualization. We’ve already begun work documenting the experiences of customers who’ve deployed our EqualLogic SANs in virtual-server environments, and I’m psyched to post their stories. But by incorporating key EqualLogic functionality directly into their XenCenter user interface, the integration module goes even further, by:

· Streamlining the VM provisioning process all the way through the creation and assignment of virtual disk drives

· Relieving XenServer resources from having to perform burdensome storage tasks

· Taking storage technology further out of its traditional “black arts” realm and into a more business-focused IT culture

I believe the industry will soon see much more integration along these lines, as expanding virtualization breaks down walls that once separated different domains. But the embrace of virtualized storage is especially significant. Much of virtualization’s promise lies in resource consolidation and centralized control; paradoxically, these trends also make IT assets more vulnerable to catastrophic outages. To head off such catastrophe, enterprise networks need storage solutions that can guarantee vital levels of data protection, process automation and operational simplification.

Citrix’s new module, made available today as part of its new XenServer 5.0 Dell Edition, is a very cool piece of engineering, but one that only hints at the shape of IT to come.

Check out this streaming-video demo or download a Solution Brief for more information.

(editor's note - this post comes to us courtesy of Tim Sherbak, one of our virtualization gurus)

The VMworld show is next week in Las Vegas and we'll be there in a big way.  We'll be there to show solutions highlighting data protection, disaster recovery, consolidation, virtual desktops, and systems management.  We’ve got a series of live demos in the booth including a full VMware environment built from our new blade and rack servers and the new Dell EqualLogic PS5500E.  We’ll be demonstrating VMware Site Recovery Manager as well as the new Auto-Snapshot Manager/VMware Edition, Blade Server Management, Chassis System Controller and our OpenManage system management tools. 

In addition, we’ve got some exceptionally innovative technology demos that VMware and Dell engineering have put together. 

Some of the new products we'll have there include the new quad core M905* blade and 4 socket 6 core R900* rack Power Edge servers, Dell EqualLogic PS5500E, Auto-Snapshot Manager/VMware Edition, our integration with VMware’s Site Recovery Manager, the Dell | EMC CX4, our on-demand desktop streaming (ODDS) and virtual remote desktop (VRD) solutions.   We’re even raffling off a couple of new Dell Latitude E laptops to some lucky attendees. 

Here’s a few of the breakout sessions that Dell is participating in or contributed content to and gives you an idea of some of the areas of our focus and energy.

• Dell Keynote Presentation: The Intelligent, Automated IT Infrastructure (KNDell)
• Managing Power and Cooling with Virtualization (PO2514)
• Server and Storage Sizing Best Practices for VMware VDI (VD2505)
• Planning and Implementing Simple, Affordable, Automated Disaster Recovery Through Dell | Virtualization Solution (BC2512)
• Operational Readiness – Truth and Fiction (PO2535)
• Fulfilling Regulatory Requirements in the Healthcare Industry Using VMware Virtualized Infrastructure (BC2411)
• VM-Aware Storage: A Blueprint for VMware Infrastructure Integration with Storage Hardware (TA1465)

A couple of interesting notes on a few of these breakout sessions. 

· John Joseph is providing our keynote presentation.  As you may or may not know, John comes to Dell as a part of the EqualLogic acquisition and has been fully involved in the virtualization market and intimately tied in to EqualLogic’s VMware partnership over the past several years.

· BC2411 is being delivered by Donald Wilkins of Navicure Inc. highlighting his virtualized environment built on Dell equipment and his experience in being one of the first to deploy VMware Site Recovery Manager.  For more on his implementation, check out our case study.

· TA1465 is being presented by Scott Davis, from VMware’s CTO office and reflects upon some interesting developments underway to optimize the integration of VMware and SANs (and smartly ties into the technology demos we’re demonstrating at the Dell booth – more on that later).

· VD2505 reflects upon a joint engineering project between VMware and Dell to analyze and understand infrastructure sizing requirements for virtual desktop workloads (a sneak peak of this presentation was just broadcast over the web. See it here. More than 700 people have signed up for the breakout session!  Virtual desktops are the new hotness.

· BC2512 is effectively a free hour of disaster recovery consulting from our Dell professional services group that also details implementing VMware Site Recovery Manager as a disaster recovery solution.

Also, be sure to check out the Akorri booth (#1314) where they will have a “Live” demo of Akorri BalancePoint managing multiple VMs in an ESX cluster running on Dell PowerEdge servers with Dell EqualLogic storage. It’s a great example of a Dell virtualized data center in a box.

And of course we’ll have a whole slew of virtualization experts on hand to consult with VMworld attendees. In fact, there will be presentations on a variety of topics all day long right in our booth. We'll also have people from our PartnerDirect program on hand for those interested in our channel program.

So please stop by the Dell booth (#1000).  You can’t miss it.  It looks like this:

And if you can’t make it to the show, our TechCenter has put up a Dell site at the VMworld virtual exhibitor booth so keep tabs on us there.

* These generations of servers were specifically engineered from the ground up with virtualized environments in mind and they hit the mark.  We just released VMmark scores for the M905 and R900 configurations and they are smoking! 

This video shows how to recover a complete file system (you might also think of it as recovering an entire volume) using the integrated snapshot capabilities of Dell EqualLogic storage arrays.

On Thursday last week, I attended the Dell Storage Vision Day press event. It was held at Chelsea Football Club, which luckily didn't seem to deter anyone from coming! Journalists attended from across Europe, including the UK, Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia.

We also had a fantastic line-up from the spokesperson side - first up to present was Robin Kuepers, head of storage, EMEA, and James Quarles, Director of Enterprise Solutions. They gave an overview of the EMEA storage landscape including the latest trends, which was brought to life by two customer presenters: Zafar Chaudry of Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust and Marcel Dumont of Schoolbank.nl, the second largest social networking site in the Netherlands.

Zafar's presentation focused on how the Trust is using a Dell/EMC storage solution to support server virtualization from VMware. Marcel then discussed how he has implemented a Dell EqualLogic storage infrastructure to support exponential data growth associated with the social networking craze. Although Zafar and Marcel are using different storage technologies, one thing was clear; they both turned to Dell to tackle two of the hottest IT trends today - virtualization and social networking - and they have already experienced significant benefits ranging from cost savings to a reduction in management time related to storage-specific issues.

Next up was Tony Lock, an industry analyst from Freeform Dynamics. Tony discussed current issues in the storage market with some strong survey data, giving the journalists a lot to think about before the coffee break!

The second part of the day was led by Praveen Asthana, Global Director of Storage and Networking, and John Joseph, Vice President, Dell EqualLogic Solutions. Both Praveen and John flew over from the US to share with the journalists Dell's current and future plans in storage. They both discussed Dell's commitment to deliver on the promise to Simplify IT - from offering a broad range of products for different types and sizes of customers and also including designed-to-order services for customers that need solutions for their unique requirements. The video below captures pieces of Praveen's and John's presentations.

Last but not least, we got to take a tour of Chelsea Football Club at the end of the day – loved seeing the press room where the managers hold press conferences at the end of each game, as well as sitting in the manager’s chair right on the sideline!

Just in case you didn't know already, Dell is the numero uno vendor in iSCSI SAN arrays.  iSCSI is a strategic initiative at Dell and customers should expect to see us expand our product lines in the months and years to come.

One of the reasons for our success is the no-cost business model of Dell EqualLogic SAN storage arrays.  For instance, snapshot, replication, thin provisioning and application aware backup for SQL server and Exchange are all no-charge items with Dell EqualLogic storage arrays.

And to show off how easy it is to make replication work, I've included a short video here of how its done. Looky, looky.