Being Fluid by Design

We know we can’t always predict the future, but we can prepare for it by architecting high-performance, efficient solutions that are easy to use and constantly adapt to change. At Dell, we call that being fluid by design.

Years ago, our customers and partners told us that legacy storage was static, too structured, too hard to manage and not able to rapidly respond to the constant change that drives business growth. So we started fresh, with a purposeful plan to build the right storage architecture without the burden of legacy IP, and started designing an architecture that is based on what customers truly want.

With best of breed technologies innovated in the last decade, including industry-leading de-duplication and compression algorithms, a patented high-performance, highly scalable file system, world-class virtualization and embedded system intelligence, the Fluid Data architecture allows for storage that’s dynamic in nature.

The architecture is supported by engineering that is also fluid by design, with strong design tenets that create shared values across the portfolio and enable an end-to-end offering with a consistent set of Dell storage characteristics.  The Dell Fluid Data architecture gives our customers the agility and efficiency to meet change head-on. It provides the ability to put the right data in the right place at the right time for the right cost today – with the vision of transforming IT from operations to innovation tomorrow. It’s fluid by design.

From primary storage to archive, we’re integrating key technologies across our portfolio to meet the needs of a variety of customers and optimize data everywhere.  At our inaugural Dell Storage Forum event in London today, we unveiled the following new storage solutions to advance our Fluid Data architecture:

• Dell DR4000: The new DR4000 storage platform includes advanced de-duplication and compression capabilities derived from the Ocarina acquisition to increase backup efficiency and reduce costs. 
• Dell Compellent Storage Center 6.0: Our first Dell Compellent release since the acquisition, this next iteration of self-optimized storage for the enterprise features enhanced VMware integration and adds 64-bit support that doubles memory size to improve performance and scale.
• SharePoint Infrastructure Optimization solution: Designed to improve the deployment and management of Microsoft SharePoint environments, this solution includes Dell DX storage, assessment, design and deployment services, and AvePoint DocAve software.
• End-to-end solutions: In our continued commitment to providing server, storage and networking solutions that work better together, we expanded support for Dell Force 10, Dell PowerConnect and Brocade switches. This will allow our storage customers to reduce deployment time and add 16Gb Fibre Channel options.

As you can see, fluid by design is more than an idea. It’s the way we work and a promise we make to our customers at Dell storage. Change might be constant, but so is our commitment to helping our customers prepare.