idc software defined storage

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September2014,IDC#249383

WHITE PAPER

Software-Defined Storage — Enabling the Next-Generation

Enterprise IT Infrastructure

Sponsoredby:Dell

AshishNadkarni CarlaArendNickSundbySeptember2014

IN THIS WHITE PAPER

Weliveinaworldthatischangingatarapidpace — andbusinesseshavetoconstantlyadapttostay

competitiveinthisnewworld.Formostbusinesses,arobustinformationtechnology(IT)infrastructureiscrucialtotheimplementationofdata-drivenbusinessprocessesdesignedfordeliveringtop-notch

experiences,bothinternallyandexternally.Storageanddatamanagementplatformsareanintegralpart

ofthisinfrastructuregiventherapidpaceofdatagrowthcausedbyinformation-centricapproachesto

criticalbusinessfunctionssuchassalesandmarketing,operations,engineering,andR&D.IT

organizationsneedtobecomeserviceorientedandtherebyeffectivelymeetthedemandsoftheir

constituents.Todoso,theyneedtoadoptanagileandscalableinfrastructurethatisalsocapexfriendly.

Software-definedstorage(SDS)solutionspromisetoprovideallessentialstorageservicesviaa

software-drivenstackthatusesonlyindustry-standard(off-the-shelf)hardwarecomponents.Indoingso,

SDSsolutionsstrivetoofferunmatchedagility,scalability,andflexibility.Crucially,thisapproachallows

ITorganizationstoadoptabudget-friendlyjust-in-time"leanenterprise"approach.SDSplatformsoffer

manyoftheenterprise-classstoragefunctionalitythatITorganizationsareusedtowithtraditionally

procuredhardware-definedorhardware-basedstoragesystems(seetheDefinitionssectioninthe Appendix).SDSisanemergingparadigmthatrequiresanewapproachtoITinfrastructuredesign.

However,whendeployedforappropriateworkloads,SDSplatformsallowITorganizationsto:

Gaingreaterautonomyandflexibilityinhowstorageassetsareprocured(Procurement

flexibilityallowsITorganizationstochoosetheappropriatephysicalorvirtualhardware

platformtodeploytheSDSplatform.)

Reaptheeconomicbenefitsderivedfromstandardizingstorageinfrastructureonaffordable,

industry-standardserversandJBODstorage

Mixandmatchmultigenerationalhardwareplatformsandworkloadsaswellasdecouple

hardwareandsoftwarerefreshcyclesforincreasedreturnoninvestment(ROI)ofstorage

infrastructure

IDCbelievesthatsupplierssuchasDellareinafavorablepositionbecausetheyofferafullsuiteof

SDSsolutionsthatcomplementtheirtraditionalstorageportfolio.Dell'svisionforSDSspansbothits

ownsystemssuchastheSCSeries(Compellent)andPSSeries(EqualLogic),whicharebothbased

onmodernstoragearchitecturesanddelivermanySDS-likebenefits,andcooperativepartnerships

withleadingsoftwaredeveloperssuchasMicrosoft,Nexenta,Nutanix,RedHat,andVMware.



©2014IDC #249383 2

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Traditionallyprocuredhardware-basedorhardware-definedstoragesystemshavegovernedtheIT

datacenterforovertwodecadesnow.Suchsystemswereinitiallydirectlyattached,limitingtheir

functionalitytooneortwoservers.Theproliferationofopensystemsusheredintheeraofa

datacenterwidesharedstorageinfrastructure — whichwasfurtherperpetuatedbytherapidadoptionofFibreChannel,iSCSI,SMB,andNFS.Thetidalwaveofservervirtualizationdrovesharedstorageto

evolvetooffermanyadvancedcapabilities,includingtiering,thinprovisioning,snapshotandcloning,

replication,deduplication,andapplicationintegration.Sharedstoragesystemsstillcommandalarge

footprintintoday'sdatacenterandwillcontinuetodosofortheforeseeablefuture.Muchoftheshared

storagesystemsmarketcomprisestraditionalhardware-definedsystemsthatmakeheavyuseof

customASICsandotherproprietaryhardwarecomponentsthatareintricatelycoupledtothefirmware

runningonthem.Suchsystemsandtheinfrastructuretheysupportworkwellinenvironmentswhere

thedatagrowthispredictable,andbusinesseshavetheabilitytoforecastandprocurecapacityduring

apredeterminedbudgetcycle.Suchsystemsalsoworkwellwhentheworkloadsaredeterministicin

natureandtheircoexistenceintheinfrastructure,alongsideothercomponentssuchasserversand

networking,isplannedwellinadvance.However,inthepasttwodecades,theforcesofcloud,social,

bigdata,andmobilehavecompelledbusinessestoundergoadeep-rootedtransformation:

Businesses are morphing into data-driven entities.Informationisattheheartofevery

businessdecisionandatthecenterofallinnovation,whetherforoperationalefficiencies,for

maintainingcompetitiveness,orforgrowth.Today'sbusinesseshavetotakeadvantageof

mobileandsocialtechnologiesand,inmanycases,evensensorsandmachinedata.Staying

competitivemeansthattheyhavetooffermobile-enabledservicesinadditiontotraditional

Webservices.And,totopitalloff,businesseshavetoengageinaconstantinformation-driven

feedbackcyclethattakesinexternaldatasets(manytimesfrommultiplesources),analyzes

thedatainatimelyfashion,andmapsthedataintoactionableinsight.Thisactionable

informationisfedbackintothevariousbusinessunits,whichthenchangetheirprocessesto

improvetheirinboundoroutboundproductsandservices.

Businesses are dealing with a changing mix of different data types and formats. Forthe

longesttime,theprimarydriverforcapacitygrowthanddemandforinvestmentsinenterprise

infrastructurehascomefroma"structureddataecosystem."Thisecosystemhascenteredon

databaseapplicationsthatcreateandmanagestructureddatasets,serversthatrunthese

applications,and,ofcourse,thestoragesystemsonwhichthisdataresides.Thankstothe

changingdynamicofhowdataisgenerated,unstructureddatahassurpassedstructureddata

intermsofbothcapacityshippedandcustomerrevenue.Anewhybriddatatypeknownas

"semistructured"dataisalsogainingafootholdinmanyindustriesthatarepursuingthe

"Internetofthings"(i.e.,theproliferationofsensor-generatedandmachine-generateddata).

IT organizations everywhere have borne the brunt of this transformationandhavehadtodealwithan

ever-changingdataecosystem.Theyarebeingforcedtooperateoutsidetheircomfortzoneandto

embraceanewnormalforwhichpredictabilityandconsistencyarenotthechiefdefiningcharacteristics.ITorganizationscannolongerplantheirassetacquisitionsduringpredetermined

budgetcycles,andatthesametime,thelackofpredictableinsightintofuturecapacity,performance,

andservice-levelrequirementsmayresultinpotentialissuesintheenvironment.



©2014IDC #249383 3

Figure1(seetheAppendix)illustratesthetop5storage-relatedinfrastructurechallengesthat

storagemanagerscommonlyexperience.AkeyproblemthatmostITmanagersexperiencewith

theirstoragesolutionsisthattheyareexpensive,proprietary,inflexible,andcomplextomanage.

Consequently,theoverheadposedbytraditionalstoragemanagementinhibitstheabilityto

efficientlyservicetheirusers'needsandinturndegradestheserviceexperience.Withstoragepools

thatarepartitionedintoblock,file,andobjectstorage,optimizedforcapacityorperformance,ITorganizationsneedtobuyamultitudeofstorageproductstoservealltheapplicationworkloadsof

theirbusinesses.ThesechallengesmeanthatITorganizationshaveto:

Lookfortraditionalstoragesystemsbuiltonmodernarchitecturesthatprovidemanyofthe

samebenefitsthatSDSpromisesintermsofagilityandflexibility

Adoptamoreagileapproachtoassetacquisitionandmanagementwhilemaintainingthe

economicsoftheinfrastructure

Examinewaystocollapsecompute,networking,andstoragesilosthathaveperpetuated

datacenterswiththeadoptionofsharedstorageinfrastructures(Themorediverseandlarger

thesedatasets,themoreinefficientitistomaintaintheinfrastructureinseparatecompute,

storage,andnetworksilos.)

Optimizethedatacenterwiththeself-provisioningefficienciesofprivatecloudaswellas

automateddataplacementandmanagement

Thereisaneedtoexamineanewstorageinfrastructuremodel — onethatisonparwiththe

feature/functionalityoflegacyenterprisesystemsbutprovidesmoreagility,scalability,andflexibility.

Thesefactorshaveledbuyerstodemand(andsupplierstoprovide)anewparadigmforinfrastructure

— asoftware-definedinfrastructure,ofwhichstorageisacorecomponent.

Software-Defined Storage: What Is It?

IDCreferstosoftware-definedstorageplatformsasplatformsthatdeliverthefullsuiteofstorageservicesviaasoftwarestackthatuses(butisnotdependenton)industry-standardserver-basedhardwarebuilt

withoff-the-shelfcomponents.Software-definedstorageplatformscombinedwiththeappropriate

(server-based)hardwareplatformsformasoftware-definedstoragesystem(orsolution).

Note:Throughoutthiswhitepaper,thetermsoftware-definedstorage(SDS)platform hasbeenusedto

denotethesoftwarestack,notthehardwareplatformitrunson.Whereappropriate,theterm systemor

solutionhasbeenusedtoindicatethecombinedentityresultingfromthecombinationofsoftwareand

server-basedhardwareplatforms.Formoredetails,seetheDefinitionssectionintheAppendixand

IDC'sWorldwideSoftware-DefinedStorageTaxonomy,2014 (IDC#247700,July2014).

SDSfundamentallyaltershowstorageplatformsaredeliveredandprocured.Severaldevelopmentsin

2013andearly2014havereinforcedIDC'sbeliefthattheSDSmarketwillcontinuetogrowfasterthan

theenterprisedisksystemsmarket,whichisforecasttogrowataCAGRinthelowsingledigits.

Today,suppliersofSDSplatformscanbegroupedintothefollowingcategories:

Incumbent storage suppliers:Incumbentstoragesuppliers,suchasDell,havetakenanearlylead

inembracingSDSsolutionsand/orsignaledthattheirproductroadmapswouldalignwithSDS.



©2014IDC #249383 4

Hypervisor suppliers:Realizingtheimportanceofcontrollingthestoragelayer,hypervisor

suppliersarereleasingSDSsolutionsfortheirownhypervisorplatforms.

Newer commercial and open source based suppliers:Privateequityandventurecapitalists

continuetheirstorage-relatedinvestments,arguablymuchofthemintoSDSsolutions.

Benefits of Software-Defined Storage

SDSplatformsstrivetooffermuchoftheenterprise-classstoragefunctionalitythatITorganizations

areusedtowithtraditionalstoragesystems.ThedeploymentofSDSplatformscanhelpIT

organizationsgainagility,scalability,flexibility,andeconomicbenefitsthatinclude:

Greater autonomy in how storage assets are procured.Selectingthehardwareconfiguration

tomatchtheworkloadneedsforincreasedflexibility,aswellasdecouplingthehardwareand

softwarerefreshcycles,increasesthestorageinfrastructureROI.Themixingandmatchingof

hardwaregenerationsminimizestheneedtoupgradeallthehardwareeverytimethereisa

softwareupgrade.

Greater flexibility in acquiring solutions via different delivery models. SDSsolutionscanbe

procuredassoftwareonly,asvirtual(server)instances,ashyperconverged(wherecomputeandstoragearenativelyconverged)softwareorappliances,and/oraspublicclouds.

The economic benefits derived from standardizing storage infrastructure on affordable

industry-standard servers and JBOD storage.

MultipletypesofSDSplatformscanutilizethe

sametypeofserverhardwareplatforms.Withtheabilitytoprocurehardwareandsoftware

fromdifferentsuppliers,businessescanminimizesupplierlock-in,atleastasfarastheir

storagehardwareisconcerned.TheycantakethisastepfurtherbyoptingforSDSsolutions

thatarebuiltonopensourceplatformssuchasCephandOpenZFS.

Increased ROI with intelligent orchestration and data abstraction from the underlying

hardware.

Orchestrationhelpsdeliverservice-centricITbyautomatingdatamovementto

matchworkloadneeds,provisioning,andmanagementofstorageresources.

Simplified management and administration that can minimize the need to have separate

storage and systems administration teams.Similartotraditionalstorageplatforms,SDS

platformsalsoofferadvancedbuilt-infeaturesthatincludeautomationoffrequentstorage

operationsandthereforehaveminimumoperationaloverhead.

WhileSDSplatformspromisetoofferthesebenefits,theyarestillrelativelynew,andawiderangeof

suppliers,includingincumbentstoragesuppliers,hypervisorsuppliers,andnewcommercialandopen

source – basedsuppliers,aredeliveringdifferentimplementationoptionstocustomers.Asstated

previously,theseimplementationoptionsincludesoftwareonly,virtual(server)instances,

hyperconverged(wherecomputeandstoragearenativelyconverged)softwareorappliances,and

publiccloudinstances.ThedifferentSDSsuppliersandimplementationmodelsintroducenewer

deployment,management,andservicemodels.

IDCacknowledgesthatthereisindeedalearningcurveassociatedwiththedeploymentofSDS

solutions.AsSDSplatformstaketheirtimetomature,continuingtobuildoutstorageinfrastructurein

thetraditionalwaymakesthemostsenseformanyITorganizationsbecausealloftheirstaffand

processesarealignedwiththetraditionalmodel.Toenablethatcontinuum,sometraditionalstorage

platformsarealsoevolvingtooffermanySDS-likebenefits.AdoptinganSDSsolutionmeansareview

ofandchangetomanyofthesefeatures.Businesseshavetoeffectivelycomplementtheirexisting



©2014IDC #249383 5

infrastructurewithSDSsolutionsdependingontheirworkloads,thepaceatwhichworkloadscanbe

migrated,andtheimprovingmaturityofSDS.Clearly,therewillnotbeasinglesolutionthatwinsthe

storagemarket.BothtraditionalstorageandSDSplatformswillcoexistinnext-generationdatacenters

tocatertodifferentcustomerworkloadneeds.

Software-Defined Storage: Evolution Versus RevolutionSuppliersandcustomersalikewillagreethat,inprinciple,therearetwoapproachestostorage — an

evolutionaryapproachandarevolutionaryapproach.Thevaluepropositionsofferedbythesetwo

approachesaredifferent.Inotherwords,thereisnosuchthingas"onesizefitsall"storage — or

software-definedstorageforthatmatter.Bothtypesofsolutionshavearoletoplayinamodern

datacenter,andbusinessescanseektoleveragebothtypesofstoragesystemsforimproving

datacenterapproaches.

Examplesofevolutionaryapproachestostorageareserver-sidestorage,externalstoragearea

networks,storagevirtualization,physicalandvirtualappliances,andintegratedsystems(aka

convergedsolutions).Valuepropositionsofsuchsolutionsinclude:

Investment protection:Evolvetheinvestmentsthatbusinessesmadeindatacentersolutions

withenhancedefficiency,flexibility,andmanageability.

Mature technology:Trustthematurityofthetechnologytodeploycriticalworkloadsand

applications.

Pervasive IT skills:LeveragethepervasiveITskillsetthatbusinesseshavetoadministerthe

variouscomponentsoftheirdatacenter.

Ease and predictability of deployment:Solutionsarepreconfigured,validated,andoptimized

forpredictabilityandeaseofdeployment.

Dedicated processing performance:Performanceispredictablewithdedicatedprocessingfor

storage.

Capacity efficiency:Storagesolutionscanprovidethebestreturnswithefficientcapacity

utilization.

Ontheotherhand,revolutionaryapproachestostorageincludesoftware-onlysolutions,

hyperconvergedsolutions,andsolutionsdesignedspecificallyforhyperscale,publiccloud,andas-a-

serviceinfrastructure.Valuepropositionsofsuchsolutionsinclude:

Deployment flexibility:Flexibilityinthehardwareconfiguration(e.g.,numberofcores,amount

ofonboardcache,amountofread/writeflashcache,andtypeandspeedofdisks)canmatch

theworkloadneeds.

Amortizable acquisition costs:Adoptabudget-friendlyjust-in-time"leanenterprise"approach.

Potential merger of IT administration opex:Systemsadministratorscannowmanageboth

computeandstorageandthusfreeupITtofocusonstrategicinitiatives.

Scale-out shared nothing architectures:Anagilescalablemodelallowsuserstogrowthe

infrastructureastheirbusinessesgrow.

Open source:Adoptopensourcetechnologieswithnosupplierlock-in.



©2014IDC #249383 6

Hyperconverged simplicity:Deployingasingleapplianceforworkloadneedsofferssimplicity

comparedwithdeployingseparatecompute,networking,andstoragenodes.

New service model:Newerservicemodelscanservicefailuresandupgradesatanappliance

levelandnotatacomponentlevel.

Intheevolutionaryapproach,software-definedstoragebenefitsareslowlyintroducedintothemix.

Mostlegacyplatformsarestillhardwaredefinedorhardwarebased.Someplatforms,suchasDell

Compellent,arebuiltonmodernarchitectureswithground-upvirtualizationanddataabstractionand

offermanySDS-likebenefits.Intherevolutionaryapproach,itissoftware-definedstoragealltheway.

Arguably,revolutionaryapproachessuchashyperconvergedandhyperscalearedisruptiveto

datacenteroperationsandalsotothewayITorganizationssetupcompute,storage,andnetworking

teams.However,theseapproachespromisetoprovideunprecedentedflexibilityandefficiency,and

therefore,itisincumbentuponbusinessestoevaluateandeventuallyembracethem.Businessescan

andlikelywilltakeastaggeredapproachbyintroducingrevolutionaryapproachesintothedatacenter

forcertainusecasesandworkloadsandthenslowlyexpandingtheirfootprint.Doingsowillminimize

thedisruptionandalsoallowbusinessestomaximizetheirreturnoninvestmentonotherlegacy(and

evolutionary)platforms.

Dell's SDS Vision and Portfolio

DellembracedtheSDSrevolutionearlyonandhasthemostopenandaggressivestrategytoenable

customermigrationtothesoftware-definedenterprise.Dell'sstrategyisledbythefocusofthe

companyondeliveringwhatitscustomersarerequesting.Dellstronglybelievesthatthereisnoone-

size-fits-allsolutionforcustomerneeds,anditprovidesachoiceofofferingsforvaryingcustomer-

preferredapproachestoIT.Dell'sstrategygivescustomersanoptionofchoosinganevolutionarypath

orarevolutionarypathtowardanext-generationdatacenter.Theevolutionarypathhelpsprotect

customers'currentITinvestments,bringSDSinnovationstotraditionalstorageproducts,andevolve

intothenext-generationdatacenter.Therevolutionarypathofferscustomerschoice,flexibility,and

newerapproachestodeploymentandmanagementforafuture-readydatacenter.Dell'sstrategy

enablescustomersto:

EvolvetheirITwithenhancedflexibilityandorchestration

Deployconvergedappliancesforeaseofdeployment,management,andscale

DeliverXaaSfasterandmoreefficientlywithhypervisor-integratedandopensourcesolutions

Dell'sSDSstrategycanbesummarizedinthreekeydirectionalstatements:

ExpandDell'sleadershipinmodernstoragesolutionswithsoftware-definedabstractionand

orchestration

Deliverdifferentiatedpartnersolutionswithend-to-endintegrationandvalidation

Builduponopensourcepartnershipstoofferflexible,affordablesolutions

Todoso,Dellleveragesitsmassivex86-basedserverfootprint,astoragestackbasedonmodern

architecture,andabroadpartnerecosystem.Withavibrantserver-platformportfolio,Dellcantakea

hybrid"buildandpartner"approachthatinvolvespartnershipswithincumbentaswellasnew

upcomingsupplierswhileadvancingthesoftware-definedattributesinitsstoragestack.



©2014IDC #249383 7

Build Approach: Deliver Best-in-Class Modern Storage Solutions

Dellhasastrongstoragefoundationthatisbuiltonmodernarchitecturewithground-upstorage

virtualizationandabstraction.Dell'sbuildapproachtodaycanbesummarizedasfollows:

Industry-standard hardware:Today,muchofDell'sstorageportfoliorunsonstandardDell

x86-basedserverhardware.Forexample,theSCSeriesplatformleveragesDellR720serverhardware.

Abstraction: Dell'sstoragestackisbuiltwithground-upstoragevirtualizationandabstracts

datafromunderlyinghardwareandprovidesresiliency.

Data mobility:Thearchitectureenablestransparentmovementofdataacrossservers,arrays,

anddrivestoplacetherightdataintherightplaceattherighttimeattherightcost.

Automation:Dell'ssolutionsincludeautomatedintelligentdataplacementacrosstiersaswell

asend-to-endmanagementandintegrationintohypervisors.

Storage acceleration:LeveragingDellFluidCachecanhelpITadministratorsprovideaserver

storagepoolforcachinghotreadsandwritesandtieringallthewayfromstoragetocompute

forveryhighperformance.

Dell'svisionistoleveragethissolidfoundationanddeliverenhancedsoftware-definedcapabilitiesin

next-generationplatforms.DellhasannounceditsintentiontoabstractitstraditionalstorageIPtoan

SDSsolutionthatwillbefullycompatiblewithtraditionalDellstoragesolutions.Dellplanstotightly

integrateitstraditionalportfoliointoorchestrationframeworks,suchasOpenStack,VMware,Microsoft,

andDellActiveSystemManager.Dellalsoplanstofurtherautomatedatamovementandplacement

acrossitstraditionalstorage.Theenhancedcapabilitiesinfluencethethreekeymetricsformeasuring

storageinfrastructureefficiency — standardization,consolidation,andautomation:

Standardization:Withsoftware-definedabstraction,customerswillbeabletonotonly

standardizedeploymentoncommodityx86-basedhardwarebutalsoextenddeploymentinto

virtuallayers.

Consolidation:Integratingwithorchestrationframeworkscanhelpcustomersmanagestorage

viaastandardsetofstoragemanagementtoolsevenwhentheunderlyinghardwareis

upgradedorchanged.Withmultitenancyandquality-of-servicecapabilities,customerscan

consolidatemultipleworkloadsanddeliverstorageasaservice.

Automation:Customerscanautomateplacementofdataforoptimalperformance,capacity

efficiency,anddataavailability.

Partner Approach: Provide Value-Added Differentiation and Flexibility

DellisinvestingindeeppartnershipswithinnovativeSDSsupplierssuchasRedHat(RedHatStorage

ServerbasedonGluster,OpenStack,andCeph),Nexenta(NexentaStor),Microsoft(StorageSpaces),VMware(VirtualSAN[VSAN]andEVO:RAIL),andNutanix(NutanixVirtualComputingPlatform).All

thesesolutionsareinstalledanddeliveredonoptimizedDellserverhardware.



©2014IDC #249383 8

WhileSDScanworkonanyx86-basedserverhardware,specificsonthecombinationofhardware

configurationsandfirmwareversionscanmakeabigdifferenceinhowthesolutionisdeployed.

Dellhasdevelopedstandardsforproduct/solutionqualitybasedonitsexperiencewithitsown

infrastructureproductsanddeliversfullytestedend-to-endsolutions.Businessesadopting

Dell-brandedpartnersolutionscanavailthemselvesof:

Enterprise-class server infrastructure:Dell'sserverhardwareisinits13thgeneration;it'stried

andtested,withahugeinstallbase,andproventoprovidethereliabilitydemandedby

businesses.

Hardware optimized for monitoring and management of partner solutions: Dellisworking

closelywithpartnerstooptimizethehardware,therebyenablingbettermonitoringand

managementofSDSsolutionsonDellhardware.

Appliances and bundled solutions that use Dell server hardware: BusinesseswantITtobean

enablerandwantITsolutionstobeeasytodeployandeasytomanageaswellascaterto

theirworkloadrequirements.DellvalidatesSDSsolutionsondifferentconfigurationsof

hardwareandsoftwareanddeliverspreconfiguredappliancesandbundlesforeasyerror-free

deploymentandmanagementaswellastomakesurebusinessesgettheoptimumcapacityandperformancefortheirworkloaddemands.

End-to-end reference architectures and global services and support from Dell Services: When

customerspurchaseanSDSsolutionfromDell,theynotonlygettheentiresolutionfroma

singlesupplierbutalsoarebackedbysupportandengineeringthatwilltakecareofissues

withoutfinger-pointingatsuppliers.

ExamplesofhowDellprovidesdifferentiationbywayofvariouspartnershipsinclude:

Microsoft Storage Spaces):Dell'send-to-endsolutionisdeliveredonDellPowerEdgeservers

thatarepackedwithHBAsandcomplementedbycost-effectiveJBODstorageenclosures.

ThissolutionisbackedbyjointDell-Microsoftsupportandservices.

Red Hat Inktank Ceph):Dell'sCephsolutionisbuiltonDellPowerEdgeserverswithDell

networkingequipment.ItisdesignedtoprovisionandconfiguretheCephclusterandintegrate

withtheOpenStackplatform.ThesolutioniscertifiedviatheDellTechnologyPartner

Program,withcollaborativesupportprovidedbyRedHat.

Nexenta NexentaStor):Dell'spartnershipwithNexentaallowsDelltopackagesimplebundled

andjointlysupportedhigh-availabilitysolutionsthatscalefrom44TBto1.5PB.Delldeliversa

fullytestedend-to-endstackwithNexentaandhasalsodevelopedinternaltoolstoquickly

troubleshoottheNexentasolutionrunningonx86servers.Thehardwarerequiredforthe

NexentasolutioniscomingfromnotjustDellbutalsootherHBAanddrivesuppliers,butall

thehardwareisDellbranded,andDellprovidesthesameworldwidesupportandparts

replacementasitwouldforanyotherDellhardware.

Nutanix Virtual Computing Platform):

ThelatestpartnerthatDellisbringingintoitssoftware-

definedecosystemisNutanix.Inrecenttimes,Nutanixhasmadeanameforitselfasa

providerofhyperconvergedplatformsforserveranddesktopvirtualization.WiththeNutanix

partnership,Dellisembracingthehyperconvergedmarketaheadofanyothermajorsystem

OEMs.DellhasenteredintoadeeppartnershipwithNutanixthatdebutedasaNutanix-

brandedsolutionandeventuallyevolvedintoaDell-brandedsolution — DellXCSeriesWeb-

scaleconvergedappliancespoweredbyNutanixsoftware.TheDellvalue-addtothis



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partnershipistheavailabilityofbundledsolutionsformultiplevirtualizedworkloadtypes,

includinganend-to-endVDIcloudclientcomputingsolutionandavirtualization-as-a-service

solution.AswithotherDell-drivenpartnersolutions,businesseswillbenefitfromDell's

expertiseinthex86-basedserverspace,includinginstallation,implementation,and

operationalsupport.Thepartnershipincludesjointsales,marketing,andsupportinitiativesas

wellasalignmentofproductandtechnologyroadmaps.

VMware VSAN and EVO:RAIL):DellpartnerswithVMwareandoffersmultipleoptionsto

customersoptingfortheVSANandEVO:RAILsolutions.TheBuildYourOwnoptionusingthe

VMwareVirtualSANCompatibilityGuidehelpscustomersdecideonthequantityofeach

component(I/Ocontroller,HDD,SSD,etc.)tobuildoutacustomizedVirtualSAN.TheDell

VirtualSANReadyNodesarchitecturesareready-to-gohardwareconfigurationsthathave

beenpreconfiguredtoruntheVirtualSANinacertifiedhardwareformfactor.TheDellReady

NodesincludeuniqueandoptimizedcombinationsofDellCPU,memory,network,I/O

controller,HDD,andSSDinLow,Medium,andHighprofilessizedtorunaVDIorserver

workload.DellisalsointroducingDellEngineeredSolutionsforVMwareEVO:RAILthat

enablefasttimetovalueandsimplifiedmanagementexperienceforVMwareenvironments.

Withafocusondeliveringend-to-endworkload-specificsolutions,DellwrapsitsSDSofferingsinend-

to-endsolutionstacks,partnerswithRedHattodeliveracloudstackbasedonOpenStack,and

partnerswithClouderatodeliverabigdata/analyticsstackbasedonHadoop.

Dell's Storage Portfolio at a Glance

Tables1and2summarizeDell'sstorageportfolio.Asstatedpreviously,Dellhasadoptedabest-of-

breed"buildpluspartner"approachandtargetsvariousplatformstowarddifferentusecasesand

markets.

Dell'straditionalstorageportfolio,includingFluidCache,SCSeries(Compellent),PSSeries

(EqualLogic),MDSeries(PowerVault),andFSSeries(FluidFS),istherightfitforcustomersthatvalue

anevolutionaryapproachtoIT — withvaluepropositionssuchasagile,lowTCOsolutions;investmentprotection;maturetechnology;leverageofpervasiveITskillsets;easeandpredictabilityof

deployment;dedicatedprocessingperformance;andcapacityefficiency.

Dell'spartner-basedstorageportfolioisrightforcustomersthatpreferarevolutionaryapproachtoIT —

withvaluepropositionssuchasdeploymentflexibility,amortizableacquisitioncosts,potentialmerger

ofITadministrationteams,scale-outsharednothingarchitectures,opensourcesoftwareadoption,

hyperconvergedsimplicity,andnewerservicemodels.Dellpositionsthesesolutionsforappropriate

markets:

NexentaNexentaStorforfilearchiveandcontent

RedHatInktankCephforlarge-scaledo-it-yourselfXaaS

NutanixVirtualComputingPlatformasahypervisor-agnostichyperconvergedsolutionfor

midmarketvirtualizationandVDI

MicrosoftStorageSpacesfortestanddevelopmentMicrosoftenvironmentsandhostingproviders

VMwareVSANandEVO:RAILsolutionsfortestanddevelopmentVMwareenvironmentsand

low-endVDI



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TABLE 1

Customer Deployment Recommendations for Dell's Traditional Storage Portfolio

Fluid Cachefor SAN

Dell Storage

SC Series(Compellent)

Dell Storage

PS Series(EqualLogic)

Dell Storage

MD Series(PowerVault)

Dell StorageFS Series

Service-level

objective

Mission critical Mission/business

critical

Business critical Non –mission

critical

Business critical,

non –mission

critical, and hosting

Suited for

(workloads

and use

cases)

High-performance

database

applications

(Oracle, SAP Suite,

SQL Server)

Databases (Oracle

DB/Apps, SAP

Suite, SQL Server),

scale-out file

workloads,

multipetabyte

capacity storage

Productivity

(Microsoft

Exchange, Lync,

file, print), Web

apps, server

virtualization, and

VDI (VMware,

Citrix, Hyper-V)

Cheap and deep

storage, low-cost

JBOD for SDS

solutions or tier 2

workloads

High-performance

file workloads,

backup/DR,

content and

hosting, archive,

hosting

Workloadprofile

Performance-intensive

transactional

workloads

Performance- andcapacity-intensive

block and file

workloads

Price-performanceblock and file

workloads

Cost-optimizedworkloads

Performance-intensive, price-

performance, and

cost-optimized

workloads

Note:Dell’straditionalportfolioalsoincludestheDellDRbackupapplianceandDellDLdeduplicationappliance.

Source:Dell,2014

TABLE 2

Customer Deployment Recommendations for Dell's Software-Defined

Storage Portfolio

Dell XC Series

Powered by Nutanix

Microsoft Storage

Spaces

Nexenta

NexentaStor

Red Hat Ceph +

OpenStack

VMware

VSAN/EVO:RAIL

Service-level

objective

Business critical,

non –mission


Business critical,

non –mission


Business critical,

non –mission


Business critical,

non –mission


Business critical,

non –mission


Suited for

(workloads

and use

cases)

Simple, scalable,

and high

performance for

VDI, departmental

virtualization, mixed-

hypervisor private

cloud environments,

and hypervisor

migrations

Existing Microsoft

customers

including hosting

providers and test

and development

environments that

need cheap and

deep storage

Customers that

want ZFS-based

storage for large-

scale content

Advanced private

cloud, public cloud

users looking to

add scalable

storage to their

environment

Existing VMware

customers

including VDI

environments and

test and

development

environments

Workload

profile

Price-performance

workloads

Cost-optimized

workloads and/or

price-performance

workloads

Cost-optimized

workloads

Cost-optimized

workloads

Price-performance

workloads

Source:Dell,2014



©2014IDC #249383 11

Dell Differentiation

Businessesstandtomaximizetheirinvestmentsinsoftware-definedstorageplatformsbypartnering

withasuppliersuchasDell.Dellofferssubstantialvendordifferentiationwithitsmodernstoragestack,

industry-standardopenapproach,andbroadanddeeppartnerecosystemforvalueandcustomer

choice.Asasupplier,Delloffersthefollowingvaluepropositions:

Anopenandaggressiveapproachwithpartnerships,aswellasbuildingoutitsownstorage

portfolio,whichspansbothevolutionaryandrevolutionarystoragesolutions,toprovidea

choiceofofferingsforvaryingcustomer-preferredapproachestoIT

Bethetrustedadvisortoitscustomersandpartnerwiththemtoidentify,provide,and

implementtherightsolutionfortheirbusinesses

Deliverenterprise-classinfrastructurethatisoptimizedforsoftware-defineddeployments

Deliverfullytestedend-to-endsolutionsthatarebasedonreferencearchitecturesdesignedto

ensurecomponentinteroperabilityinsupportedSDSsolutions,workloadoptimized,andeasy

todeployandmanage.

Offerglobalserviceandasinglepointofcontactforcoordinatingimplementation,support,

andservices

FUTURE OUTLOOK

IDCexpectsthatsoftware-definedprincipleswilldrivethedesignofnext-generationstoragesystems.

Increasingly,userswilllooktosoftware-definedplatformsasthemediumtostoredataina

cost-effectivemanner,especiallyasdatasetsgetbigger.Accordingly,thedatacentersoftomorrow

willcontinuetochangewiththeproliferationofSDSplatforms:

Commoditized persistent data storage:Fromthecomputelayertodiskstoragemechanisms

andfromlocalopenobjectinterfacestocloud-basedinterfaces,userswillhaveawiderangeofoptionsfordatastorage.Initially,userswillmovetheirnon-mission-criticaland

non-business-criticalworkloadstosuchplatforms,andeventuallytheywillmovemore

workloadstosuchplatforms.

Service-based infrastructure:SDSplatformswilloffertheabilityforbusinessestoprovision

resourcesfromavarietyoflocations,locallyandremotely,butmaintainaseamless

presentationlayerregardlessofthedeviceorlocationfromwhichtheyaccessthose

resources.

Keyrequirementsfornext-generationSDSplatformstobesuccessfulinclude:

Platform openness:GonearethedaysofproprietaryAPIsandcustomizedapplications.For

anSDSplatformtobesuccessful,ithastosupportopenstandardsandinterfaces.

Solution enablement:

ThevalueoftheSDSplatformliesinthesolutionitenables.Examples

includeunstructureddata,geographicallydisperseddataandcomputing,andsemistructured

dataacrossindustriessuchashealthcare,energy,manufacturing,andresearch.

Cloud capabilities: SDSplatformsmustproviderobustscalability,clustering,datapersistence,

replication,andconflictresolutioncapabilities.



©2014IDC #249383 12

Workload adjacency:SDSplatformsmustaccommodatecomputeworkloadsinsuchaway

thatthecomputeworkloadshavedataaffinityorlocalizationtowherethedataresides.

Application integration:Forultimateopexandadministrativeefficiency,SDSsolutionsshould

beintegratedintotheoverallapplicationecosystemforautomatedprovisioningandconverged

administrationandreporting.

Reliability:Collectionsofrandomhardwareandsoftwareinprinciplerarelyworkseamlessly"outofthebox,"andregardlessofhowanSDSsolutionispackaged,itshouldbewell

hardenedandtestedagainstbugs,beavailablewithvalidatedreferencearchitectures,and

providestrongfaultresilienceandvalidatedDRstrategies.

CHALLENGES/OPPORTUNITIES

Figure2(seetheAppendix)illustratesthegeneralinterestlevelinSDSexpressedbybusinesses.With

65%ofrespondentsstillevaluatingorinterestedinSDSplatforms,supplierssuchasDellmustdo

moretoeducatetheircustomerbaseonthebenefitsofSDSplatforms.Infact,asFigure3(seethe

Appendix)illustrates,respondentslistthefollowingkeybenefitsofSDSplatformadoption:

Simplifymanagementandadministration

Lowercostusingindustry-standardhardware

Automationoffrequentstorageoperations

Extendthelifeofexistingstorageassets

Avoidvendorlock-in

Figure4(seetheAppendix)illustratesthetypesofstoragedeploymentsthatrespondentsare

planningtomake:storagevirtualization,privatecloud,scale-outstorage,traditionalstoragesystems,

converged/integratedstorage,software-definedstorage,hybridcloud,publiccloud,and

bigdata/analytics.

TheresultsshowninFigures3and4provethatsupplierssuchasDellneedtoeducatetheir

customersandprospectsabouthowSDScanbedeployedinprivatecloud,providestorage

virtualizationfunctionality,canbescaleoutbydesign,orcanbeusedforbigdata/analytics

environments.Inotherwords,SDSplatformsarenotmutuallyexclusivetothevariouspurpose-built

storagesolutionsoutthere.Giventherightpush,storageandserversupplierscantargetdifferent

typesofSDSplatformsfortherightusecases.

CONCLUSION

SDSplatformswillcontinuetoofferacompellingvalueproposition.BothincumbentandupcomingstoragesuppliersareexpectedtomakeabigpushintoSDS.Theproofisinthefactthatmost

incumbentsuppliershavejoinedorarejoiningstart-upsintheraceforofferingbest-of-breedSDS

platforms.IDCexpectsthatwiththeproliferationofSDSplatforms,thedelineationbetweenhardware,

software,andcloudstoragesupplierswillblurandeventuallydisappear.



©2014IDC #249383 13

Buyersshouldkeepanopenmindwhenitcomestoadoptingnewersoftwareplatformmodelsthatbreak

thetraditionalbarriersbetweenwhatareconsideredthecompute,storage,andnetworkcomponentsof

theinfrastructure.Theyshouldpushtheirsupplierstoofferservicequalityandserviceassuranceswith

newerSDSplatforms.ThisistheonlywaySDSplatformswillmatureandbecomereadytotakeona

biggerdatacenterwideroleandrunallworkloads — includingmission-criticalworkloads.

Businessesstandtomaximizetheirinvestmentsinsoftware-definedstorageplatformsbypartnering

withasupplierthatcanprovideanend-to-endsolutionthatfullymeetstheirperformance,availability,

support,andscalabilityneeds.BuyersshouldteamupwithsupplierslikeDellwhosebroadsolution

catalog,includingx86servers,networkingproducts,disks,andmodernstoragestack,isfittingforSDS

solutions.Dell'sbroad-lineandvalue-orientedperspectivebringsadvantagestothecustomerinthe

formofend-to-endsolutions,deeppartnerships,andglobalsupportforthesolutions.

Appendix

FIGURE 1

Top 5 Storage Challenges, 2014

n=564

Source:IDC,2014

27 28 29 30

Management complexity

Backup window

I/O performance

Integration with servers and networking

Capacity

(% of respondents)



©2014IDC #249383 14

FIGURE 2

Current Adoption of Software-Defined Storage Technologies

Q. Which statement best describes your organization's interest in software-defined storage?

n=564

Source:IDC,2014

FIGURE 3

Drivers for Software-Defined Storage Adoption

Q. Which are the drivers behind migration to software-defined storage?

Please choose all that apply.

n=452

Source:IDC,2014

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Not familiar with the technology

Not interested

Interested, but no concrete plans

Evaluating options

Already invested in it

(% of respondents)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Avoid vendor lock-in

Extend life of existing storage assets

Automation of frequent storageoperations

Lower cost using industry-standardhardware

Simplify management and

administration

(% of respondents)



©2014IDC #249383 15

FIGURE 4

Storage Investment Plans, 2014

Q. What types of storage solutions are you considering buying in the next 12 months?

Please choose all that apply.

n=546

Source:IDC,2014

Definitions

Software-Defined Storage

IDCreferstosoftware-definedstorageasplatformsthatdeliverthefullsuiteofstorageservicesviaa

softwarestackthatuses(butisnotdependenton)commodityhardwarebuiltwithoff-the-shelfcomponents.(Formoredetails,see IDC'sWorldwideSoftware-DefinedStorageTaxonomy,2014, IDC

#247700,July2014.)

ForanysolutiontobeclassifiedasSDS,itmust:

NotcontainanyproprietaryhardwarecomponentssuchascustomASICs,chipsets,memory

components,orCPUs — andthesoftwarecodeshouldnotmakeanyassumptionofsuch

componentsbeingpresenttoofferanyessentialstorage(orstorageefficiency)services.

Beabletorunonmultiple(physicalorvirtual)hardwareinstancesthatarenotfactory

configuredbythesupplier.Buyersshouldbeabletoprocuretheplatformassoftwareand

deploytheplatforminavirtualenvironmentordirectlyonthephysicalhardwareoftheirchoice(aslongasthishardwarebelongstothesamepeerclasslistedinthesupplier'shardware

compatibilitylist).

Beastandaloneorautonomoussystem.Inotherwords,itprovidesallessentialnorthbound

storageservicesandhandlesallsouthbounddatapersistencefunctionswithoutrequiring

additionalhardwareorsoftware.IDCthereforeconsidersfilesystemsandlogicalvolume

managerstobebuildingblocksofanSDSplatformratherthancompletesystems.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Big data/analytics

Public cloud

Hybrid cloud

Software-defined storage

Converged/integrated storage

Traditional storage systems

Scale-out storage

Private cloud

Storage virtualization

(% of respondents)



©2014IDC #249383 16

AccordingtoIDC'staxonomy,SDSplatforms:

Organizedataintheformoffile,object,and/orblock.Dataorganizationisthestartingpointfor

thisclassification.Knownasdata organization.

Canleverageavarietyofpersistentdatastorageresourcessuchasinternalstorageresources

(i.e.,flashcards,nonvolatilememory,SSDs,andHDDs),externaldiskarrays(JBODorRAIDarrays — aslongasanystoragefunctionsarenot"offloaded"tothesearrays),tapedrives,and

evenhigher-levelservicessuchasNoSQLdatabases,objectstorage,andcloud-based

resources.Knownasdata persistence.

Shouldofferafullsuiteofdataaccessinterfaces(includingfile,block,andobjectinterfaces),

storage,anddatamanagementservices(includingfederationandorchestrationservices).

Knownasstorage and orchestration services.

Canbedeliveredinmultipleforms,includingappliances,software,andsubscription-based

offerings.IDCdoesnotmakeanypresumptionabouttheoperatingplatformsusedinSDS

solutions.Hyperconvergedsolutionsthatprovidecomputeandstorageworkloadadjacency

canalsobeconsideredtobeSDSplatformsaslongastheydon'tmakeuseofproprietary

hardware.Knownas delivery models. Canbebuiltusingopensourceoperatingplatforms(e.g.,Linux,OpenSolaris,andFreeBSD)

orusingproprietaryoperatingplatforms(e.g.,SolarisandWindows).Theuseofthelatterdoes

notalterorinvalidatetheclassificationofthesolutionasSDS.Knownas operating platforms.

Hardware-Defined, Hardware-Based, and Software-Defined Systems

Whenanytypesofstoragesoftwareplatformsarematedtotheappropriatephysicalorvirtual

hardwareplatforms(thatincludecomputeanddisk),theycreateastoragesystem.Single,clustered,

ormultinodestoragecontrollersareexamplesof(disk)storagesystems.

Hardware-Defined Storage Systems

Hardware-definedstorageincludespracticallyalltraditionalstoragesolutionsthataredeliveredas

hardwaresystemswithastoragesoftwareplatformknownasfirmwareembeddedinthem.(Firmware

isastripped-downpurpose-builtplatformthatisoptimizedforaspecificfunction.)Inaddition,this

firmwareismatedtoheavilycustomizedhardwarethatisbuiltbythesupplierforthesolepurposeof

distributingthisstoragesystem.

Hardware-Based Storage Systems

Realizingthehighcostofdevelopingcustomhardwareforeachstorageplatform,severalsuppliers

havemovedtoamodelinwhichtheyprocureminimallycustomizedhardwarefromOEMs.IDCrefers

tothesesolutionsashardware-basedstoragesystems.Whilesuchsystemsarebuiltwithindustry-standardcomponents,theyaredesignedtorunonlyonhardwareinstancesthataredesignedbyor

sourcedfromthesupplier'sOEM.Buyerscannotprocure"justthesoftware"andrunitontheirown

hardware.



©2014IDC #249383 17

Software-Defined Storage Systems

SeveralSDSplatformsarepackagedascompletesystemswhenbootstrappedonahardware

platform.EventhoughSDSplatformsdonotmakeanyspecificassumptionsontheunderlying

hardwareplatformsandaredesignedtodeliverallnecessarystorageservicesviasoftware,ultimately

theyhavetobeconsumedasasystem(orasolution)inadatacenter.Inrecenttimes,theopensource

movementhasacceleratedthedevelopmentandgrowthofsoftware-definedstorage.Theversatilityof

platformslikeLinux,OpenBSD,andOpenSolarismakesiteasierfordeveloperstolayertheirownIP

ontopofcommunity-basedstacksanddrivers.Thisalsoacceleratesasupplier'stimetomarketfora

newproduct.ThisisthemainreasonwhySDSsolutionshavealsofoundapermanenthomeinthe

datacentersofWebandhyperscale,publiccloud,mobile,andsocialserviceproviders.

Note:Manysuppliersaremakingtheirhardware-basedstoragesystems"software-definedfriendly"by

makingvirtualeditionsoftheirplatformsavailableforbuyersthatwanttodeploytheminremoteoffices

andinthecloud.

Hyperconverged Platforms

Hyperconvergedsystemsareanewerbreedofconverged(integrated)solutionsandcurrently

thesmallestofthethreeintegratedinfrastructuremarketsegments.Hyperconvergedsystemsdiffer

fromtheothertwosegments,integratedplatformsystemsandintegratedinfrastructuresystems,as

follows:Hyperconvergedsystemsnativelycollapsecorestorage,compute,andstoragenetworking

functionsintoasinglesoftwaresolutionorappliance.Thisisincontrasttotraditionalintegrated

platformsandsystemsinwhichautonomouscompute,storage,andnetworkingsystemsareintegrated

atthefactoryorbyresellers.WhilethesesystemswilloftenuseanEthernetswitchtoclustermultiple

nodestogether,theydonotrelyondisparatestoragenetworkingequipmentfordatamovement

betweenstorageandcompute.Inadditiontobringingstorageandcomputingintoasinglenode(ora

clusterofnodes,eachofferingcomputeandstorage),allhyperconvergedsystemsutilizeahypervisor

thatprovidesworkloadadjacencyandcontainerization,hardwareabstraction,anddatamanagement.

Thehypervisoralsohostsessentialmanagementsoftwareneededtomanagetheplatform.

ExamplesofsupplierswithhyperconvergedsolutionsareNutanix,ScaleComputing,SimpliVity,and

Pivot3.Inaddition,severalcompaniesoffersoftware-onlysolutionsdesignedtoenablethecreation

ofhyperconvergedsystems.ExamplesofthesesuppliersincludeVMware(VSAN,EVO:RAIL),EMC

(ScaleIO),andMaxta.



About IDC

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services,andeventsfortheinformationtechnology,telecommunicationsandconsumertechnology

markets.IDChelpsITprofessionals,businessexecutives,andtheinvestmentcommunitymakefact-

baseddecisionsontechnologypurchasesandbusinessstrategy.Morethan1,100IDCanalystsprovideglobal,regional,andlocalexpertiseontechnologyandindustryopportunitiesandtrendsin

over110countriesworldwide.For50years,IDChasprovidedstrategicinsightstohelpourclients

achievetheirkeybusinessobjectives.IDCisasubsidiaryofIDG,theworld'sleadingtechnology

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