Overview

Dell PowerFlex is a Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) solution that uses a software-defined storage layer running on Dell PowerEdge servers, with networking components and management software. PowerFlex OS software creates a pool of storage capacity from local flash and hard disk drives that is shared between the VMs running on each server, or node. Like most HCI solutions, PowerFlex provides a standardized, agile infrastructure for supporting a wide range of potential use cases including VDI, server virtualization and private cloud, to name a few.

PowerFlex is also the software-defined storage used in Dell APEX Block Storage for AWS and Microsoft Azure. PowerFlex’s HCI appliance competitors include another option from Dell EMC (VMware-based VxRail), as well as VMware vSAN, Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform, and HPE SimpliVity. These and the other leading products are included in the Evaluator Group Research HCI comparison matrix and associated Product Briefs, Analyses and Evaluation Guide.

Most HCI products combine storage and compute resources in each node, limiting their scalability and flexibility. While vSAN, VxRail, and Nutanix HCI systems now include disaggregated options to scale compute and storage independently, they are still mainly used in an aggregated fashion.

PowerFlex was designed to address the scaling limitation from the start, combining Dell PowerEdge servers and the PowerFlex OS (original developed and sold as “ScaleIO” SDS). PowerFlex can be deployed with storage and compute in dedicated nodes, or combined in the same node. Dell calls these Storage nodes, Compute nodes, and Hyperconverged nodes.

Dell PowerFlex Product Review Includes:

• Overview
• Highlights
• Usage
• Architecture Deployment
• EvaluScale Product Review Methodology
• Evaluator Group’s Opinion

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