Source: DataCenterNews (October 2020)
Dell Technologies announced a broad set of infrastructure solutions and integrations for VMware environments, targeting workloads spanning the edge, data centre and hybrid cloud. The announcements coincided with VMware releasing updates to vSphere, vSAN and VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) — all updated to support VMware Tanzu and its Kubernetes-based application platform.
VxRail: First HCI System Integrated with vSphere with Tanzu
Dell EMC VxRail — a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) system jointly engineered with VMware — was announced as the first system to be integrated with VMware vSphere with Tanzu. This integration enables customers to adopt Kubernetes with automated deployment and provisioning, available through:
- A validated architecture
- A VxRail cluster
- The Dell Technologies Cloud Platform (DTCP)
The Dell Technologies Cloud Platform also offers a subscription for VMware Tanzu in hybrid cloud environments, priced starting at USD $70 per node, per day.
Storage Innovations: PowerMax and ObjectScale
PowerMax Replication and Cloud Mobility
Dell EMC PowerMax replication has been integrated with two key VMware storage technologies:
- VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols) — enabling storage policy-based management directly from vSphere
- VMware Site Recovery Manager — streamlining provisioning, replication and service-level policy management
A new Cloud Mobility for Dell EMC PowerMax feature enables the movement of data from on-premises storage to public clouds. According to Dell, this can reduce the cost per GB for long-term data retention by up to 50%, while freeing PowerMax capacity for higher-priority on-premises applications and extending the useful life of the array. The release also includes improved security features and Smart DR for data resiliency.
Dell EMC ObjectScale: Kubernetes-Native Object Storage
Dell EMC ObjectScale is Dell’s next-generation, Kubernetes-based object storage platform. At the time of announcement it was available through an early access programme. Key characteristics include:
- S3-compatible storage — developers can provision cloud-scale object storage on demand for modern stateful applications
- vSphere-native deployment — object storage can be deployed directly through vSphere, aligning development and IT operations workflows
- Geo-distributed architecture — a scale-out design with global accessibility supports edge, core data centre and hybrid cloud environments
Data Protection: PowerProtect Data Manager Updates
Dell Technologies introduced several data protection enhancements to PowerProtect Data Manager specifically for VMware environments:
- Tanzu portfolio support — PowerProtect Data Manager now supports Tanzu Kubernetes clusters, Kubernetes clusters in vSphere, Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) and Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated (TKGI), both on-premises and in public clouds.
- vCenter Storage Policy-Based Management (SPBM) integration — VI admins can assign data protection policies using familiar vSphere workflows, without leaving their existing toolset.
- VMware Cloud Foundation protection — this release provides a VMware-certified solution for protecting the VCF infrastructure layer.
- Disruption-free VM backups (preview) — Dell previewed a new capability using snapshot and data movement technologies that eliminates the need to pause a VM during backup, allowing mission-critical virtual machines to remain active and available throughout the backup process.
Cloud Building: VMware Cloud Director and DTCP Integration
To help cloud service providers (CSPs) build and scale hosted cloud environments more efficiently, Dell and VMware announced tighter integration between VMware Cloud Director and the Dell Technologies Cloud Platform (DTCP). The benefits cited include:
- Reduced time to provision and manage multi-tenant cloud environments
- Ability to create virtual data centres in minutes, with deployment in seconds across multiple locations
- New automation capabilities for service deployment and lifecycle management of the software-defined data centre
- CSPs running VMware Cloud Director on DTCP can provide customers with rapid, consistent access across DTCP environments and off-premises instances
Support for VMware Project Monterey
Dell Technologies announced its support for VMware Project Monterey, VMware’s initiative to redesign data centre architecture in response to how modern applications are built and deployed. Project Monterey focuses on offloading and disaggregating infrastructure services — including networking, security and storage — to SmartNICs and DPUs (Data Processing Units), freeing CPU resources for application workloads.
Dell’s involvement signals that future generations of Dell EMC PowerEdge servers are expected to be aligned with this architectural direction, though specific product details were not disclosed at the time of announcement.
Summary
These announcements represent a significant expansion of Dell’s VMware integration strategy, with updates touching HCI (VxRail), primary storage (PowerMax), object storage (ObjectScale), data protection (PowerProtect Data Manager) and cloud platform services (DTCP). The common thread is deeper Kubernetes and Tanzu support across Dell’s portfolio, alongside automation improvements for both enterprise IT teams and cloud service providers.
For organisations running VMware-based infrastructure on Dell hardware, these integrations reduce the operational friction of adopting container-based workloads alongside traditional VM workloads, and extend data protection and mobility capabilities into hybrid and multi-cloud scenarios.