Dell-Microsoft Pairing Yields Hybrid Storage Server

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Dell (Quote) and Microsoft (Quote) have
created a new midrange storage server capable of
handling file and block-based application data on one box.

The PowerVault NX1950, running Microsoft’s new Windows Unified Data Storage
Server 2003, covers network-attached storage (NAS) (define) (file)
and iSCSI SAN (SAN) (define) (block) storage.

Covering both major protocols will keep customers from needing separate
machines to handle different protocols, saving them money and space in the
datacenter. Customers can eliminate separate licensing for additional
features, such as snapshots, replication and resource management.

The PowerVault NX1950 includes single- or two-node cluster configurations and
scales up to 45 drives with the redundant PowerVault MD3000 SAS (SAS)
(define) storage array (see Dell’s new MD3000 below) to provide
roughly 13.5 terabytes (define) of total storage.

Clipper Group analyst Dave Reine said the system is an easily installed
option that will eventually handle 33.75 terabytes once the 750 gigabyte
serial ATA drives are available next year.

“We looked at how to provide our mid-tier storage customer a product that’s
going to do file and block, do it in a highly available manner that’s also
very scalable and simple to use,” said Eric Endebrock, senior manager of
Dell Enterprise Storage.

“Customers need a unified solution that allows them to serve up their files
as they traditionally have, manage them, and run their applications off of
the same device.”

To be sure, Endebrock said Dell sees this unified storage space as an
incremental market it’s going after, along with Network Appliance. Endebrock
said Dell sees the NX1950 competing with NetApp’s FAS250 (for single node)
and FAS270 (for dual node) arrays.

NetApp has a big head start in unified storage; the vendor earlier this year
created high-end
and midrange
unified storage devices.

But while NetApp (Quote) uses its own ONTAP storage
operating system for its unified arrays, Dell has chosen to go with a
storage operating system from long-time PC partner Microsoft.

The Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003 is a new Microsoft storage
platform that allows NAS server and iSCSI SAN storage to be managed from one
console, said Bala Kasiviswanathan, group product manager for storage at
Microsoft.

Microsoft was able to create the software as the next member of its Windows
Storage Server 2003 R2 after acquiring
the ISCSI assets from String Bean Software last March.

Unified Data Storage Server 2003 includes capabilities born in Windows
Storage Server 2003 R2, including single-instance storage, full-indexed text
search, Windows SharePoint Services and distributed file service.

“We developed this product very closely with Dell, and they’ll be the first
to market with this product,” Kasiviswanathan said. “But this product is
like any in the storage family; it’s an OEM product and will be available
for any OEM to use.”

While optimized for Windows, the NX1950 also works with Linux, Unix and
Macintosh systems.

The NX1950 system is for sale today, starting at $17,000. Configurations of
4.5 terabytes start at less than $24,000. New systems with clustering and
drive expansion, along with SAN gateway capabilities, will be available in
the first half of 2007.

Reine said the low entry price will “reduce the acquisition burden, enabling
SMBs to get in on the action with minimal cost and plenty of headroom.”

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