Dell EMC VxFlex integrated systems deliver maximum scalability and business agility, enabling companies to start small and grow in flexible, discrete increments. Based on the industry’s #1 PowerEdge servers1, VxFlex supports: multi-hypervisor and bare metal environments; two-layer, HCI and storage-only architectures; and high performance applications and databases.
VxFlex Products
VxFlex appliance
Pre-configured and validated for fast, easy deployment, VxFlex appliance offers a turnkey experience in an economic form factor. With VxFlex appliance, customers benefit from a smaller starting point, with massive scale potential, without having to compromise on performance and resiliency.
- Flexible starting point
- Simplified deployment
- Bring your own compatible networking
VxFlex integrated rack
VxFlex integrated rack (formerly VxRack FLEX) is a rack-scale engineered system, with integrated networking, that provides linear scalability and enterprise-grade availability. VxFlex integrated rack is engineered, manufactured, managed, supported, and sustained as one system for single end-to-end lifecycle support.
- Fully integrated rack-scale fabric
- Lifecycle management and ease of upgrade
- White glove deployment experience
Organizations that want to accelerate their IT transformation with hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) are often worried that they cannot get the same results that their legacy environment provides: resiliency, performance and scale. VxFlex is
the answer to replicate the benefits of a legacy environment while also delivering on the advantages that HCI promises.
VxFlex integrated systems create a server-based SAN by combining storage virtualization software, known as VxFlex OS, with Dell EMC PowerEdge servers to deliver flexible, scalable performance and capacity on demand. Local storage
resources are combined to create a virtual pool of block storage with varying performance tiers. The architecture enables you to scale from a small environment to enterprise scale with over a thousand nodes. In addition, it
provides enterprise-grade data protection, multi-tenant capabilities, and add-on enterprise features such as QoS, compression, thin provisioning, and snapshots. VxFlex systems deliver the performance and time-to-value required to meet the
demands of the modern enterprise data center.
High Performance Applications and Databases
VxFlex delivers the performance you need for any high performance database and application. VxFlex OS is the virtualization software and enabling technology
behind VxFlex systems and it can deliver millions of IOPS at consistent submillisecond response times. Every node in the VxFlex cluster acts as a
storage controller and is used in the processing of I/O operations, making all I/O and throughput accessible to any application within the cluster. Such massive I/O
parallelism eliminates performance bottlenecks and infrastructure silos.
Throughput and IOPS scale in direct proportion to the number of nodes added to the system, improving cost/performance rates with growth. High performance is
desired for databases and applications, but it is also a key factor when rebuilds and rebalances resulting from media and server failure are needed. These all
occur in the background with minimal to no impact to applications and users.
The VxFlex system automatically manages and optimizes data layout, preventing performance hot spots. These unique VxFlex OS features are why the most
discerning and competitive businesses rely on VxFlex for their mission critical databases and applications.
VxFlex Differentiators
Flexibility
- Flexible architecture allows multi-hypervisor support for vSphere, Red Hat Virtualization, and Windows/Hyper-V
- Deployment options include two-layer, HCI, storage only, or mix and match
Linear scalability and elasticity
- Start small and grow incrementally with no bottlenecks or resiliency tradeoffs
- Scale compute and storage independently (or together) for minimum TCO
- Linear scalability delivers consistent performance and latency
Predictable high performance and resiliency
- Reliable, repeatable, fast rebuilds deliver 6x9’s Tier 1 resiliency
- Predictability even in mixed workloads with high variability
- Even better performance and resiliency as you scale
Full stack architecture support
- Ability to take M&O to the network level
- Single source of support for both hardware and software
Lab Testing Demonstrates High Performance
VxFlex integrated rack can achieve over 1M IOPs with less than 1 millisecond latency using only six 1U nodes.*
Multi-Hpervisor and Bare Metal Options
VxFlex systems offer VMware® vSphere, Red Hat Virtualization, and Windows/Hyper-V integration as an engineered system, alongside the ability to support other hypervisors and operating systems through bare metal configurations**. This unique ability provides workload flexibility and gives organizations many options with no future lock-in if IT and business requirements change as new projects and workloads arise.
Enabling different nodes to run different hypervisors, all while sharing the same storage pool, allows independent upgrades and shifting to different virtual environments as needed.
Flexible Deployment Options
The VxFlex storage environment can be designed to resemble a hyperconverged or traditional two-layer SAN architecture. Hyperconverged combines compute and storage together on the same node while a two-layer model separates them.
- HCI/single-layer architecture: An HCI model, where compute and storage reside within the same server, creates a single-layer architecture and offers the best TCO savings while allowing you to modernize your data center with greater efficiency
- Two-layer model: Maintain your storage environment using a two-layer model to resemble a traditional SAN architecture with compute and storage on separate nodes. This two-layer model provides efficient parallelism and no single points of failure. Additionally, storage and compute nodes remain separate operationally, giving teams the flexibility to manage each infrastructure component independently. And if an organization is compute-heavy or storage-heavy, a two-layer model allows them to scale each component independently, preventing unused resources.
- Storage-only cluster: A storage-only deployment provides additional flexibility to customers wanting to move to software-defined, but need to start slowly. This option allows customers to start with a storage-only architecture to meet immediate needs, then add compute or HCI nodes at a later time as business needs grow.
- VxFlex enables flexible scale out capabilities for your data center. As compute and storage resources are consumed, add nodes one by one, or scale by adding entire racks. VxFlex provides your infrastructure with unparalleled elasticity and scalability. Startwith a small environment for your proof of concept or new application and add nodes as needed when requirements evolve - even to web-scale size.