SANDirect's Perspective
Very few small to medium sized enterprises have dedicated storage specialists racing to the rescue to manage their IT infrastructure. This is where EMC’s VNXe steps in. Taking into consideration the needs of small to medium sized enterprises, the VNXe was designed to provide solutions for file based storage (NAS) and block-based storage (SAN) in a single, compact unit capable of handling either task.
An even greater relief to the casual and non-proficient user, the VNXe comes with a series of management wizards that don’t require an operator to have decades of experience to configure systems to precise specifications. The VNXe comes with a wizrd software program called Unisphere, which is accessed through a user-friendly GUI and acts as a guide that leads the user through specific management tasks like RAID configuration, creation of virtualization data stores for VMware and Hyper-V, volume management, and even supports the completion of much more complex application oriented tasks like setting up Exchange mailboxes. Perhaps the VNXe’s greatest contribution to small and medium sized enterprises is this creation of a GUI so remarkably easy to use that complex functions can be accomplished by IT generalists instead of highly trained – and ultimately expensive – specialists.
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EMC VNXe—Storage. Click. Done.
VNXe STORAGE PLATFORMS
With scalability from six up to 120 disk drives and 240 terabytes of capacity, the VNXe series is ready to meet the needs of growing organizations with increasingly complex storage requirements. The VNXe3100™ is an ideal platform for businesses with physical server infrastructures, as well as those making the move to server virtualization to drive consolidation and greater efficiency. The VNXe3300™ includes all of the ease of use and application-driven management features of the VNVe3100, along with increased performance, scalability, and I/O expandability. Both systems share a comprehensive set of features including exceptional capacity utilization, data protection and availability solutions, and advanced support capabilities.
STORAGE CONSOLIDATION ON YOUR TERMS
Deploying a highly functional shared storage system should be an on-ramp to efficiency for your IT infrastructure, not a roadblock to greater productivity. Too often, however, the increased capabilities of advanced network storage come at the price of new interfaces to master, new terminology to decipher, and new processes to learn. VNXe systems take a fundamentally different approach, aligning storage management with applications, avoiding arcane storage terms for plain language, and embedding storage and application best practices into the user interface for a faster, simpler user experience in completing everyday administrative tasks.
SIMPLICITY AND EFFICIENCY, UNIFIED
Whether the task at hand is consolidating storage to better manage resources and protect data, or improving IT resource utilization with server virtualization, the VNXe series provides the ready answer. VNXe systems are uniquely capable of delivering unified IP storage for NAS and iSCSI while simplifying operations and reducing management overhead. Application- centric management and provisioning wizards result in immediate familiarity for users, while integration of snapshot and replication with storage management workflows results in streamlined operations and uniform data protection coverage.
Compact storage platforms —The VNXe’s unified IP architecture results in lots of capability in a small package. High-availability, dual controller designs fit in only 2U or 3U of rack space. Simple capacity management and growth —By organizing raw capacity into pools of high-
performance 15,000 rpm SAS drives and high-capacity 7,200 near-line SAS drives, VNXe systems take the complexity out of storage management. Easily provision new applications from available pools and expand pools with convenient disk packs.
Advanced storage efficiency —Less can be more when you create new storage with VNXe’s thin provisioning capability (simply enable as you create new volumes or storage for new applications such as email). Add to the efficiency with file-level deduplication and compression to reduce physical capacity needs by 50 percent or more.
MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY IS SIMPLE
VNXe systems were designed with a management philosophy in mind: keep it simple. It’s storage from the application’s point of view with one clear way to handle any task—from initial installation to creating storage for virtual servers. You can shift from managing file shares to creating application storage without missing a beat. The bottom line: you can save time and steps. Provisioning storage for 500 mailboxes or 100 gigabytes of virtual server storage can be done in less than 10 minutes. Application-driven provisioning and management enables you to easily consolidate your storage. VNXe systems understand how many mailboxes you are creating, for example, and manage storage for server virtualization and file share so you can focus on your business-critical applications.
VNXe: DESIGNED TO BE HIGHLY FLEXIBLE AND AVAILABLE
It begins with the hardware —high availability, scalability, and adaptability to future needs, to name a few. The VNXe hardware platforms take advantage of the latest processor technology from Intel, and include features that help you meet future needs for growth and change head on. Flex I/O expansion —VNXe systems come with one-Gb/s Ethernet connections standard for NAS and iSCSI, plus Flex I/O slots that provide additional one-Gb/s ports to expand connectivity and performance. The VNXe3300 also supports the option of 10-Gb/s connectivity.
Six-Gb/s serial-attached SCSI (SAS) drives and enclosures —The latest SAS interface delivers the industry’s highest transfer rates along with simple capacity expansion, enterprise performance, and end-to-end data integrity features.
Start small —VNXe systems give you the flexibility to buy only what you need today—whether that means capacity, performance, or features. When growth comes, you’ll be ready. The VNXe3100 can also start as a single controller system and be upgraded to a dual controller system as demands dictate.
Availability and data protection —The VNXe’s high-availability design, including mirrored cache and dual active controllers, is architected to eliminate single points-of-failure. If an outage occurs, data in the VNXe write cache is safely stored in Flash memory, eliminating time-limited battery backup and external power supplies.
VNXe SOFTWARE—WHAT WILL YOU NEED TO DO NEXT?
IT environments everywhere are constantly under pressure to improve productivity while meeting service levels and keeping costs down. Whether managing one or multiple sites, simple and efficient delivery of storage services for the IT ecosystem ensures the business is optimizing virtualized applications, improving utilization and ensuring valuable data is pro- tected and secure.
Every VNXe unified storage platform comes with base software solutions, including EMC Unisphere™ for application-aware management, file deduplication with compression for increased efficiency, thin provisioning for adding storage on-demand, as well as CIFS and iSCSI. The VNXe3100 also includes NFS as well as snapshots for local data protection. To address needs ranging from disaster recovery to application backup and restore, EMC has packaged unique and powerful add-on storage software into easy-to-use suites to ensure maximum protection and security for your VNXe unified storage platforms. With this approach, VNXe software suites simplify enablement of storage services, while dynamically moving, securing, and protecting production data for unified block and file storage—all managed through, and integrated with, EMC Unisphere. For even greater simplicity, purchase the VNXe3100 Total Value Pack or the VNXe3300 Total Protection Pack.
YOUR OWN SUPPORT ECOSYSTEM AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
A click on the VNXe support tab puts a world of resources at your fingertips. Comprehensive online documentation, help, training, and even how-to videos are there to expand your knowledge and answer questions. Click the Downloads icon to check for the latest version of system software, or search EMC’s online knowledge base for information and insight on a range of product and storage topics, all from the VNXe management console.
The VNXe3100 includes a standard three-year Basic warranty, with next business day parts replacement and 5x9 remote support. The VNXe3300 includes a three-year Enhanced warranty providing next business day onsite support and 24x7 remote support. Premium warranty upgrade options with four-hour onsite response as well as post-warranty maintenance support are also available.
