Dell is updating PowerMax with new artificial intelligence features for better performance and security. It's also adding new data mobility options for multi-cloud environments.
Dell PowerMax 10.2 adds new AI features to the vendor's high-end block and mainframe storage arrays to provide customers with optimized dynamic cache for performance, proactive management to prevent downtime and a generative AI assistant for infrastructure optimization.
The vendor said the latest version improved RAID efficiency and energy consumption through improved monitoring. PowerMax 10.2 also includes new cybersecurity features around recovery and multifactor authentication and higher transfer rate network connectivity, along with added data mobility for multi-cloud settings.
[PowerMax] is like the mainframe of storage for firms that want the most bulletproof systems in the most demanding workloads.
Dave VellanteChief analyst, theCUBE Research
Version 10.2 automates several built-in PowerMax capabilities as a natural evolution of the offering, according to Dave Vellante, chief analyst at theCUBE Research.
"[PowerMax] is like the mainframe of storage for firms that want the most bulletproof systems in the most demanding workloads," Vellante said.
Internal AI
Dell is utilizing AI within PowerMax to deliver better value and efficiency to the customer, according to Rajib Ghosh, director of product management at Dell and lead of the product management team for PowerMax.
Dell uses AI and ML for pattern recognition and predictive analytics based on telemetry data. That leads to dynamic cache optimization, which can reduce latency and improve performance, Ghosh said, including up to 30% higher IOPS for the PowerMax 8500 model.
The AI update includes automated health checks of the system and network fabric performance optimization, identifying and isolating network congestion. In both cases, issues are detected and corrective actions are sent to proactively address them.
Dell's PowerMax update is in line with how competitors are also using AI, including NetApp, according to Steve McDowell, founder and analyst at NAND Research. While NetApp trained AI on ransomware detection, Dell is using AI to improve performance and automation.
"Dell trains models on I/O patterns so they can do dynamic optimization," McDowell said.
Dell's AIOps Assistant, initially introduced in PowerStore, is now also available in PowerMax and uses generative AI to answer infrastructure optimization queries.
Data protection, networking and multi-cloud
For security, Dell has added Cyber Recovery Services for PowerMax, a professional service offering that helps customers recover in the event of a cyberattack or natural disaster. The service includes a PowerMax vault and granular data protection for recovery while meeting compliance requirements. Dell has added YubiKey multifactor authentication for better protection.
On networking, Dell now offers PowerMax modules with 64Gb Fibre Channel or 100 GB Ethernet for two to three times the network performance respectively. The vendor also introduced Storage Direct Protection for PowerMax, snapshot backup technology, and integration of PowerProtect backup appliances that can lead up to 1 petabyte per day backup and 500 TB per day restores, according to the vendor.
Both data protection and faster networking work with the added multi-cloud agility Dell is rolling out for PowerMax. Live PowerMax workloads can be moved to Apex Block Storage and back. Storage Direct Protection for PowerMax delivers backup destinations to clouds such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform and Alibaba.
In the past, companies would invest in two of the same systems -- one for primary use and one for standby, McDowell said. The two systems would back each other up.
"With cloud storage, this is a more economical way to do cyber resilience and disaster recovery," McDowell said.
Adam Armstrong is a TechTarget Editorial news writer covering file and block storage hardware and private clouds. He previously worked at StorageReview.
