Home > Storage > PowerScale (Isilon) > Product Documentation > Data Efficiency > Next-Generation Storage Efficiency with Dell PowerScale Inline Data Reduction > Efficient storage utilization
Compression is one of several components of OneFS that enable Dell PowerScale to deliver a very high level of storage efficiency. Another enabler is OneFS SmartDedupe, which employs post-process deduplication to share common data blocks across the file system. Other features such as SmartQuotas thin provisioning, SnapshotIQ, and small file packing also contribute to the overall efficiency equation.
However, one of the most significant storage efficiency attributes is the way that OneFS natively manages data protection in the file system. Unlike most file systems that rely on hardware RAID, OneFS protects data at the file level and, using software-based erasure coding, allows most customers to enjoy raw to usable utilization levels of 85% or higher. This is in contrast to the scale up NAS industry mean of around 60% raw disk capacity utilization. Inline data reduction serves to further extend this storage efficiency headroom, bringing an even more compelling and demonstrable TCO advantage to primary file-based storage.