Mastering PowerStore
Fri, 03 Feb 2023 23:22:59 -0000
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Introduction
Are you wanting to learn more about PowerStore but not sure where to start? Look no further! In this blog, we describe the top five best PowerStore resources to get you started on PowerStore. These resources include:
- the PowerStore YouTube playlist
- the PowerStore Data Sheet, and
- the Introduction to PowerStore white paper
In this blog we take a look at the advantages of each resource with an emphasis on its use cases and value provided to you.
PowerStore Youtube playlist
The journey towards PowerStore mastery begins at the PowerStore YouTube playlist. The playlist consists of 25 videos and provides an assortment of introduction videos, overviews, demos, lightboard sessions, and discussions of particular features of PowerStore.
To get acquainted with PowerStore at a high level, the introduction videos provide a broad survey of all things PowerStore, including key features, hardware components, architecture, services, performance, and the competitive advantages of PowerStore. These videos leave you wanting to hear more about the technologies and services that PowerStore has to offer.
To understand PowerStore features and services in more detail, the playlist contains another set of overview videos that go over key features and services, such as cybersecurity, hardware, migration, cloud storage services. , and a demo. These videos also include a comprehensive demo that introduces the design of the PowerStore UI.
The videos also include lightboard sessions that have an instruction feel to them. These short-form lightboard sessions go over always-on data reduction, scale up and scale out, machine learning and AI, and PowerStore’s modern software architecture. They do a great job at communicating the technologies that PowerStore has to offer.
Finally, this playlist features discussion videos that further elaborate on VMware virtual volumes, appson, anytime upgrades, and intelligent automation. These take a more personal approach to discussing features and allow the audience to see a back and forth discussion of many questions that viewers may be asking themselves, and to have those questions answered.
PowerStore datasheet
The next resource for mastering PowerStore is the PowerStore Datasheet.
The PowerStore datasheet consolidates PowerStore into four pages and revolves around three key ideas, that PowerStore is:
- adaptable - PowerStore can support any workload, is built for performance, scales up and scales out, and protects critical data.
- intelligent - PowerStore provides self-optimization, proactive health analytics, and programmable infrastructure.
- continuously modern - PowerStore offers an all-inclusive subscription, non-disruptive hardware updates, and an anytime upgrade advantage.
The datasheet also describes the ways you can migrate to PowerStore, and the services that Dell Technologies offers to make the transition to PowerStore as seamless as possible.
A PowerStore white paper: Introduction to the Platform
Building off of the PowerStore datasheet is the white paper Introduction to the Platform.
As the abstract states, this white paper details the value proposition, architecture, and various deployment considerations of the available PowerStore appliances. Where the previous resources discussed (videos and datasheet) provide immediate overviews and discussions to help you grasp PowerStore in a more consolidated way, the Introduction to the Platform white paper takes a deep dive into the details of PowerStore and is intended for IT administrators, storage architects, partners, Dell Technologies employees, and people who are considering PowerStore.
The white paper follows through on your PowerStore education with in-depth displays of the PowerStore value proposition, architecture, and hardware. The hardware section includes information about modules, power supplies, drives, expansion enclosures, and much more. It also includes a glossary of terms and definitions to help you further your understanding of PowerStore and storage as a whole.
Another helpful resource that complements the white paper is the PowerStore Installation and Service guide, available here. This document includes all customer facing hardware procedures, is far more technical, and conveys the level of detail needed to further your knowledge of PowerStore.
PowerStore: Info Hub - Product Documentation & Videos
Hands-on Labs
Sometimes learning is done by doing. This resource does just that! After a proper introduction including videos, datasheet, and in-depth insights, this resource calls you to action. For PowerStore T, the Administration and Management Hands-on Lab and the Data Protection Hands-on Lab walk you through various aspects of PowerStore, and allow you to experience PowerStore’s UX/UI design and its capabilities first hand.
The Administration and Management Hands-on Lab covers three modules:
- PowerStore Management - As the module name states, this module walks you through a wide array of management actions and functions you can perform.This module allows the user to create clusters and manage devices in scale out functions.
- PowerStore Provisioning - This module guides you through step-by-step instructions on how to use the PowerStore Manager UI to provision volumes. PowerStore Manager’s intuitive and easy to use UI design is one of the differentiators that is highlighted in this module.
- PowerStore Monitoring - Finally, the third module walks you through PowerStore monitoring capabilities that include health analytics and warning messages that are delivered to the user.
In the Data Protection Hands-on Lab for PowerStore T, you can walk through various data protection features. There are four modules in this lab:
- PowerStore Protection Policies - allows you to work with PowerStore protection policies, which include scheduled snapshots and replication
- PowerStore Thin Clones - lets you configure and work with thin clones
- PowerStore Import - lets you configure an import session, to PowerStore from another Dell system
- PowerStore Migration – shows how to initiate an internal migration between PowerStore systems in the same cluster
Administration and Management Hands-on Lab
The Dell Technologies Info Hub
The final resource to round out mastering PowerStore is this site itself! The Dell Info Hub contains a wide assortment of blogs regarding particular features, attributes, and releases. From this page, you can find white papers, blogs, and hands-on labs on a variety of PowerStore topics. Whether its block storage, file storage, or updates, the Dell Info Hub provides all sorts of educational materials on all things PowerStore.
https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/t/storage/
Author: Hector Reyes, Analyst, Product Management