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PowerStore X models make up one of the two model types of PowerStore. This distinction is denoted by the letter X that follows a given model number, such as PowerStore 9000X. PowerStore X model appliances are built on the 2U, two-node PowerStore platform that is detailed in PowerStore 1000 through 9000.
Built with a microservices and container-based architecture, the PowerStore operating system is designed to take full advantage of the cutting-edge technology of the underlying platform. PowerStore X models have a native hypervisor layer, developed through joint engineering work with VMware and Intel, which enables selected direct device passthrough of VMware ESXi for on-array application processing. This capability allows the system to provide optimal storage performance and low latency, while supporting customer applications running directly on the hypervisor.
PowerStore X models can serve block storage (with iSCSI, Fibre Channel, NVMe over Fibre Channel, or NVMe over TCP) and vVol storage (with iSCSI or Fibre Channel). PowerStore X models can also host native applications directly on the array in the form of vVols. The applications are embedded by running an instance of VMware ESXi directly on each node. Since the PowerStore platform contains two physical nodes, a PowerStore X model appliance consists of two ESXi hosts. Each host is installed directly on the PowerStore node.
Two PowerStore controller VMs run on the ESXi hosts of the PowerStore X model. These VMs provide the active/active redundant capabilities that are standard across all models. The controller VMs run the PowerStore operating system, and each physical PowerStore node contains one ESXi host and one controller VM by default. To ensure proper resource availability for the PowerStore operating system, the ESXi host reserves 50% of the node CPU and memory for the controller VM. The user VMs use the remaining 50% of the node resources. These VMs are protected with high availability (HA) by default, and the PowerStore controller VMs are also redundant.
The following figure depicts the architecture for a PowerStore X model appliance. VMware ESXi is installed directly onto the PowerStore platform, and the PowerStore operating system runs as a VM on the VMware ESXi host. Applications can be deployed as VMs directly onto the VMware ESXi host, which uses vVols. The platform can serve external-block and vVol storage with Fibre Channel and iSCSI.
For more details about the PowerStore X model components and integration with VMware, see the white paper Dell PowerStore: Virtualization Integration on the PowerStore Infohub.