The ability to scale everything independently has the following primary advantages when both solutions are combined.
In the case where a business application may have very low compute requirements but high storage capacity requirements, PowerStore T appliances can scale both vertically and horizontally to meet the demand.
Depending on capacity and performance requirements, PowerStore requires a minimum of six drives and can then scale in single drive increments vertically, including the additional of up to three additional expansion enclosures if needed. If more horsepower is needed beyond a single appliance, up to three additional PowerStore appliances can be added to the PowerStore cluster.
The benefit of adding multiple appliances to a PowerStore cluster is that it allows mixing and matching of models with different capacities to meet different needs.
For example, the cluster could have a PowerStore 1200 filled with high-capacity drives for testing and development workloads, while the same cluster could also have a PowerStore 5200, 9200, or both for mission critical applications needing extra performance. Combining multiple arrays of different sizes means that the management and configuration of storage in the cluster is done through a single, simplified web interface, and treated as a single cluster entity.
The PowerStore built-in cluster service uses AI for initial placement and then makes re-balancing recommendations post initial placement as needed. For example, if a development application needs to be promoted to production, the underlying storage can seamlessly be migrated from the PowerStore 1200 in the cluster to the 9200 with a few simple clicks and no interruption to the workload.
If applications require additional compute, additional VxRail dynamic nodes can be added to scale to meet any new compute requirements needs. The VxRail HCI System Software node addition process ensures that up to six new nodes can be added at a time, up to the vSphere cluster limit. The node addition process also ensures the new nodes are not only running the same version of vSphere, but the same BIOS, firmware and drivers, as well configured with the same host settings as the existing nodes in the cluster. This capability provides a consistent deployment and cluster expansion experience.
Dell VxRail dynamic nodes provide additional, flexible storage options when it comes to scaling and addressing expanded workloads. Many workloads have different, sometimes extreme requirements of compute and storage. Dynamic nodes expand VxRail deployment configurations and addressable use cases allowing users to scale asymmetrically.