The Dell EMC Unity XT system is derived from the EMC VNX/VNXe series of storage systems with a new operating environment and new hardware configuration. Unity XT systems have both all flash and hybrid models and are scale-up systems with dual active controllers. The unified systems support block and file with the file
software originally released in the VNXe3200.
Many of the software functions of the Dell EMC Unity XT systems were extracted from VNX software. The Unity XT systems use a SuSE Linux kernel and support Docker containers. The filesystem software supports multiple NAS servers. Unisphere is the element manager as a web GUI, implemented with HTLM5.
Packaged in a 2U enclosure, the dual controllers also have the option of 25 2.5” devices or 12 3.5” devices. Additional devices added with Disk Array Enclosures contain either 15 3.5” devices in a 3U enclosure or 80 2.5” devices in a 3U enclosure. Software features are included in the base price and include snapshots, asynchronous file and synchronous and asynchronous block remote replication, VVOLs and VASA support. Telemetry data is collected and analyzed with a SaaS product called CloudIQ. CloudIQ performs health checks and schedules proactive maintenance based on the analytics.
The SSDs in the Dell EMC Unity XT All-Flash models have a lifetime warranty as long as a maintenance contract is in place. In addition, the maintenance price is guaranteed not to be increased from the initial purchase.
Inline compression is selectable on a LUN basis for all flash storage pools. For file operations as a NAS system, policy-based file tiering to clouds is included.
While Dell Technologies has since launched additional midrange systems with the PowerStore, Unity XT systems have continued to receive updates. In June 2022 Dell released the OE 5.2 update which provided support for in-place controller upgrades and synchronous file replication.
Dell EMC Unity Product Brief includes:
- Overview
- Highlights
- Usage
- EvaluScale Product Review Methodology
- Evaluator Group’s Opinion
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