Dell optimises storage for performance-intense applications

In response to the ever-growing customer need for simple, highly capable and affordable storage to support data-intensive applications, Dell recently announced the Dell PowerVault MD1120, its first storage expansion enclosure designed with small form factor 2.5-inch disk drives.

The Dell PowerVault MD1120 affords its customers higher performance through faster access to stored data, improved power efficiency through reduced power consumption and higher data centre density through a compact package.

The PowerVault MD1120 features 24 small form factor drives that require 70% less space and up to 50% less power than models featuring 3.5-inch drives. This results in a fully populated enclosure providing more than twice the IOPS per U over traditional 3.5-inch drive enclosures. Equipped with high-efficiency power supplies and the power-efficient 2.5-inch disk drives, the PowerVault MD1120 can reduce overall data centre power consumption.

The PowerVault MD1120, designed to provide additional storage for Dell's PowerEdge servers, shares a common disk drive with select Dell servers - resulting in simpler management and reduced cost of stocking spare parts.

When attached to Dell's PowerEdge RAID Controller, the PowerVault MD1120 can scale to six enclosures and house up to 144 drives.

Its drives are connected to a fast, 3Gbps Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface, making the PowerVault MD1120 an ideal entry-level enclosure for supporting business-critical applications such as e-mail, database, and online transaction processing.

"The PowerVault MD1120 delivers on Dell's focus to provide data centre solutions that are effective, versatile and, above all, simple to use," said Doug Downing, enterprise brand manager, Dell South Africa. "Whether IT organisations need expanded storage for servers taxed by data-intensive applications or are meeting the needs of anticipated growth, the MD1120 is a high-performance, compact, and highly efficient remedy."

"Higher spindle count in a small form factor is a good match for our test lab, because we do a lot of bus stress testing," said Stephen A Lewis, system validation engineer, Intel Corporation, Enterprise Platforms & Services Division. "Using the Dell PowerVault MD1120, we can achieve higher density in direct-attached storage, which makes our tests more effective; I would recommend the MD1120 to other test facilities and data centres where storage density is an issue."

The expanded PowerVault MD family gives customers versatility and choice in storage technology for optimal support of business needs. With the addition of the MD1120, customers will have the choice of a 2.5-inch drive enclosure for performance-focused applications or a 3.5-inch drive enclosure when higher capacity is required.

The PowerVault MD1120 is available immediately, and Dell Services - including Dell Enterprise Support Services, Dell Infrastructure Services, Professional Installation Services and Disk Expansion Training - can help streamline the installation and maintenance of its entire line of disk expansion enclosures.