Unstructured data is data that does not have a predefined format or schema, such as text, images, audio, video, and sensor data. Unstructured data is growing at an unprecedented rate, driven by the proliferation of digital devices, social media, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. According to IDC, unstructured data will account for 80% of the global data volume by 2025.
Managing unstructured data poses many challenges for businesses and organizations, such as:
- How to store and access large amounts of unstructured data efficiently and cost-effectively?
- How to protect and secure unstructured data from loss, corruption, and unauthorized access?
- How to analyze and extract value from unstructured data to drive innovation and business outcomes?
To address these challenges, Dell Technologies offers PowerScale, a family of scale-out NAS platforms that can store, manage, and protect unstructured data across edge, core, and cloud environments.
PowerScale Features and Benefits
PowerScale is powered by OneFS, a distributed file system that provides high performance, scalability, availability, security, and efficiency for unstructured data. PowerScale nodes can be clustered together to form a single namespace that can scale from terabytes to petabytes without compromising performance or reliability. PowerScale supports a wide range of protocols and applications, such as NFS, SMB, HDFS, S3, FTP, HTTP, and more.
Some of the key features and benefits of PowerScale are:
- NVMe storage for massive performance: PowerScale nodes use NVMe flash drives to deliver up to 15.8 million IOPS and 945 GB/s throughput per cluster. PowerScale can handle the most demanding workloads, such as AI, big data analytics, HPC, video streaming, and genomics.
- In-line compression and deduplication: PowerScale nodes use in-line compression and deduplication to reduce the storage footprint of unstructured data by up to 80%1. This helps lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) and improve storage efficiency.
- Delivers up to 186 PB of raw capacity in a single cluster: PowerScale nodes can scale from 11 TB to 15.2 PB of raw capacity per node, and up to 186 PB of raw capacity per cluster. PowerScale can grow with the business needs without disrupting operations or performance.
- Protects investment with Future-Proof Program: PowerScale nodes are covered by the Future-Proof Program, which provides customers with investment protection for up to three years. The program includes:
- Data reduction guarantees: Customers can get up to 4:1 data reduction ratio for their unstructured data or get additional storage capacity at no extra cost.
- Hardware investment protection: Customers can trade-in their existing or competitive systems for credit towards next-generation Dell EMC storage or HCI solutions.
- Flexible consumption options: Customers can choose from various payment solutions that suit their budget and cash flow needs.
PowerScale Use Cases and Customer Stories
PowerScale is well suited to store and manage unstructured data across all industries and vertical markets. Some of the common use cases for PowerScale are:
- AI and machine learning: PowerScale is the foundation for building an integrated and optimized IT infrastructure for AI initiatives, from POC to production. The integration and optimization showcased includes PowerScale, PowerEdge, PowerSwitch and Dell Precision Data Science Workstations PowerScale can handle the massive amounts of data generated by AI models and provide fast and reliable access to the data for training and inference.
- Big data analytics: PowerScale is the first scale-out NAS platform that natively integrates with the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) layer. PowerScale can store and process large volumes of structured and unstructured data using Hadoop frameworks such as Apache Spark, Hive, Impala, and more. PowerScale can also support multiple Hadoop clusters within a single namespace for better resource utilization and management.
- Media and entertainment: PowerScale can support the entire media workflow, from content creation to distribution. PowerScale can handle high-resolution video formats such as 4K, 8K, HDR, VR, AR, and more. PowerScale can also enable collaborative editing, transcoding, streaming, archiving, and backup of media assets.
- Safety and security: PowerScale can store and analyze video surveillance data from thousands of cameras across multiple locations. PowerScale can provide real-time insights into security events using AI-based video analytics. PowerScale can also ensure compliance with data retention policies and regulations.
- Genomics: PowerScale can accelerate genomic research by storing and processing massive amounts of genomic data. PowerScale can support various genomic applications such as sequencing, alignment, variant calling, annotation, and more. PowerScale can also enable collaboration and data sharing among researchers and clinicians.
Some of the customers who are using PowerScale to innovate and transform their businesses are:
- Lightstorm Entertainment: Lightstorm Entertainment is the production company behind the blockbuster movie “Avatar” and its sequels. Lightstorm Entertainment uses PowerScale to store and manage the vast amounts of data generated by the movie production, which involves cutting-edge technologies such as motion capture, virtual reality, and 3D rendering.
- University of Texas San Antonio: The University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) is a public research university that conducts various research projects in fields such as cybersecurity, cloud computing, biomedicine, and more. UTSA uses PowerScale to modernize its IT infrastructure and provide faster access to research data, better cybersecurity, and reduced operational costs.
- Miami Dolphins: The Miami Dolphins is a professional American football team that plays in the National Football League (NFL). The Miami Dolphins use PowerScale to increase fan engagement and stadium security by enabling advanced video, data storage and protection, and hyper-converged infrastructure from Dell Technologies.
- ALMA Observatory: The ALMA Observatory is a radio telescope located in Chile that observes the universe in the millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. The ALMA Observatory uses PowerScale to process high-quality datasets of observations from space, accelerating science and human progress.
- Outernet Global: Outernet Global is a media and entertainment company that creates immersive experiences for audiences using cutting-edge technologies such as 8K video, spatial audio, and interactive content. Outernet Global uses PowerScale to architect its network environment and handle the massive amounts of data needed to create unique, multi-sensory experiences.
- The Kraft Group: The Kraft Group is a diversified holding company that owns and operates businesses in various sectors such as sports, entertainment, real estate, paper, and packaging. The Kraft Group uses PowerScale to transform its event experiences with cutting-edge, AI-powered infrastructure.
- Williamson County: Williamson County is a county in Texas that provides various public services such as law enforcement, emergency management, health care, and more. Williamson County uses PowerScale to improve its efficiency and security by implementing a digital evidence management system.
Conclusion
PowerScale is a scalable and flexible solution for unstructured data that can store, manage, and protect data across edge, core, and cloud environments. PowerScale can deliver unmatched performance, efficiency, availability, and security for unstructured data. PowerScale can also support a wide range of workloads and applications that can drive innovation and business outcomes. PowerScale is trusted by customers across various industries and verticals to handle their unstructured data challenges.
