White Papers

Dell - Internal Use - Confidential
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Dell EMC Isilon F800 All-flash and Dell EMC Isilon Hybrid Scale-out NSA H600
A single Isilon storage cluster can host multiple node types to maximize deployment flexibility. Node types range from the Isilon F (All
Flash) to H (Hybrid), and A (Archive) nodes. Each provides a different optimization point for capacity, performance, and cost.
Automated processes can be established that automatically migrate data from higher-performance, higher-cost nodes to more cost-
effective storage. Nodes can be added “on the fly,” with no disruption of user services. Additional nodes result in increased performance
(including network interconnect), capacity and resiliency.
The Dell EMC Isilon OneFS operating system powers all Dell EMC Isilon scale-out NAS storage solutions. OneFS also supports
additional services for performance, security, and protection:
 SmartConnect is a software module that optimizes performance and availability by enabling intelligent client connection load
balancing and failover support. Through a single host name, SmartConnect enables client connection load balancing and
dynamic NFS failover and failback of client connections across storage nodes to provide optimal utilization of the cluster
resources.
 SmartPools provides rule based movement of data through tiers within an Isilon cluster. Institutions can set up rules keeping
the higher performing nodes available for immediate access to data for computational needs and NL and HD series used for
all other data. It does all this while keeping data within the same namespace, which can be especially useful in a large shared
research environment.
 SmartFail and Auto Balance ensure that data is protected across the entire cluster. There is no data loss in the event of any
failure and no rebuild time necessary. This contrasts favorably with other file systems such as Lustre or GPFS as they have
significant rebuild times and procedures in the event of failure with no guarantee of 100% data recovery.
 SmartQuotas help control and limit data growth. Evolving data acquisition and analysis modalities coupled with significant
movement and turnover of users can lead to significant consumption of space. Institutions without a comprehensive data
management plan or practice can rely on SmartQuotas to better manage growth.
Through utilization of common network protocols such as CIFS/SMB, NFS, HDFS, and HTTP, Isilon can be accessed from any number
of machines by any number of users leveraging existing authentication services.
Formerly known as “Project Nitro,” the highly dense, bladed-node architecture of F800 provides four nodes within a single 4U chassis
with capacity options ranging from 92TB to 924TB per chassis. Available in several configurations, F800 units can be combined into a
single cluster that provides up to 92.4PB of capacity and over 1.5TB/s of aggregate performance. It is designed for a wide range of
next-generation applications and unstructured workloads that require extreme NAS performance including, 4K streaming of data,
genomic sequencing, electronic design automation, and near real-time analytics. It can also be deployed as a new cluster, or can
Figure 3 Lustre-based storage solution components