Release Notes

ME4 Series overview
7 Dell EMC PowerVault ME4 Series and Linux | 3924-BP-L
It is recommended to choose the right RAID level that best suits the type of workloads in the environment.
Review the information in ME4 Series Administrator's Guide which details the benefits of each RAID level, the
minimum and maximum disks requirements, and the recommendation of RAID levels for popular workloads.
1.2.3 Thin provisioning
Virtual volumes are thin provisioned in the storage system where pages are allocated only when the data is
written to the volume. This allows the storage system to appear to have more storage than what is actually
allocated. It also allows more efficient usage because the consumption is based on the actual amount of data
written and not on the defined volume size.
1.2.4 Automated tiered storage
When the storage system is configured with different types of disks, the automated tiered storage (ATS)
feature automatically moves data between different disk classes based on data-access patterns to optimize
performance and space consumption. There are three storage tiers: Performance, Standard and Archive. The
performance tier uses SSDs, the standard tier uses lower-cost HDD SAS disks, and the archive tier uses
lowest-cost, large-capacity NL-SAS disks.
1.2.5 Snapshots
The storage system can create point-in-time copies of virtual volumes. Snapshot creation is fast and efficient
because only changed data in the snapshot consume space. See section 3.6 about data protection with
snapshots.
1.2.6 Replication
Virtual volumes and snapshots can be replicated asynchronously to a remote ME4 Series system. This
feature can be used for disaster recovery, to distribute data, or to archive data to an offsite location.
Replication requires dedicated I/O ports and therefore reduces the ports that can be used for host
connectivity.
1.2.7 Full-disk encryption
ME4 Storage System supports full-disk encryption (FDE) using self-encrypting drives (SEDs). The data and
system are secured on the disks and are accessed using passphrases and lock keys that are only available
on the storage system. FDE operates on a per-system basis. To use FDE, all disks in the system must be
FDE-capable.
1.2.8 ME Storage Manager
ME Storage Manager is a web-based interface for configuring, monitoring, and managing the storage system.
It can be accessed through each controller's embedded web server.