White Papers

Introduction
5 Dell EMC PowerVault ME4 Series and Microsoft SQL Server | 3923-BP-SQL
1 Introduction
The PowerVault ME4 Series is next-generation, entry-level storage that is purpose-built and optimized for
SAN and DAS virtualized workloads. Available in 2U or dense 5U base systems, the low-cost ME4 Series
simplifies the challenges of server capacity expansion and small-scale SAN consolidation with up to 336
drives or 4PB capacity. It also comes with all-inclusive software, incredible performance, and built-in simplicity
with a new web-based HTML5 management GUI, ME Storage Manager. Connecting ME4 Series storage to a
PowerEdge server or to a SAN ensures that business applications will get high-speed and reliable access to
their data without compromise.
Product features include the following:
Simplicity: ME4 Series storage includes a web-based management GUI (HTML5), installs in 15 minutes,
configures in 15 minutes, and easily deploys in 2U or 5U systems.
Performance: Compared to the predecessor MD3 Series, the ME4 Series packs a lot of power and scale with
the Intel
®
Xeon
®
processor D-1500 product family. The ME4 Series processing power delivers incredible
performance gains over the MD3 Series, as well as increased capacity, bandwidth, and drive count.
Connectivity: ME4 Series storage goes to the next level with robust and flexible connectivity starting with a
12Gb SAS back-end interface, and a front-end interface options including four 16Gb FC ports per controller,
four 10Gb iSCSI ports per controller (SFP+ or BaseT), or four 12Gb SAS ports per controller.
Scalability: Both 2U and 5U base systems are available, with the 2U system supporting either 12 or 24 drives
and the 5U system supporting 84 drives. Each of the 2U (ME4012 and ME4024) and 5U (ME4084) base
systems supports optional expansion enclosures of 12, 24, and 84 drives, allowing you to use up to 336
drives. Drive mixing is also allowed.
All-inclusive software: ME4 Series software provides volume copy, snapshots, IP/FC replication, VMware
®
VCenter Server
®
and VMware Site Recovery Manager™ integration, SSD read cache, thin provisioning,
three-level tiering, ADAPT (distributed RAID), and controller-based encryption (SEDs) with internal key
management.
Management: An integrated HTML5 web-based management interface (ME Storage Manager) is included.
For more information, see the ME4 Series product page.