POWERMAXOS 10

CONCEPTS AND
FEATURES

PARTICIPANT GUIDE

PARTICIPANT GUIDE
 PowerMaxOS 10 Concepts and Features - Participant Guide

© Copyright 2022 Dell Inc. Page i

Table of Contents

Concepts and Features Overview ............................................................................ 2

Overview .............................................................................................................................. 3
PowerMaxOS 10 – Innovative, Intelligent, and Trusted ........................................................ 4

PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components................................................. 5

PowerMaxOS 10 Terminology ............................................................................................. 6
Introduction of Use Cases .................................................................................................... 9
PowerMax 2500 Components ............................................................................................ 10
PowerMax 8500 Components ............................................................................................ 16

PowerMaxOS Features ............................................................................................ 23

PowerMaxOS 10 Improvements ........................................................................................ 24
Flexible RAID ..................................................................................................................... 25
Flexible RAID Sparing ........................................................................................................ 26
Flexible RAID Drive Add .................................................................................................... 27
Software and e-Licensing................................................................................................... 28
Data at Rest Encryption ..................................................................................................... 30
Key Embedded Service Enabler (ESE) Functions .............................................................. 31

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 Concepts and Features Overview

PowerMaxOS 10 Concepts and Features - Participant Guide

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Concepts and Features Overview

Concepts and Features Overview

PowerMaxOS 10 Concepts and Features - Participant Guide

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 Concepts and Features Overview

Overview

This video provides an overview of the PowerMaxOS 10.

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Concepts and Features Overview

PowerMaxOS 10 – Innovative, Intelligent, and Trusted

Innovative Intelligent Trusted

• Dramatic storage • Intrinsic cyber

• Dynamic Fabric increases with greater resiliency
Technology (NVMe) density • Highest data
• Active-Active non- • Increased drive integrity
blocking architecture efficiencies, flexibility, • Expanded business
and performance
• Enhanced DRR and continuity
non-disruptive upgrades • Policy-based • Zero Trust Security
automation,
• Consolidated block, file Architectures
orchestration, and
(FBA) and Mainframe • Robust
compliance
data (CKD) authentication and
• Virtualization and
• Memory improvements data encryption
containers management
incorporating PMEM
technology • Unified management for
Open systems and
mainframe

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 PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

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PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

PowerMaxOS 10 Terminology

The table shows a comparison of the PowerMax and PowerMaxOS 10 terminology.

PowerMaxOS 10 Term Description PowerMax 2000/8000 Term

Dynamic Fabric Core inter-connect Virtual Matrix

technology that enables
the PowerMaxOS 10
architecture.

Node Main compute unit Controller/Director

within the base
enclosure that contains
processors, memory,
offload engine, vault
drives, power supplies,
and fans. Maximum of
16 nodes per PowerMax
8500 and 4 nodes per
PowerMax 2500.

Node Pairs PowerMaxOS 10 Engine

enclosure containing
two nodes and I/O slots.
Maximum of 8 node
pairs per PowerMax
8500 and 2 node pairs
per 2500 system.

Persistent Memory Memory storage N/A

technology in each node
that is used to store
metadata to accelerate
performance and
reduce battery
requirements.

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 PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

Dynamic Media Drive enclosure that is Drive Array Enclosure

Enclosure (DME) connected to the
dynamic fabric that
provides storage
capacity and can scale
independent of compute
(8500 systems only).

Flexible RAID PowerMaxOS 10 RAID Local RAID

design that offers
greater levels of
configuration flexibility.

Data Mobility Migration tool that Non-Disruptive Migration

streamlines data
mobility from VMAX,
PowerMax, and third-
party arrays to
PowerMaxOS 10
arrays.

PowerMax File Fully integrated file Embedded NAS (eNAS)

services—Storage
Defined Network
Attached Storage
(SDNAS)—for
PowerMaxOS 10
systems.

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PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

Inclusive Software Base software included Essentials package,

with all PowerMaxOS zEssentials package, and so
10 systems including on.
but not limited to:
management,
snapshots, encryption,
data mobility, and QoS
software. All orders for
the inclusive software
include three licenses:
PowerMaxOS,
Unisphere, and
TimeFinder.

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 PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

Introduction of Use Cases

The following topic presents two scenarios. Information about the PowerMax 2500
and PowerMax 8500 is provided after each scenario.

Scenario 1: PowerMax 2500 Small Scenario 2: PowerMax 8500 Large

Business Needs Business Needs
A service provider requires that the A system administrator has to reduce their
data of multiple companies not share data center footprint and consolidate 3
the same physical storage array in PowerMax 8000 systems.
their data center. The data center
must be on the smallest footprint
possible.

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PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

PowerMax 2500 Components

Scenario of a Small Business in Need of PowerMax 2500

In this scenario, a customer has specific storage requirements for arrays in the data
center. Click the play button to see how Dell Technologies provides an option that
meets the needs of this request.

Hi, this is Meghan from Dell Technologies.

How may I help you?

Meghan

Rebekah

Hi, this is Meghan from Dell Technologies.

How may I help you?

Meghan

Hi Meghan. My name is Rebekah. I am a storage service provider

for multiple, competing companies. As part of our security
offerings, we guarantee that data from these competing
companies will not share the same physical storage array in our
data center.

Rebekah

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 PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

Sure, we have a couple different options with our PowerMax 2500

and PowerMax 8500 arrays.

Do you have any restrictions?

Meghan

Rebekah

Sure, we have a couple different options with our PowerMax 2500

and PowerMax 8500 arrays.

Do you have any restrictions?

Meghan

We have limited space in our data center, so we are looking for

the smallest footprint to support our customers while providing the
separation we guarantee.

Rebekah

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PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

Okay. Because of the many configuration options available for

PowerMax arrays, we can provide multiple arrays to suit your
requirements.

What is the projected storage capacity for each customer?

Meghan

Rebekah

Okay. Because of the many configuration options available

for PowerMax arrays, we can create multiple, smaller
arrays to suit the requirements.

What is the projected storage capacity for each customer?

Meghan

We anticipate around 2 PB of storage capacity is needed for each

customer but would like to be able to increase that if needed.

Rebekah

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 PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

Rebekah, the PowerMax 2500 offers dense packaging and

flexible racking options that can suit your needs.

We can support up to three separate arrays in a single cabinet,

and each of these arrays provides up to 8 PBe of storage
capacity!

Meghan

Rebekah

Rebekah, the PowerMax 2500 offers dense packaging and

flexible racking options that can suit your needs.

We can support up to three separate arrays in a single cabinet,

and each of these arrays provides up to 8 PBe of storage
capacity!

Meghan

Great! The PowerMax 2500 sounds like the perfect solution for
our data center!

Thank you Meghan, you have been very helpful.

Rebekah

PowerMax 2500 Racking

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PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

The PowerMax 2500 offers flexible racking 42U Titan-S Rack

options.
DME 2

• A rack allows up to three single or dual

Nodes 3 & 4
System 3
100 GB InifinBand DME 1

Nodes 1 & 2

node pair systems. DME 2

Nodes 3 & 4
System 2

•
100 GB InifinBand DME 1

Each single node pair system contains one Nodes 1 & 2

DME 2

node pair and one Dynamic Media Nodes 3 & 4

System 1
100 GB InifinBand DME 1

Enclosure (DME) and uses 5U of rack Nodes 1 & 2

space.
• Each dual node pair system contains two
node pairs and two DMEs.
• Third party racking is also supported.

Third-Party Racking

• Customers have the flexibility to use their

own racks for PowerMax, providing the
following features
− Maximum flexibility
− Adherence to datacenter standards
− Optionally can include keyed door
locks
• A system needs to be ordered and
shipped as a third-party rack.
• The rack must include PDUs. There is no
support for PowerMax PDUs in a third-
party rack.
• The rack must be a standard NEMA 19-
inch rack to meet Dell standards for
cable access and cooling.

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 PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

Go to: Refer to the PowerMax 2500 Third Party Rack Installation

Guide on SolVe Online and PowerMax 8500 Third Party Rack
Solution Verification Form for more information about the installation
standards and procedures.

Module Configurations

Module configurations for the PowerMax 2500 nodes and node pairs are listed.

• Two Back-End Modules (BEMs) are always installed.

• Fabric Attach Modules (FAMs) are installed only for dual-node pair systems, or
included as part of the upgrade to add a second node pair.
• Two Management Switch Modules (MSM) are always installed.
• Two Control Station (CS) modules are supported—only installed in 1st node
pair.
• One vault drive is installed per node for 192 GB and 384 GB DIMM DRAM
memory configurations. Two vault drives per node are installed for 768 GB
DIMM DRAM memory configurations.
• One Data Reduction Offload Module daughter board located on the node board.

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PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

PowerMax 8500 Components

Scenario of a Large Business in Need of PowerMax 8500

In this scenario, a customer has specific storage requirements for arrays in the data
center. Click the Play button to see how Dell Technologies provides an option that
meets the needs of this request.

Hi, this is Phillip from Dell Technologies.

How may I help you?

Phillip

Calvin

Hi, this is Phillip from Dell Technologies.

How may I help you?

Phillip

Hi Phillip. My name is Calvin. I am the system administrator. Our

HR, Finance, and Engineering organizations share 3 PowerMax
8000 systems. Each system is configured with roughly 3 PBe of
capacity, and has 60 hosts connections.

Do you have a storage solution we can use to consolidate our

three PowerMax systems into one?

Calvin

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 PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

Sure, we have a couple different configurations with our

PowerMax 8500 arrays.

Do you have any restrictions?

Phillip

Calvin

Sure, we have a couple different options with our PowerMax

8500 arrays.

Do you have any restrictions?

Phillip

The current environment has room for growth, both in capacity

and host connectivity, however, due to recent data center
consolidations, we must move to a smaller data center.

Calvin

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PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

What is the projected amount of footprint for the new data

center?

Phillip

Calvin

What is the projected amount of footprint for the new data center?

Phillip

We are looking to consolidate as much as we can and are hoping

to migrate the three systems, which consist of 6 cabinets, to a
smaller footprint for the new data center.

Calvin

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 PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

Calvin, the dense configuration offered for PowerMax 8500 is the

perfect solution. Data migration software is included with
PowerMaxOS 10 and requires no additional license.

The PowerMax 8500 supports up to 18 PBe and 220 host ports in

a single cabinet, enabling the complete consolidation of the three
systems. The PowerMax 8500 will decrease power consumption,
footprint, and cooling requirements and enable growth in host
connections and capacity.

Phillip

Calvin

Calvin, the dense configuration offered for PowerMax 8500 is the

perfect solution. Data migration software is included with
PowerMaxOS 10 and requires no additional license.

The PowerMax 8500 supports up to 18 PBe and 220 host ports in

a single cabinet, enabling the complete consolidation of the three
systems. The PowerMax 8500 will decrease power consumption,
footprint, and cooling requirements and enable growth in host
connections and capacity.

Phillip

Great! The PowerMax 8500 sounds like the perfect solution to

migrate our data to and reduce our cabinets from six to one in our
data center!

Thank you Phillip, you have been very helpful.

Calvin

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PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

PowerMax 8500 Racking

The PowerMax 8500 racking is shown here.

• When expanding compute beyond eight nodes, choose between the dense rack
option and a balanced rack option.
− Nodes nine through twelve can be placed in system bay one or system bay
two.
− The dense rack enables up to twelve nodes in a single rack.
• System bay one requires two pairs of three-phase power cables or two pairs of
three single phase cables1 in a dense rack configuration.
• Only four DMEs are allowed in system bay one. DMEs five through eight must
be in system bay two.
• Dispersed racking is supported between system bays for up to 25 meters as is
third party racking using the Third Party Rack Solution Verification Form.

1 There are 12 single phase cables in total for the dense configuration and six for
the balanced configuration.

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 PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

42U Titan-S Rack Dense Rack Option Balanced Rack Option

Nodes 11 & 12

Nodes 9 & 10

Nodes 7 & 8 Nodes 7 & 8 Nodes 15 & 16 Nodes 7 & 8 Nodes 15 & 16

Nodes 5 & 6 Nodes 5 & 6 Nodes 13 & 14 Nodes 5 & 6 Nodes 13 & 14

Nodes 3 & 4 Nodes 3 & 4 Nodes 3 & 4 Nodes 11 & 12

Nodes 1 & 2 Nodes 1 & 2 Nodes 1 & 2 Nodes 9 & 10

Service Tray

Fabric 1
Service Tray Service Tray OR Service Tray Service Tray

Fabric 1 Fabric 1

Fabric 2 Fabric 2 Fabric 2

DME 1 DME 1 DME 5 DME 1 DME 5

DME 2 DME 2 DME 6 DME 2 DME 6

DME 3 DME 3 DME 7 DME 3 DME 7

DME 4 DME 4 DME 4 DME 8

DME 8

SPS SPS SPS SPS SPS SPS

Third-Party Racking

• Customers have the flexibility to use their

own racks for PowerMax, providing the
following features
− Maximum flexibility
− Adherence to datacenter standards
− Optionally can include keyed door
locks
• A system needs to be ordered and
shipped as a third-party rack.
• The rack must include PDUs. There is no
support for PowerMax PDUs in a third-
party rack.
• The rack must be a standard NEMA 19-
inch rack to meet Dell standards for
cable access and cooling.

PowerMax 8500 Scaling

When scaling PowerMax 8500 systems, compute and storage can be scaled
independently. The table below shows the supported combinations of compute and
storage.

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PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 Components

Node Pair Count DME Minimum and Maximum Drive Count

Maximum Count

1 1-2 96

2 1-4 192

3 2-6 288

4 2-8 384

5 3-8 384

6 3-8 384

7 4-8 384

8 4-8 384

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 PowerMaxOS Features

PowerMaxOS Features

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PowerMaxOS Features

PowerMaxOS 10 Improvements

• Simplification
− Unified management—block, file,
mainframe
− Drives are always balanced for
performance
− Distributed spare space, many to many
drive rebuilds
− Upgrade with single drives, leverage larger
drives
• PowerMax 2500
− 2-4 nodes
− 15.36 TBu, 8 PBe maximum system
capacity
− Maximum 64 host ports
• PowerMax 8500

− 2-16 nodes
− 15.36 TBu, 18 PBe maximum system
capacity
− Maximum of 256 ports

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 PowerMaxOS Features

Flexible RAID

Flexibility Balanced RAID Types

Flexible RAID is a RAID is always Flexible RAID

new RAID balanced. With supports the
technology. Flexible RAID, following RAID
every node can types:
access every • RAID 1 (1+1)
drive in the
system. There • RAID 5 (8+1)
are no • RAID 5 (12+1)
dedicated
• RAID 6 (12+2)
spares or spare
slots. • RAID 5 (4+1)—
Intended for
small
configurations
only.

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PowerMaxOS Features

Flexible RAID Sparing

PowerMaxOS 10 supports Flexible RAID sparing. PowerMaxOS 10 has no

dedicated spares or extra spares. The spare capacity is built into the RAID layout.

• Flexible RAID spares capacity across drives. All drives contain data with only a
subset containing spare capacity.
• PowerMaxOS 10 requires only 1 to 2 drives of spare capacity per system.
− RAID 1 requires 1 spare per disk group with 48 or fewer disks or 2 spares
per disk group when drive quantity is greater than 48.
− RAID 5 requires 1 spare per disk group with 48 or fewer disks or 2 spares
per disk group when drive quantity is greater than 48.
− RAID 6 only requires 1 spare per disk group per system regardless of the
drive count.
• PowerMaxOS 10 supports spare over provisioning with additional spare disks
but still requires an RPQ. The overprovisioned spare is an idle drive occupying
a DAE slot, but does not have any data.

Shown in the image is an example configuration which has six nodes as colored
groups. The spare space is represented in gray.

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 PowerMaxOS Features

Flexible RAID Drive Add

• In the PowerMax 2500 and 8500 systems, capacity can be added in single drive
increments.
• PowerSizer upgrades output recommendations for drive counts and sizes.
− New drives can be either one size larger or one size smaller than the current
drives, but require a new disk group plus spare capacity.
− PowerSizer upgrades recommend the most efficient options and therefore
will avoid changing drive sizes.
• RAID efficiency does not increase while adding additional drives.

− The drive increments use the same RAID type.

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PowerMaxOS Features

Software and e-Licensing

Software
PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 are:
• Everything within PowerMax 2000 and PowerMax 8000 Pro package—except
SRDF
− PowerMaxOS 10, TimeFinder SnapVX, Compression and Deduplication,
Non-Disruptive Migration, and the AppSync Starter Package
− D@RE, SRM, PowerPath, AppSync Advanced, and file services are
included—D@RE is separately enabled due to shipping restrictions
− Includes EMC Storage Analytics—no separate $0 licenses to manage
• SRDF is the remaining stand-alone license for open systems—one license for
all modes, including Metro

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 PowerMaxOS Features

e-Licensing
Unisphere supports electronic licensing (e-Licensing). e-Licensing is a license
management solution to help track and comply with software license entitlement.
e-Licensing uses embedded locking functions and back-office IT systems and
processes. It provides better visibility into software assets, easier upgrades, and
capacity planning. e-Licensing reduces the risk of non-compliance, while still
adhering to a strict “do no harm” policy to operations.
When installing licenses with e-Licensing, obtain license files from customer
service. Copy the license files to a Solutions Enabler or a Unisphere 2 host, and
load them onto storage systems.

Important: For storage systems running PowerMaxOS 10 (6079), or

later, only XML format licenses are supported. The installation of
older format licenses for storage systems running PowerMax (5978),
or earlier, is not supported.

2 In Unisphere, you can add and view storage system-based licenses, and add,
view, and remove host-based licenses.

Unisphere uses storage system-based e-Licensing.

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PowerMaxOS Features

Data at Rest Encryption

Data at Rest Encryption (D@RE) protects data by adding back-end encryption to

an entire array. D@RE provides the following functionalities:

• Key rotation with service management is supported—new in PowerMaxOS 10

• Secure replacement for failed drives that cannot be erased.
• All the data services are supported with no compromises.
• Protection against stolen drives. When a drive is removed from the array, the
key stays behind, making data on the drive unreadable.
• Faster drive sparing - the drive replacement script destroys the keys that are
associated with the removed drive, making all data on that drive unreadable.
• Secure array retirement - deletes all copies of keys on the array and all the
remaining data becomes unreadable.
• Dell EMC Key Trust Platform (KTP) component adds embedded key
management functionality to the KTP Client.
• Centralized encryption key management capabilities, such as secure key
generation, storage, distribution, audit, and enabling Federal Information
Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2.

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 PowerMaxOS Features

Key Embedded Service Enabler (ESE) Functions

Embedded Service Enabler (ESE) provides connectivity between Dell products and
Dell Technologies. PowerMax arrays use ESE for remote support activities, call
home functions, and large file transfers. ESE is the replacement for Secure Remote
Services (SRS) from previous models.

Product to ESE ESE to Product APIs Events and File Transfers

APIs • APIs implemented Telemetry • MFT uploads
• ESE APIs by the products to • ESE specified
• MFT
that allow a allow ESE to telemetry
downloads
product to execute callbacks • Events
interact with and requests of
ESE the product • Other product
capabilities telemetry

Connectivity Standard UX ESE Updates

Scheduler
Management • Unified • Available for a
• Request
• Makes calls to onboarding and product to
payloads
SRS backend on connectivity update ESE
from a
behalf of a product management outside of the
product at
across Dell product update
scheduled • Orchestrate direct
products
intervals gateway
connection logic

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