Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Dell EMC PowerOne aims for autonomous infrastructure

Dell Technologies introduced "PowerOne: autonomous infrastructure that integrates its PowerEdge compute, PowerMax storage, PowerSwitch networking and VMware virtualization into a single system that features a built-in intelligence engine to automate thousands of manual steps over its lifecycle.

The automation engine takes advantage of a Kubernetes microservices architecture and uses Ansible workflows to assist users by automating the component configuration and provisioning, delivering a customer-managed datacenter-as-a-service.

Dell said a key innovation with its PowerOne infrastructure is a single system-level application programming interface (API) that gives users the control to create business objective-specific pools of resources. This API can be tied into existing tools, such as service portals, to deliver programmable versus manual IT operations. This is known as Infrastructure as Code - virtually eliminating the need to log in to individual component management systems. With PowerOne, organizations can create

“PowerOne autonomous infrastructure automates IT so customers can focus less on managing technology and more on benefiting from it,” said Jeff Boudreau, president, Dell Technologies Infrastructure Solutions Group. “As we look to the future, PowerOne offers a tremendous leap forward. It helps customers focus on unleashing the power of data, allowing IT teams to innovate and achieve business goals faster."

PowerOne components include:

  • PowerOne Controller: This onboard appliance is the automation engine. It uses a Kubernetes microservices architecture and Ansible workflows to automate the configuration, provisioning and lifecycle management of the components.
  • PowerEdge MX:  This modular server’s no-mid-plane design enables PowerEdge MX to support multiple generations of technology releases, such as microprocessors, new storage types and new connectivity innovation, well into the future. PowerOne automates this kinetic infrastructure, assigning resources as required to deliver a truly dynamic compute experience that scales according to need.
  • PowerSwitch: Dell EMC switches power some of the largest web-scale environments in the world and offer users a choice of operating systems to best fit their requirements. PowerOne reduces complexity by abstracting and automating the switch hardware so that the virtual network is automatically provisioned for VMware workloads.
  • PowerMax: dubbed the world’s fastest storage array. PowerOne automates storage provisioning and zoning and dynamically expands new cluster groups when it detects new resources.
  • PowerProtect: To safeguard the data’s value, PowerOne also can benefit from the full PowerProtect data protection portfolio to address ever-changing growth and governance requirements. This offers cloud-enabled protection storage, integrated appliances and software-defined solutions.