What’s New in VxRail 4.0 and is it Right for You?

Dell EMC’s VxRail appliance isn’t even a year old yet, but it’s already had a major effect on the world of hyper-converged infrastructure. With 123% quarterly growth and more than 3800 nodes Woman in computer room thinkingdeployed in 90+ countries, VxRail and its subsequent updates clearly have caught on with businesses looking to optimize their VMware environments.

Here at Arraya, we’ve long touted VxRail as a smart path to a more efficient and modern data center. Our opinion hasn’t wavered with the debut of VxRail 4.0, which was unveiled at Dell EMC World back in mid-October. In fact, this latest release has reinforced our view of the solution’s value.

So, what’s new in VxRail 4.0? Or to put it another way, if your business doesn’t number among those who’ve already embraced VxRail, why start now?

The best of what’s new from VxRail 4.0

Let’s dig in to this new offering from Dell EMC to answer those questions and more.

  • Reaping the benefits of the Dell and EMC merger. The combined might of Dell EMC is on full display with VxRail 4.0. This new release adds Dell PowerEdge servers into the mix, expanding the types of environments that can benefit from VxRail. The newly-extended portfolio of solutions now includes:
    • G Series – A general purpose appliance sporting up to four nodes in a lone 2U chassis, available in all-flash or hybrid configurations.
    • V Series – A VDI-optimized appliance with one node per 2U chassis, the V Series is meant for graphics-heavy deployments and is available in all flash or hybrid configurations.
    • S Series – A storage-dense appliance with one node per 2U chassis, the S Series is meant to contend with virtual apps such as SharePoint, Exchange, or to support big data and analytics capabilities. The S Series is only available in hybrid configurations.
    • P Series – An appliance with one node per 2U chassis designed to support performance intensive environments, such as databases. The P Series is available in either an all-flash or hybrid configuration.
    • E Series – An entry-level appliance with one node per 1U chassis, the E Series makes sense for organizations on a budget looking to support small or remote deployments with either hybrid or all-flash configurations.
  • Start small and scale up as needed. VxRail isn’t just more flexible in terms of what you can use it for, it’s also more flexible in terms of how you get started. VxRail 4.0 now offers three-node entry point, which allows businesses to start with just three nodes while giving them the option to scale up to 64 nodes per cluster. This makes it easier and more affordable for organizations to jump on board. VxRail is based on vSphere and Virtual SAN software and built on Intel’s Broadwell processors, meaning that scalability is non-disruptive. The “pay-as-you-grow” approach enables technology investments to grow naturally, as the business does, without the need for a lot of upfront planning and prognostication.
  • Stay confident your data will be there when you need it. VxRail appliances are supported by a variety of proven backup and recovery applications, ensuring business continuity. This safety net includes VMware Data Protection, which is deployed as a virtual appliance with 8TB capacity, and features the vCenter web client management customers already know. There’s also RecoverPoint for VMs, which provides vSphere protection at a granular level. If the built-in options aren’t enough, businesses can extend VxRail’s backup and recovery capabilities with Data Protection Suite and Data Domain/Data Domain Virtual Edition.    

A by the numbers look at VxRail 4.0

Our team has already seen the benefits our customers have enjoyed as a result of their VxRail deployments and we see even bigger and better things coming from VxRail 4.0. When combined with the features highlighted above, the following numbers show why we’re so confident:

  • 250x more configuration options
  • 25% less expensive entry
  • 2x the flash storage
  • 40% better CPU performance

If you’d like to learn more about VxRail 4.0, or you’d like to start a dialogue with the Arraya team of data management experts, please visit: www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us/. Our award-winning team will be more than happy to discuss your goals and objectives to help you find the right solution for your business.

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Arraya Insights