Taking advantage of VMware’s NVMe/TCP support Dell is adding it to the PowerStore array product line via a SmartFabric Storage Software (SFSS) feature.
Dell says it is the first supplier to support VMware’s Update 3 to vSphere 7, and there will be an NVMe IP SAN portfolio across Dell Technologies’ storage, networking and compute products.
SFSS automates storage connectivity for NVMe IP SAN. It will allow host and storage interfaces to register with a Centralized Discovery Controller that can notify hosts of new storage resources. In full the additions are:
- PowerStore NVMe/TCP protocol and SFSS integration Dell EMC’s PowerStore storage array can use the NVMe/TCP protocol and will support both the Direct Discovery and Centralized Discovery management models.
- VMware ESXi 7.0u3 NVMe/TCP protocol and SFSS integration Dell partnered with VMware to add support for the NVMe/TCP protocol and add the ability for each ESX server interface to explicitly register discovery information with SFSS via the push registration technique.
- PowerSwitch and SmartFabric Services (SFS) Dell EMC PowerSwitch and SmartFabric Services (SFS) can be used to automate the configuration of the switches that make up customers’ NVMe IP SAN.
- PowerMax and PowerFlex plans Dell is planning support for NVMe/TCP in both its Dell EMC PowerMax all-flash enterprise data storage and Dell EMC PowerFlex software-defined storage product lines.
That last point emphasises Dell’s commitment to NVMe/TCP. ESXi 7.0u3 using NVMe/TCP can now be used on Dell EMC PowerEdge servers.
Industry NVMe/TCP support is strengthening significantly.
- NetApp announced NVMe/TCP support earlier this month.
- Lightbits Labs has been busy getting NVMe/TCP faster still, demonstrating a 146μs access latency with Intel’s Ethernet 800 Series network adapters.
- Toshiba has added NVMe/TCP support to its Kumoscale product line.
- Infinidat supports NVMe/TCP.
- Mellanox supports NVMe/TCP.
- Pavilion Data supports NVMe/TCP.
If we see HPE and IBM getting on board this bandwagon then NVMe/TCP will become the natural upgrade for iSCSI users.
The NVMe/TCP support for PowerStore will be available in November.
