Equinix is selling Dell managed storage, hyperconverged and data protection products as-a-service from its datacenters.
The products include Dell PowerStore (all-flash), VxRail and PowerProtect Data Domain Virtual Edition (DDVE). PowerStore is Dell’s mid-range unified file and block storage array, VxRail is its hyperconverged system running VMware, and DDVE is a software-only storage appliance, which can be either on-premises or cloud deployed. Equinix offers bare metal as-a-service in 18 data centers worldwide.
Zac Smith, Managing Director of Equinix Metal, said in a blog: ”Our job is to stay humble and enable customers’ opinions to shine through by offering choice, such as the Dell PowerStore, VxRail and DDVE or Pure Storage solutions we’re now operating as a service, or our new Workload Optimized server lineup.”
The Dell products will be sold as a fully operated service. This includes Equinix procuring, installing and maintaining the hardware, and also managing the colocation, power, top of rack and distribution networking throughout the contract term. Dell says VxRail on Equinix Metal provides a “soup to nuts” data center as-a-service experience that includes compute, storage, networking, and integrated VMware. DDVE on Equinix Metal can be connected to private environments as well as to any cloud platform through Equinix onramps.
In Smith’s view: “Just about every technology player is moving as a Service, and as the world’s digital infrastructure company, we’re focused on helping to make them successful.”
He said: ”Equinix’s digital services are foundational building blocks that customers and partners can assemble… The big unlock that we’re providing is an API interface for customers to invest in digital transformation at the most fundamental, physical level.”
Smith said he is keen on partnering. “We believe that our customers are best served by choosing from best of breed solutions that are part of our ecosystem.” He outlined several Equinix Metal partnerships:
- Nutanix Cloud and Dell VxRail for a hybrid multi-cloud application experience,
- Dell PowerStore and Pure Storage for scalable storage,
- Cohesity Helios or Dell PowerProtect DDVE for data resiliency,
- NVIDIA Launchpad for machine learning.
Equinix added that it’s “happy to be valued for the as-a-Service plumbing that it provides.”
The Equinix Metal cloud has close proximity to the public cloud and is the bridge to end users, enabling interconnections between them. Equinix says it sees itself starring in a colocation comeback story, with on demand features and presence in worldwide geos. The company wants to establish Equinix Metal as a serious player in the infrastructure marketplace, a so-called one-stop shop for hybrid and hyperscale infrastructure in a “rent-the runway” model, and the center of customers’ private clouds.
