Dell’s PowerScale filesystem storage is available as a managed service from Azure, and its PowerStore block storage is an option for Microsoft’s Azure Local product.
PowerStore is Dell’s unified file and block, dual-controller, and now all-flash, storage array. PowerScale is its clustered, scale-out filesystem storage that is getting parallel IO support added to its on-premises incarnation. Azure Local is Microsoft’s on-premises and hyper-converged implementation of its Azure public cloud, an Azure private cloud if you will, operating on bare metal server hardware. This runs Azure VMs and containers on hardware provided by Microsofts server system supplying partners, such bas Dell. The PowerScale and PowerStore Azure news was announced at Microsoft’s Ignite event.
PowerScale for Azure has been co-developed with Microsoft, and has NVRAM-enabled custom compute facilities, exclusively for Dell, with their own SKUs. Azure PowerScale supports up to 8.4 PB of storage in a single namespace. We understand NetApp’s Azure NetApp Files (ANF) service supports up to 7.2 PiB (8.1 PB) volumes, while Qumulo talks of exabyte-level support. Azure PowerScale supports NFS, SMB and S3 protocols, and enables asynchronous replication into Azure with SyncIQ for disaster recovery.
Dell says “PowerScale for Azure delivers blazing-fast performance up to 4x greater performance than our closest competitor” without identifying said competitor. We think it’s either Qumulo or NetApp, both of whom have cloud-native Azure file service offerings.
On-premises PowerScale customers can burst their compute-intensive workloads up to Azure and use the same familiar PowerScale interface.
Azure Local
Dell and Microsoft are making PowerStore available as the storage capability for an Azure Local deployment with up to 5.9 effective petabyte capacity (1.18 PBB raw) from its NVMe SSDs and 5:1 data reduction guarantee.
The Dell Private Cloud will now also support Azure Local; ie. run Azure Local on the Dell Private Cloud. This is a a full stack offering, including compute, external storage, and networking, with automated deployment, flexible, and independent compute and storage scaling.
Dean Paron, VP Product Management, Azure Edge Infrastructure at Microsoft, said: “By bringing Microsoft Azure Local to Dell Private Cloud and PowerStore, we’re helping customers simplify their IT operations and unlock the full potential of their hybrid cloud strategies.”
Learn more about Dell private cloud offerings here.
Integration of Azure Local with Dell Private Cloud and Dell PowerStore are expected to enter early access in spring 2026. PowerScale for Azure is available in the Microsoft marketplace, with Standard, Plus, or Premium plans.
