Dell Technologies presented their APEX Block Storage for Public Cloud at Cloud Field Day, offering a unique software-defined storage solution that bridges on-premises infrastructure and public cloud services. By advocating for reduced total cost of ownership and high performance, this solution aims to seamlessly integrate the operational experience of local storage with the flexibility and resilience of cloud storage. Proclaiming an “up to 87% cost-savings and 100 times better performance” compared to native public cloud offerings, Dell APEX Block Storage emerges as a strategic option for enterprises looking to balance cost, complexity, and performance across their hybrid multi-cloud environments.
Achieving Operational Excellence in Hybrid Multi-Cloud With the Dell APEX Cloud Platform Family
In this article, Sulagna Saha reviews the Dell APEX Cloud Platforms, a solution engineered to expand and improve the multi-cloud experience. The APEX Cloud Platform family provides a complete set of solutions to help operate effortlessly in the dispersed world of hybrid multi-cloud. The platform aims to unify cloud and on-premise environments, ensuring operational consistency and efficiency, co-engineered in collaboration with trusted partners like Microsoft, Red Hat, and VMware. The platform promises to streamline the adoption of multi-cloud operations, integrating storage, computing, and familiar management tools within a scalable architecture, bolstered by Dell’s commitment to continuous innovation and security. To delve deeper into the operational excellence enabled by Dell’s APEX Cloud Platform family, read this review by Sulagna Saha or watch their videos from Cloud Field Day!
Cloud to Ground Deployment Magic
Dell Technologies introduced the concept of “Cloud to ground” at Cloud Field Day 19, reflecting the growing interest in cloud repatriation and the desire to bring cloud-like operations to on-premises datacenters. Their APEX Cloud Platform aims to simplify this transition, providing a management solution that integrates with existing tools like Azure console and OpenShift Advanced Cluster Management to automate and manage Cloud OS deployments on Dell hardware. While this innovation aids in the automation and management of on-prem hardware, Ned Bellavance notes that it’s not a full public cloud experience nor a private or multicloud management plane, but rather a significant step towards simplifying hybrid cloud environments for Dell users.
Dell – Streamlining Cloud – On and Off Premises
Camberley Bates’ LinkedIn Pulse article examines Dell’s latest solutions—APEX Storage for Public Cloud and APEX Cloud Platform—introduced at DTW 2023 and further elaborated during Tech Field Day. These offerings aim to enhance cloud management both on and off-premises, with the SDS-based APEX Storage designed for scalability in AWS, Azure, and eventually GCP, complemented by the APEX Navigator for comprehensive management. The article also highlights APEX Cloud Platforms’ on-premises integrations for OpenShift, AzureStack HCI, and VMware Tanzu that simplify deployment and lifecycle management.
Multi-Cloud: Because Life Isn’t Painful Enough
Thomas LaRock’s LinkedIn Pulse article wittily addresses the complexities of multi-cloud management and introduces Dell’s APEX Cloud Platform with APEX Block Storage, focusing on how it can ease the burdens of handling high-performance workloads across different cloud providers, despite the potentially higher costs associated with enterprise-level storage solutions and multi-cloud management tools like APEX Navigator.
The Dell Alternative to Cloud
In this LinkedIn Pulse article, Joep Piscaer analyzes Dell Technologies’ multifaceted approach to multi-cloud, which includes APEX Block Storage—a software-defined, mature storage solution that extends on-prem software to cloud providers, boosting performance and resilience—and the APEX Cloud Platform, a standardized on-prem hardware and software package that integrates cloud features and operations into Dell’s ecosystem. Piscaer commends Dell’s strategy of not directly competing with cloud service giants but rather expanding its ecosystem within the cloud and enriching the on-premises infrastructure with cloud-like functionalities, providing significant value to its existing customer base.
At the APEX: Dell’s Vision for Multi-Cloud Platform Storage and Configuration
Navigating the complexities of managing a modern multi-cloud environment is a formidable challenge, demanding meticulous oversight of components and rigorous lifecycle management to maintain cluster health. Dell’s APEX Cloud Platform (ACP) positions itself as a unified management solution for disparate cloud infrastructures, focusing on ease of deployment in both OpenShift and Azure environments, and promoting the synergy of their hardware with APEX Cloud Storage. In this LinkedIn Pulse article, Jim Czuprynski discusses his opinion on the APEX offering.
Dell Brings Multicloud Storage to Cloud Field Day
Ken Nalbone’s LinkedIn article details Dell’s unveiling of their APEX Block Storage for Public Cloud at Cloud Field Day 19, a solution aimed at delivering cross-cloud consistent architecture, performance, and management to enterprise customers.
Multi-Cloud in 2024
Selecting the right cloud infrastructure—be it multi-cloud, hybrid-cloud, VMs, or bare-metal—hinges on specific workload requirements and the scale of service operations across various regions. This DEV article by Michael Levan delves into multi-cloud strategies, utilizing different clouds for diverse services or regions, and integrates the efficiency of Dell’s APEX storage, which boasts cost savings and multi-cloud capabilities. While Dell APEX offers considerable storage improvements, the decision to switch from standard cloud storage solutions may depend on the scale of the enterprise and specific storage needs.
CFD19 – Going From Ground to Cloud and Back With Dell
Cloud Field Day 19’s second day commenced at Dell’s Executive Briefing Center in Santa Clara, unveiling the multi-cloud orchestration capabilities of Dell’s APEX platform, particularly highlighting APEX Console and Navigator for managing multicloud storage. Dell’s APEX Block Storage offers novel choices for extreme performance and hybrid cloud mobility, either through marketplace procurement or direct purchase options. Important insights emerged around the simplicity of deploying APEX solutions and APEX Cloud Platform’s potential to streamline on-prem “private cloud” operations, demonstrating Dell’s commitment to simplifying cloud-to-ground integration for administrators. Learn more in this article by Field Day delegate Matt Allford.
Why Build a Storage Array in the Cloud?
In this LinkedIn Pulse article, Ned Bellavance discusses the challenges of multicloud environments and introduces Dell Technologies’ APEX Block Storage, a solution aiming to provide consistent, high-performance storage across various public cloud vendors and private data centers.
Edge Computing – Reality or Myth?
With all the talk about edge computing lately, including our forthcoming Edge Field Day event, Chris Evans takes a look at the space. Recalling Field Day presentations by Dell and Scale Computing, Chris considers the hardware, software, application, and data requirements for edge deployment. Learn more by reading his article as well as the recent posts by Stephen Foskett at Gestalt IT, and tune in for Edge Field Day in February!
SFD24: Studies in Autonomy & ES[G]
Jim Czuprynski saw two unifying themes at Storage Field Day in November: Autonomy and ESG. In Jim’s take, Dell and AWS mostly talked about automation, while Pure Storage and Solidigm discussed sustainability. Check out Jim’s thoughts about all four Storage Field Day presentations!
Dell Live Blog From Storage Field Day
Gina Rosenthal live-blogged her thoughts on Dell’s presentation while attending the latest Storage Field Day event. Check out her opinions on Dell’s updates to PowerMax, PowerStore and PowerFlex on her blog, Digital Sunshine. You can find all of the videos from the latest Storage Field Day event on the Tech Field Day event website.
Modernizing Storage With Dell Technologies
Writing for Gestalt IT, Sulagna Saha gives her thoughts on Dell Technologies’ presentation from the latest Storage Field Day event. Check out her thoughts on how Dell Technologies plans to modernize storage solutions using a three-way approach that delivers a cloud-like experience across the IT infrastructure. Read more on the Gestalt IT website and be sure to check out all of the presentations from Storage Field Day on the Tech Field Day website!
Storage Field Day Returns to Silicon Valley!
Storage Field Day returns! We will be live in Silicon Valley November 2 and 3, 2022, with presentations from Solidigm, Dell, AWS, Pure Storage, and Intel! Make sure to tune in live on LinkedIn or visit the the Tech Field Day website for more.
Dell EMC PowerStore X and the Edge
Ray Lucchesi attended the Dell exclusive Tech Field Day event this past summer and couldn’t figure out why it struck a nerve in him until now! He was very interested in the presentation’s Dell gave on PowerStore X appliances and AppsON technologies. Want to read more from Ray, check out his thoughts here!
VxRail Tech Field Day – a Technical Relay Race for the Athletically Challenged
Earlier this summer, Dell Technologies had an exclusive Tech Field Day event where they highlighted how VxRail drives value for their customers by optimizing operations and workloads, embracing hybrid cloud, and unlocking business value at the edge. Writing for Dell, Kathleen Cintorino dives deep into VxRail and its benefits. Check out Kathleen’s post for more!
It’s Been a Dell EMC VxRail Filled Summer
It has been a busy summer with the launch of Dell Technologies Next Gen VxRail nodes built on 15th Generation PowerEdge servers. David Glynn, a presenter at the exclusive Dell Tech Field Day event, discusses all there is to know about the new VxRail technology. Follow David’s post for more!
Accelerating Value at the Edge With Dell VxRail
In light of today’s rapidly decentralizing IT environments, hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) offers a way to ensure performance and value from the data center all the way to the edge. Writing for GestltIT, Zach DeMeyer tackles how Dell VxRail stands at the top of HCI solutions, as showcased during Dell’s exclusive Tech Field Day event. Continue reading about Zach’s take!
