As we move into the post-PC era, PC manufacturing companies like Dell have been slowly shifting its focus into the enterprise solutions space. A Relative newcomer in offering storage solutions, Dell has found a formidable ally in storage virtualization provider, EqualLogic.

In a conversation with Dan Kusnetzky of ZDnet and Executive Director of Dell’s EqualLogic product line, Travis Virgil, highlights the role of storage virtualization in a virtualized environment. As enterprises started deploying virtual processing software, the need for optimized virtualization processing arises. Separating the physical storage from the computer, which does the processing, creates a more agile, reliable and optimized virtualization environment. In instances that the processing node is not available, the storage is still available. If data needs to be backed up, the task can be done without disrupting processing.

Dell’s EqualLogic storage solution offers higher performance, reliability, scalability, and agility. Their storage systems are structured in a “peer” storage architecture which allows components of the storage system and the arrays of storage devices to work in partnership to improve performance, share resources among storage systems, automatically distribute work among storage systems and make scaling the storage system easy.

Since acquiring EqualLogic in 2008, Dell has made a series of acquisitions, mostly non-proprietary technologies and mid-sized companies. Last year, the company acquired Compellent, Exanet, and Ocarina Networks to further beef up its enterprise portfolio. This month, Dell acquired Force 10 Networks, a high-speed networking equipment vendor. They have also partnered with Netuitive, a business focused on performance and capacity management physical, virtual and cloud infrastructure.

Last month, Dell launched a Dell Storage Forum 2011 in Orlando, Florida which showcased the company’s latest products and offerings in storage solutions. The event was big and attended by hundreds of Dell’s customers and channel partners.

Close competitors IBM and Hewlett-Packard (HP) are already established a complete stack of enterprise solutions. In the storage area, Dell has to deal with EMC and NetApp which have already dominated the market. Dell is still in its early stages of shifting away as a PC manufacturing company. Expect to see more acquisitions and products in the enterprise solutions area.