More and more organizations are buying their storage with servers and networking equipment included, but Dell, Inc. is keeping its focus on the majority still scaling their capacity independently with new arrays that bolster both ends of its traditional product range. Taking over as the new entry-level model is the SCv2000 at a starting price of $14,000.

The system is promised to provide the biggest bang for the dollar in its category thanks to the inclusion of advanced data services previously only available in Dell’s more expensive systems, which falls into step with the broader trend of vendors standardizing their lineups on a common management stack. That kills two birds with one stone, removing the need to maintain multiple platforms and thereby speeding the release of new features while putting forth a more attractive value proposition.

The main target is small- and medium-sized businesses, which are naturally inclined to choose an array with native management capabilities over installing their own due to operational constraints, but the integration of Dell’s storage platform into the SCv2000 is no less important for enterprises. The software allows administrators to manage their smallest deployments through the same interface as the higher-end systems powering their mission-critical applications, including the new PS6610.

The model is launching alongside the SCv2000 to assume the role of Dell’s new flagship array with a maximum capacity of 540 gigabytes, three and a half times that of its predecessor. Customers can split that between disk and flash in the ratio best suited for their applications, which the company says allows for as much as seven times better performance than before.

The new systems are part of Dell’s efforts to balance the needs of organizations continuing down the traditional storage route with the fast-rising interest in converged infrastructure, which it’s also addressing through the introduction of a new integrated reference architecture as part of the launch. It’s designed around the storage virtualization capability in Microsoft’s server operating system and offers five configurations that can scale to accommodate up to a petabyte of data.

The platform joins a number of similar reference architectures that Dell has built with software from VMware, Red Hat and other major partners in the converged infrastructure arena. The company is trying to accommodate as many use cases as possible, which has become a central theme across its entire storage strategy.
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