Dell APEX File Storage for Microsoft Azure brings a powerful new option to our customers

karautenMSFT

Microsoft

Nov 19, 2024

At Ignite 2024 Dell and Microsoft announced a new Dell managed OneFS filesystem to give you a powerful choice to host your file data from a proven industry leader.

Note: This post has been co-authored with Dell Technologies

Dell and Microsoft have a decades long partnership of customer-focused innovation spanning client computing, servers, software and Public Cloud. We are now proud to announce the upcoming Public Preview of Dell APEX File Storage for Microsoft Azure, an Azure Native ISV Service in the first half of 2025. This fully managed service is the result of a co-development effort that brings Dell’s software-defined OneFS storage to Azure as an easy-to-deploy and manage multi-PiB Filesystem-as-a-Service. With the new Dell Managed offering, Dell manages the underlying infrastructure and performs platform upgrades. Bringing the public cloud experience to enterprise class storage. Dell is the one stop shop for all your support needs. The Dell-managed release results in Compute, Network, and Storage resources hosted in Dell’s tenant and you simply mount and manage the filesystem itself.

Easy to purchase and deploy

APEX File Storage for Microsoft Azure, Dell Managed edition will be available through the Azure Portal and transacted through the Azure Marketplace. Maximum filesystem capacity details will be available when Public Preview begins.

Dell APEX File Storage for Microsoft Azure, An Azure Native ISV Service - The Azure Portal experience

The power of choice

Our mutual customers now have two options that can support their multi-protocol filesystem needs. The new Dell Managed Filesystem-as-a-Service offering coming next year and the currently available Dell APEX File Storage for Microsoft Azure, Customer Managed edition. In the customer-managed release, all Azure resources (Compute, Network, and Storage) are hosted in your Azure tenant and subscription. APEX File Storage for Microsoft Azure, Customer Managed edition can be purchased through the Azure Marketplace and deployed via Terraform. You can scale to 18 nodes and 5.6PiB of capacity. The Deployment Guide makes it easy to get your cluster up and running with minimal time and effort. Once completed, you will have the necessary compute, network, and storage resources deployed in a Resource Group and a fully functional APEX File Storage cluster.

Dell APEX File Storage for Microsoft Azure, Customer Managed Edition - Logical Architecture

Each APEX File Storage solution brings our mutual customers the efficiency, performance, resiliency, multi-petabyte scalability and feature set PowerScale customers have come to expect. You can replicate data between on-premises and Azure-based deployments of either the customer-managed or Dell-managed variants and optimize your hybrid data estate with data reduction through compression and deduplication and Cloud Pools tiering to Blob Storage for cost optimization. Azure AI and Analytics services, cloud-based disaster recovery, seasonal bursting and workload migration are now at your fingertips!

Fueling innovation with Azure AI Services

Azure AI services, in particular, will benefit from the enterprise files you bring to Azure with APEX File Storage. APEX File Storage’s multiprotocol capabilities allow you to create an S3 compatible endpoint that can be mounted as a shortcut in a Microsoft Fabric OneLake and then be added to Azure AI Studio as a data source. AI Studio supports the development of enterprise class copilots and APEX File Storage provides your curated enterprise content to refine the underlying models.

If you attend Microsoft Ignite session BRK236 “What’s new in Azure Storage: Supercharge your data centric workloads” or BRK216 “Building AI applications that leverage your data in object storage,” you will see an early tech demo of other means to extend Azure AI services to data hosted in OneFS filesystems. Look for another update at the Microsoft //Build conference and Dell Technology World in Spring of 2025! Register for the Early Access Preview here.

Azure Blob Storage Connectors Logical Diagram

Try APEX File Storage for Microsoft Azure – Customer Managed today and watch for the launch of the Dell Managed release next year. APEX File Storage is the latest in a long line of Dell and Microsoft co-innovation and we can’t wait to see what you build with us!