Dell APEX File Storage for AWS delivers enterprise-class file storage as a software-defined offering in AWS as a marketplace offering.
It is based on the Dell PowerScale OneFS file system, which is a high-performance, scalable, and secure file system that is used by businesses of all sizes.
The solution makes the journey to the cloud easy with seamless data mobility from on-premises to the cloud and the same user experience as on-premises with WebUI, CLI and APIs.


Common Use Cases

Hybrid Cloud

APEX File Storage for AWS provides data mobility capability without having to refactor your storage architecture. You can use features like snapshots and SyncIQ to natively replicate your data to the cloud, and you can use the same multi-protocol data services in AWS that you use on-premises. 
  • Snapshots integration: SyncIQ automatically generates a snapshot of the dataset stored on-premises and moves it to the cloud for backup and disaster recovery purposes. This ensures that data is available in the event of an outage or other disruption.
  • Data synchronization: APEX File Storage for AWS provides synchronization capabilities, enabling organizations to keep data synchronized between different AWS cloud regions clusters, or between on-premises cluster and cloud cluster. This ensures that data is up-to-date and available across multiple locations.
  • Data migration: APEX File Storage for AWS supports data replication to and from cloud cluster, enabling organizations to move data between different environments. This provides greater flexibility and scalability, enabling organizations to optimize their storage and cloud infrastructure.

Cloud Burst

APEX File Storage for AWS is a flexible and scalable solution that can be used to meet the needs of cloud burst scenarios. It can be used to quickly and easily provision additional storage capacity and compute resources in the cloud, without the need for upfront hardware investment.
This can be a valuable option for organizations that experience spikes in demand for file-based workloads, such as video rendering in Media and Entertainment, seasonal peaks in demand, unexpected increases in workload, or sudden business growth. Other compute-hungry workloads such as AI/ML and data analytics can also run in this environment.

Architecture

APEX File Storage for AWS is a software-defined, cloud-based file storage service that provides high-performance, flexible, secure, and scalable file storage for AWS environments.
It is a fully customer-managed service that is designed to meet the needs of enterprise-scale file workloads running on AWS.

The architecture of APEX File Storage for AWS is based on the OneFS distributed file system, which consists of multiple cluster nodes to provide a single, global namespace. Each cluster node is an instance of OneFS software that runs on an AWS EC2 instance and provides storage capacity and compute resources.
The EC2 instance level network bandwidth limit is shared between cluster internal network and external network.

APEX File Storage for AWS uses a scale-out architecture, which means that you can easily scale the storage infrastructure as your business requirements grow.
Additional storage nodes can be added to the cluster on-demand without disruption. This enables the storage infrastructure to scale in a more cost-effective and efficient manner.

To ensure data durability and resiliency, APEX File Storage for AWS distributes data across multiple nodes in the cluster and uses advanced data protection techniques such as erasure coding and provides features such as SyncIQ, to ensure that data is available.
This means that if one or more nodes fail, the data can still be accessed from the remaining nodes in the cluster.

APEX File Storage for AWS provides two types of cluster configuration:
  • Solid State Drive (SSD) cluster: clusters backed by General Purpose SSD (gp3) EBS volumes with up to 1PiB cluster raw capacity. The gp3 EBS volumes are the latest generation of General Purpose SSD volumes, and the lowest cost SSD volume offered by AWS EBS. They balance price and performance for a wide variety of workloads. 
  • Hard Disk Drive (HDD) cluster: Clusters backed by Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) EBS volumes with up to 360TiB cluster raw capacity. The st1 EBS volumes provide low-cost magnetic storage that defines performance in terms of throughput rather than IOPS. This volume type is a good fit for large, sequential workloads. 
For a single cluster of APEX File Storage for AWS, all nodes in the cluster must use the same configuration, including EC2 instance type and size, EBS volume type, and EBS
volume size.


Demos

Management Console & EC2 Instances




Replication from on premises to AWS




Multi-Protocol Fileshare Access