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Dell EMC’s Current Positioning and Product Portfolio

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Dell EMC’s Current Positioning and Product Portfolio

Dell’s acquisition of EMC Corporation was the largest tech buyout in history. The primary focus of it was to position Dell as a leader in the emerging “Internet of Things” market, or smart connected devices ranging from household appliances to vehicles. This also greatly expands their range of enterprise and data storage offerings, however, particularly in the software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) realms.

The merger came as both companies were facing some internal challenges and looking to reinvent themselves to some degree; Dell going private and pivoting away from hardware and to the virtual space, and EMC making a somewhat similar move from physical data storage devices to cloud storage services and analytics.

The two companies were already moving in complementary directions, which looks to offset the traditional disadvantages seen when companies that are both in flux merge. HP and IBM, the new company’s two closest competitors, are also facing similar struggles and pivots that keep them from bounding ahead in the market.

The new company is now vastly expanded in size and scope as compared to its previous constituent components. Dell EMC is worth an estimated $74 billion, which would make it the largest privately held tech company in the world, and has nearly every Fortune 500 company as a customer for at least some of its products. The company has about 140,000 employees worldwide.

The Dell EMC Product Portfolio

STORAGE
Dell EMC’s data storage products run the gamut from flash to NAS systems, with all sorts of hybrid solutions in between. Noteworthy additions to the Dell lineup from the merger include EMC’s VMAX for larger businesses, the all-flash Unity and VNXe systems for smaller businesses, and simplified cloud systems like ScaleIO and Elastic Cloud Storage.

SERVERS
Dell’s PowerEdge server system remains in place, offering blade, tower or rack-mounted servers in five total form factor options to businesses of all sizes.

INFRASTRUCTURE
EMC brings their range of data center products to the catalog including the VxBlock, VxRack and VxRail systems. Complete IaaS or PaaScloud-based systems are also available in both native hybrid and enterprise forms.

SECURITY
Dell EMC’s data security services remain under the umbrella of the RSA Archer eGRC platform, which EMC had been operating as a subsidiary prior to the merger. This is a customizable platform meant to encompass as many aspects of a business as desired including encryption, access control, web and database security.

HARDWARE
Despite the recent pivot, Dell still does sell quite a bit of PC hardware. This includes the lineup of desktops and laptops the company first became known for, as well as workstations, servers and storage devices. Dell also remains in the business of supplying printers, monitors, routers and other accessories, both under their own brand name and selling other brands through their website and retail stores.

VMWARE
VMware continues under the merger as an independent Dell EMC subsidiary. It remains publicly traded even though Dell is private and EMC has gone private under the terms of the merger. VMware was the first virtual system to replicate x86 architecture and has experienced a 100% growth rate annually in recent years.

ALIENWARE
Alienware has become the leading brand name synonymous with prepackaged high-end gaming PCs and laptops. The company also recently debuted the Alienware Alpha R2, a hybrid of gaming console and computer that runs Windows 10. The company has operated as a subsidiary of Dell since 2002.

Other Dell and EMC subsidiaries that continue in their prior roles under the Dell EMC name include SonicWall, Wyse, Gale, Credent, AppAssure, KACE and Boomi QS. Though the two companies were in the midst of some difficulties prior to the merger, there are difficulties that are shared to a great degree by their major competitors, thus keeping the overall market position of Dell EMC products and services looking favorable.

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Dell EMC – Future Direction for Mid-Range Storage

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Dell EMC – Future Direction for Mid-Range Storage

Dell and EMC became one company, Dell Technologies, on September 7th, 2016. This made it the largest data center infrastructure supplier in the world. It also brought together a wide range of different and in some cases, competing storage technologies.

What does this mean to current Dell and EMC storage customers and what does the future roadmap look like. As a Dell and EMC partner, Abtech Technologies has been given first hand access to this information and our engineers have also given their viewpoint on which technology fits which application.

Unity and SC (Compellent) – The way forward.
Dell has been putting much more emphasis on its SC range of storage arrays recently. The SC4020 and the new SCv2000 range are both aimed squarely at the affordable end of the midmarket for block and file storage applications. For larger environments, the new SC7000 and SC9000 platforms will scale in terms of both capacity and performance.

EMC has recently released its new Unity platform of unified storage. Designed entirely from the ground up, Unity offers a solution for both block and file data in a single array platform that is easy to configure and manage. Unity is best suited to customers with mixed block and file storage requirements and those that require maximum scalability (up to 10PB).

Here is an excerpt from the mid-range storage presentation at DellEMC World, which shows how DellEMC is positioning the two platforms:

The following table compares the maximum specs and features of the two platforms currently:

Legacy Dell EqualLogic Customers
The PS-Series platform is still available but Dell has made no secret that it is moving customers to the SC platform. The SCv2000 and SC4020 series are priced competitively and offer future-proof options to replace legacy EqualLogic arrays. The SC interface is similar to the current PS (EqualLogic) series and replication between PS and SC is now available. This makes migration and training less of an issue for existing Dell customers. Dell has also introduced a number of discount programs through their channel partners to incentivize EqualLogic PS customers to upgrade to SC Series.

Legacy PowerVault Storage Customers
As with the PS-series customers, PowerVault customers are encouraged to look at the entry level SC storage. The PowerVault will continue to be made available and is still the platform of choice for low cost, but high performance, scalable mid-range storage. However, the SC series will eventually take over this role and customers should consider this route to be completely future proofed. Channel only promotions are currently available on additional trays for PowerVault MD arrays including flash configurations.

Legacy EMC VNX and VNXe Customers
The VNX and VNXe have been EMC’s mid-range platforms for several years. They offer a wide range of controllers options and both SAN and NAS capabilities. However, EMC took the decision to completely re-engineer the platform to create Unity. Like customers on the Dell side, legacy VNX and VNXe customers should consider the new Unity platform if they are looking to refresh their storage.

PLEASE CALL ABTECH ON 1-800-474-7397 FOR MORE DETAILS OR EMAIL: INFO@ABTECHTECHNOLOGIES.COM

CEO

Ransomware – What To Tell Your CEO

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Ransomware – What To Tell Your CEO

When your CEO says,

“I NEED TO DISCUSS HOW THE COMPANY IS PROTECTED AGAINST RANSOMWARE”. 

Here is what you need to do.

I am sure many of you are have received countless emails recently from IT vendors telling you to buy their hardware or software because it is the “best way to protect against Ransomware”.  This is all well any good, but right now, you are probably more concerned with what you are going to tell your CEO when he or she asks

“What measures do we have in place to protect us against Ransomware attacks”

or

“Are we open to attack?”

Ransomware is one of the fastest growing industries on the planet.  There isn’t a week goes by without talk of somebody being attacked or a new threat emerging.  The reason;  because it is incredibly profitable for its creators, who are also difficult to trace.  

Ransomware is always evolving and becoming more sophisticated. Like any malicious code, it is often designed to attack the unprepared. 

CRYPTOLOCKER AND ITS DERIVATIVES

Most Ransomware attacks use software, such as Cryptolocker or its derivatives, which enters a corporate network attached to an official looking email.  Often this looks like an invoice or other official document and is addressed to a member of staff..  Opening the attachment will immediately encrypt the data on the owner’s PC and any attached file servers.   This is swiftly followed by a message saying “pay a ransom in the next few days or your data is gone for good.”  Not a lot of fun and quite scary for the individual and the owners or the company.

WANNACRY – RANSOMWARE STEPS UP A GEAR

More recently ransomware has taken a new twist. “WannaCry”, also known as Wcry, WanaDecrypt0r or WannaCryptor works by exploiting a security hole in the Windows operating system. Microsoft issued a patch in March2017, but any systems that haven’t been kept up to date with security patches are vulnerable.  

This doesn’t need human interaction for the infection to occur so, the attack can be much more widespread.  The number of computers that can be infected by this type of ransomware virus can quickly run into hundreds of thousands.  The effect to the user and the target organization is the same.  The user’s system is encrypted and a ransom notice flashes up on their screen. However, the infection can spread to multiple systems in a single organization if systems aren’t patched up to date.

WHAT CAN YOU TELL YOUR CEO?

This conversation can follow two routes:

  • This is what we have in place.
  • This is what we need to buy.

The second option is likely to be less well received, but it is also a great opportunity to get funding for something you really do need, to protect the organization.

So, let’s look at the measures you can take:

  1. Patch your systems:  This is an easy one, unless you have a lot of systems.  It just involves time.  If you don’t have time, you should suggest that you outsource the patching to an external managed service company, who can manage it for you. 
  2. Invest in some good quality anti-virus software:  Anti-virus software vendors make it their job to protect you against the latest virus strains and will happily tell you if their software protects you against Ransomware viruses. This makes it easy to see if your software is up to the job. Again, if you don’t have suitable software, you can sign up for a managed antivirus service so someone else can make sure you are protected.
  3. Check your firewall:  Firewalls are designed to protect against outside attacks.  A recent blog article from SonicWALL, illustrates that they and other vendors are on top of things. Look for similar statements from your firewall vendor. If they can’t provide this, look to your CEO for budget for a replacement.
  4. Update your Backup Software: This may not be as obvious, but this can be your last and best line of defense.  If you assume that you will, at some point get infected, having the ability to recover systems without paying a ransom is quite important.  Modern back up software, that takes regular snapshots throughout the day and has the capability to spin up virtual machines, it the best way to avoid paying a ransom.  The infected system or systems can be isolated, formatted and re-imaged from a recent clean backup in a matter of minutes.  Clean virtual machines can also be spin up from the last clean backup, to replace the infected ones. 

This eBook goes into more detail and gives an example of where Abtech was able to recover our client’s main file server in less than an hour with less than 5 minutes of data changes lost. 

Download your Free ebook
 
THE MEETING WITH THE CEO – A HAPPY ENDING

Armed with this information you can go into that meeting with the CEO fully prepared.  Making a statement like this:

“All our systems are up to date and we have protection through our firewall and antivirus software, but I recommend we invest in a new backup system to ensure we can recover quickly if we are attacked”

will reassure your CEO and senior management even if it may cost them some money. 

FURTHER RESOURCES AND ACTIONS MICROSOFT RECOMMEND YOU TAKE:  

Download English language security updates: Windows Server 2003 SP2 x64,Windows Server 2003 SP2 x86,Windows XP SP2 x64,Windows XP SP3 x86,Windows XP Embedded SP3 x86,Windows 8 x86,Windows 8 x64


Download localized versions for the security update for Windows XP, Windows 8 or Windows Server: http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4012598
Read general information on ransomware: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/portal/mmpc/shared/ransomware.aspx
Download MS17-010 Security Update: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/ms17-010.aspx 

FAQs: 

WHERE CAN I FIND THE OFFICIAL GUIDANCE FROM MICROSOFT? 

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/msrc/2017/05/12/customer-guidance-for-wannacrypt-attacks/

IS THE UPDATE AVAILABLE FOR WINDOWS 2003 & WINDOWS XP AS WELL? 

Yes. The link for download of the update is available at the end of this article 

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/msrc/2017/05/12/customer-guidance-for-wannacrypt-attacks/

WILL THE UPDATE RUN ON UNLICENSED WINDOWS? 

It is recommended that the update is run on a licensed version. 

WHAT ABOUT WINDOWS 2003 R2? 

The Windows 2003 update should get applied on Windows 2003 R2 as well.  

WILL THE INSTALLATION OF THE PATCH, PREVENT THE OCCURRENCE OF RANSOMWARE? 

No. Applying MS17-010 is just preventing the malware from spreading, not giving protection against the infection itself. Based on reports, this malware is using Social Engineering to target companies.Please warn your users to not open, click or enable macros on email reception. 

  • The priority is that your anti-virus can detect the malware. 
  • Verify that you have up-to-date signatures, along with patching the Windows systems 
  • Make sure that users have the level of knowledge required to never click on suspicious attachments even if they are displayed with a familiar icon (office or PDF document). Where an attachment opening offers the execution of an application, users must under no circumstances should accept the execution and in doubt, users should you consult and/or consult the administrator. 
  • Implementation of strong filtering in O365: 

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/tzink/archive/2014/04/08/blocking-executable-content-in-Office-365-for-more-aggressive-anti-malware-protection.aspx

  • Exchange Online Protection 

http://TechNet.Microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj723164(v=Exchg.150).aspx

http://TechNet.Microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200684(v=Exchg.150).aspx

http://TechNet.Microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj723119%28V=Exchg.150%29.aspx

 

SECURITY TIPS TO PROTECT AGAINST RANSOMWARE 

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/29787.microsoft-protection-center-security-tips-to-protect-against-ransomware.aspx

IS THE RANSOMWARE EFFECTIVE ONLY IF THE USER HAS ADMINISTRATIVE RIGHTS ON THE CLIENT MACHINE? 

No. This piece of ransomware, like most of others, once executed, encrypts all files it can reach in the context of a user, if the user is an admin on the box the outcome is more devastating. In addition, this ransomware also tries to disable shadow copies and make some registry changes in HKLM hive which require administrative privileges. 

When it tries to spread, it uses a vulnerability, which once exploited gives the malware SYSTEM level access on the target system. All this means that this attack maybe very successful and destructive even if the users don’t have admin privileges on their unpatched workstations/servers. 

IS ONLY DISABLING SMB V1 SERVER (LANMANSERVER) ON ALL OUR MACHINES HELPS US TO PROTECT FROM THIS VULNERABILITY? 

Patch installation would be the first option. To answer the question, Yes. SMBV1 should be removed, but in a planned way. Please refer the below link 

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/filecab/2016/09/16/stop-using-smb1/

DO WE NEED TO DISABLE SMB V1 CLIENT (LANMANWORKSTATION) AS WELL ON ALL OUR MACHINES? 

No. It is only the SMBv1 server component (which means Lanmanserver), on the client machine and not Lanmanworkstation on the client machine. 

WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF REMOVING SMBV1? 
  • You’re still running XP or WS2003 under a custom support agreement 
  • Windows XP will not be able to access shares on a Windows 2003 Server or any other Operating System 
  • Windows Vista and above Operating System will not be able to access shares on a Windows 2003 Member Server or Domain Controller (if you still have them in the environment) 
  • You have some decrepit management software that demands admins browse via the ‘network neighborhood’ master browser list 
  • You run old multi-function printers with antique firmware in order to “scan to share” 

Please refer the below article for more details 

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/filecab/2016/09/16/stop-using-smb1/

IF WE MUST DISABLE SMB V1 SERVER SERVICE, WHAT ARE THE REGISTRY VALUES TO DISABLE IT? 

When using operating systems older than Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2, you can’t remove SMB1 – but you can disable it: KB 2696547- How to enable and disable SMBv1, SMBv2, and SMBv3 in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8, and Windows Server 2012 

Please refer to the below link for more details 

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/filecab/2016/09/16/stop-using-smb1/

HOW DO WE KNOW SMB V1 IS ACTIVE IN OUR ENVIRONMENT?  CAN WE PROACTIVELY CHECK IT? 

Yes. Please test this, before using in the production environment. 

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/ralphkyttle/2017/04/07/discover-smb1-in-your-environment-with-dscea/

Windows 2016 and Windows 10 provides a way to audit usage of SMBv1, which can be found here 

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/filecab/2016/09/16/stop-using-smb1/

IS WINDOWS 10 AFFECTED AS OF NOW? 

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/mmpc/2017/05/12/wannacrypt-ransomware-worm-targets-out-of-date-systems/
The exploit code used by WannaCrypt was designed to work only against unpatched Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 (or earlier OS) systems, so Windows 10 PCs are not affected by this attack as of now. 

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/msrc/2017/05/12/customer-guidance-for-wannacrypt-attacks/
Customers running Windows 10 were not targeted by the attack today. 

Windows 10 systems also need to be patched, because the variants can be developed. In addition to this, it would be recommended to remove SMBv1 from the clients and Windows servers, after doing a complete review of the below mentioned article. 

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/filecab/2016/09/16/stop-using-smb1/

 

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Dell EMC UNITY – NEW All Flash Storage Array

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Dell EMC UNITY – NEW All Flash Storage Array

The Future is Flash…. All Flash
Dell’s new merger with EMC has been widely talked about and anticipated, but it is finally here. The market seems to be extremely optimistic about this merger. These two companies coming together might be the “Dawn of a new age” in the world of IT end-users. If you want to read more about the merger go here.

One of the things that is an exciting step forward is the release and promotion of Dell EMC UNITY! It is a all flash storage array.

If you want to check out the EMC page on Unity, go here.

“EMC Unity offers modern data center simplicity and all-flash performance in an affordable package. Designed specifically to get the most out of all-flash media, EMC is making it simpler and more affordable for both SMEs and enterprises to modernize their data centers. With the launch of Unity, 2016 is truly the year of all-flash for EMC.”

– Jeff Boudreau, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mid-Range Solutions, Core Technologies Division at EMC

To summarize the features and benefits of this new array we must start with performance.

PERFORMANCE

Compared to past HDD, UNITY’s all SSD can deliver far superior performance with 300 IOPS. It also has features like: (EMC.com)

True dual-active controller architecture

Support for file, block and VVols
Snapshots and remote sync/async replication
Native, controller-based encryption
New scalable file-system for transactional and traditional file use cases
VMware VASA 2.0, VAAI, VVols, VMware- Aware Integration
Complete REST-API for automation and DevOps use cases
Integrated Copy Data Management with EMC iCDM
Zero-impact garbage collection

ADAPTABILITY:

Purpose built – Unity is purpose built for all flash data centers but it can also be deployed in hybrid environments. This allows for companies to make the transition to all flash data center, without having to do it all at once.

Software Defined – UnityVSA™ is capable of file and block storage and data management features that allow Unity to be deployed easily as a virtual machine.

Convergence – VCE ® Vblock™ and VxBlock™ System 350 are available with Unity as well. EMC really focused on convergence capability. Now you can take up less rack space and get more performance.

Unity provides incredible unified storage density, with up to 80TB of all-flash storage in a dense, 2U array. – EMC.com

AFFORDABILITY:

All flash Array starting at $18,000

Hybrid Model starting at $10,000

We feel that this price point is on the higher side of accurate, but you get what you pay for when you go all flash. We really can’t argue with the performance capabilities and feel there is “solid” value in the SSD Unity array.

AVAILABILITY:

If you are looking to purchase Unity, make sure you are going through the right source. Unity can only be sold through EMC partners. It is best you go through a partner that has a lasting relationship with Dell and EMC. In the near future, that relationship could mean big savings for you.

In addition, make sure your partner has the consultation capabilities needed to properly assess your environment and give you options that will be best in the long-run.

Abtech Technologies is a trusted partner of Dell and EMC. We have access to highly competitive pricing and promotions that are only available to partners. We also have a staff that is knowledgeable and experienced with engineers with over 25 years of experience. Abtech Technologies can provide valuable consulting and a solution at an affordable price. We want to make sure that your solution is as unique as the needs of your business.

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Review of Dell Rapid Recovery – Storage Switzerland

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Review of Dell Rapid Recovery – Storage Switzerland

Here is a review article by Storage Switzerland that outlines the benefits of using Dell Rapid Recovery (formerly Dell AppAssure) and features available in its latest release:

Addressing Modern Recovery Requirements

 

Dell Rapid Recovery now offers agentless backup for VMware as well as its tried and tested agent-based backup.

In addition to being able to run recovery versions of a VM from the Rapid Recovery server, customers of Dell Rapid Recovery are able to run a recovery version of a VM in the Stortrust cloud. This is regardless of whether the backed up system was a VMware VM, HyperV VM or a physical machine when it was backed up. This makes it the ideal platform for business continuity.

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Disaster Recovery Planning

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Disaster Recovery Planning

IT Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity (BC) plans used to be reserved for large enterprise level companies. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity provision required a very large budget and often included cold or hot sites, expensive replication software and duplicate equipment ready to go in case the worst were to happen. Not only is this equipment expensive to purchase and house, it also needed staff with the knowledge and time to both manage IT and regularly test it. Face it a disaster recovery or business continuity plan that isn’t tested, is unlikely to perform well when a real disaster strikes. Disaster recovery as a Service (DRaaS) advances has brought the cost of developing and implementing a Disaster Recovery or Business Continuity solution down to the point where it can fit into nearly any size budget. Even so, planning for both IT Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity is still best done by partnering with experts in the field. A proper Disaster Recovery or Business Continuity plan needs to meets some key criteria for each organization. The criteria will depend on their individuals need sand their business model. The easiest starting point when creating a plan is to consider the Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) requirements for your critical IT systems. RTO: How long your critical IT systems can be down before your company starts to incur unacceptable consequences. For most companies this time frame will range anywhere from 8-24 hours, allowing for one business day of downtime. RTO can also be broken up into different categories for your resources. Mission Critical services (like email, human resource applications, customer facing applications and phones) may have a shorter time period, needing to be brought back up within just a couple of hours, while other resources it may be acceptable to be down for a day or more. RPO: How long you can afford to roll back to and lose any data added or changed during that time. RPO is how much data loss a company can handle at any point in time. For example, if your main file server goes down how much data would be lost since the previous backup? Services that have a high rate of change for their data, like database or email servers, will need a shorter RPO. Services that have little data change, like web servers, can be fine with a longer RPO. With these two objectives in mind, you can begin to create a disaster recovery plan that will keep your company operational.

Abtech
Once the RTO and RPO have been decided upon the next step is to decide where and how you will bring your services back up. It is also worth pointing out that achieving a shorter RTO and RPO often means a higher cost for the service. So available budget needs to be considered. For companies that do not have an enterprise budget having a cold or hot site may stretch the budget too thin and lead to a site that does not meet the full requirements of the plan.

DRaaS and cloud based disaster recovery and business continuity solutions are available as a monthly service, which allows organizations to move the cost from a capital to and operational cost. They are hosted and often fully managed solutions, providing the capabilities of a cold site without having to spend the capital to build one.

 

Even with a cloud disaster recovery or business continuity service, you cannot just set it up and forget it, then hope that it will work when a disaster strikes. Just like a fire drill, it is important to regularly test the solution and also test your procedures for getting staff connected to the cloud service. You also have to have a process in place for declaring a disaster and knowing who has the authority to do this. Returning your business back to normal, even if its a false alarm, can take time and effort. it is important to work with a DRaaS partner who can help with the planning and design of the solution. It is also important to work with a partner who includes a regular test of the solution and can help you plan for the test and also a disaster itself.

 

Abtech Technologies offers disaster recovery and business continuity services through their StorTrust brand, where we strive to provide a complete “white glove” service for every client. We partner with them through every step of their disaster recovery and business continuity process and make sure everything is thoroughly tested. We want our customers to be able to sleep at night!

Utilizing industry-leading DR tools and software, StorTrust offers total disaster recovery service for your data and your critical computer systems in a single package. Built upon a Tier 3+, SSAE16 compliant data center utilizing the latest in security, StorTrust is a safe and secure location to store your data offsite for when you need it. We can work with you to develop a DR plan that will meet your organization’s requirements. We also include a yearly test with the service, so you don’t have to worry how you will handle a disaster, you will already know. Abtech has a team of engineers with years of first-hand knowledge of disaster recovery and business continuity planning. Our engineers will be with you every step of the way to make sure that your critical IT systems are up and running when you need them most.

Backup-vs.-Replication

Backup and Replication – Why Replication Isn’t Enough

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Backup and Replication – Why Replication Isn’t Enough

We frequently talk to customers about their backup and disaster recovery plans. A topic that often comes up is that the customer feels they are covered by their replication of data and don’t need to have a separate backup schema.

Let’s analyze that: The replication system will typically create a real time copy of the data to a secondary, possibly remote, site. Everything that is written to one storage system is replicated to the other. It’s pretty simple, and, if you have enough bandwidth between the site, very attractive. It can do a good job of protecting from site failure. If the storage systems include something like the Compellent Live Volume feature, you can have very fast recovery between sites.

But that doesn’t protect against what I call a “Layer 8” failure; the incredible ability we humans have to make a mistake. For instance: Bob decides he no longer needs a file and inadvertently removes the directory. Replication will immediately make the change to the remote site too. You no longer have any copy of the directory on either system.

 

Some customers have snapshots implemented. They can help if you can go back into one of the snapshots and retrieve the directory, but the snapshot has to be replicated to the remote site also for it to be recoverable in a DR scenario. The snapshots also have to be available for the time the error occurred. Most snapshot implementations only have a few days of snapshots online, if that many.

A backup that is constantly doing small incremental backups will usually have that data on it. It is a simple matter to recover the directory to its original location. A replicated backup will also provide recovery at the remote site if the primary site is unavailable. A typical backup/recovery system will have several months of backups available, so if Bob deletes a directory or file and doesn’t realize it for several weeks, he can probably get it back.

While we are talking about site failures, it is critical that your backups not be stored on your primary storage system. If you lose the system, you lose your backup data and the ability to recover it. If you are not using tape or replication of your backups, you could lose your complete company. Abtech recommends a separate backup server/appliance for your backups, especially if you want to eliminate tape from your backup process.

Give us a call for help with all of your backup and disaster recovery needs.

Robby Wright, Chief Architect & Consultant

Contact Us
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DellEMC World Update – mid-range storage updates announcements

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DellEMC World Update – mid-range storage updates announcements

New Product Releases for DellEMC SC Series and Unity Mid-Range Storage Platforms.

Often when two companies come together, customers fear the worst.

Will the technologies they rely on go away?

Will there continue to be development and enhancements to their preferred systems?

When Dell and EMC combined in 2016, they addressed these concerns immediately, telling their midrange customers that they are fully committed to the success of both Dell EMC Unity and the SC Series storage technologies. Abtech has also followed the same line by strengthening our SC-series team as well and adding Unity skills to our services portfolio.

At DellEMC World, DellEMCs commitment to both platforms was underlined by a series of product announcements for both Unity and SC Series. Here is a summary.

SC Series: Optimized for Economics

“The Dell SC Series is a value-oriented family with a proven track record, particularly in small and medium businesses. Focused on value and ease-of-use, the SC Series is a powerful hybrid solution that delivers intelligent and granular tiering, helping customers to dial-in flash as needed to balance performance and cost.”

Announcement:

The new SC Series 5020 is the next-generation upgrade to the popular SC4020 array, delivering with up to 45% more IOPS, 3X more bandwidth, and twice the capacity.

Dell EMC Unity Family: Optimized for All-Flash Performance and Flexibility

“The DellEMC Unity family is able to address most general-purpose midrange customer requirements for block, file, and unified workloads. Offering up to 295K IOPS, it packs an incredible amount of power into a dense 2U footprint.”

Announcements :

New Dell EMC Unity All-Flash models that deliver even better performance with up to 40% more processor cores and 2X the system memory for advanced data services
Dell EMC UnityOE Software updates that provide greater simplicity and efficiency including expanded 256TB file system capacity, block tiering to the cloud, new Dynamic Pools, and enhanced data protection and mobility
As a DellEMC Platinum Partner, Abtech is first to know about new product releases and promotions, so please check back here to future updates.

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Dell EMC Storage Strategy

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Dell EMC Storage Strategy

“Expanding The Horizon for Dell EMC Midrange Storage Customers (taken from DellEMC blog article published September 2016)”

Here we are as Dell EMC, and we’re champing at the bit to show our customers, partners and the world what we’re made of as a combined business. We were already recognized as the leader in data storage pre-merger and together we’re going from strong to stronger, now number one across all combined mid-range markets in which we play. If you’re a customer or partner of either company this bodes well for you, as Dell EMC can now offer an even greater choice of world-class products from a single vendor, which has become the largest privately controlled IT company in the world.

Since we started this journey nearly a year ago, we’ve had a number of questions from customers about our plans to support the midrange storage portfolios that are coming together. Let me confirm that we are 100% committed to supporting both EMC Unity and the Dell SC Series (Compellent) going forward. Why? Let’s start with a look at what both product lines have brought to the combined business and then fast forward to see what the future holds.

The Dell EMC midrange businesses represent:

  • Market share of 29.4%, nearly double that of our nearest competitor.
  • Leadership across all price bands. [i]
  • $5 billion in combined revenues [ii] within a total addressable market of more than $17 billion.
  • More than 100,000 existing, passionate storage customers [iii], with the heritage of both EMC technologies well positioned in large enterprises and of Dell’s incredible strength in the entry-level and mid-markets.

Abtech
The Combined Dell EMC Midrange Portfolio – Go Forward from Today
Dell EMC’s midrange portfolio now has a scale and breadth that is without comparison in our industry. Our combined midrange offerings are the strongest they’ve ever been as, this year, we have launched new products such as Unity Flash storage systems and made powerful enhancements to the SC Series OS. This all adds up to a combined portfolio for our customers and partners that is unmatched elsewhere in the industry.

Portfolio Approach = A Win-Win for Customers and Partners
While single “point solutions” may be temporarily viable for one-trick, cash-burning startups and niche players, neither Dell, nor EMC has ever believed ‘one-size fits all’ is the best approach because it limits choice and flexibility. It’s not about us; it’s about our customers, so we focus on offering a continuum of solutions. This means we’re able to tailor our offerings for specific customer needs, by combining unique capabilities from across our broad portfolio. As Dell EMC, we can bring customers an even deeper portfolio approach to midrange storage. Together, we can ensure choice of the right product for an even wider spread of our customer’s needs at the optimal price and performance, now covering almost any use case.

As a combined business, Dell EMC is the midrange segment leader in market share and offers two strong and distinct product families that meet customer needs from entry-level into upper midrange storage. For the sake of simplicity, let’s refer to them as Dell SC Series and EMC Unity. There are clear distinctions in both the use cases and scale that each product family addresses.

SC Series: Value-Optimized Mid-Market Proven Storage Systems
The Dell SC Series is a value-oriented family with a proven track record in many small and medium businesses. In analyzing the SC customer base, we’ve seen distinct areas of strength where Dell is the server vendor. Focused on value and ease-of-use, the automated data placement and data efficiency features provide performance at a low price. The range of configurations includes all-flash, hybrid and disk-only configurations. Ideally suited to smaller deployments across a variety of workloads, the SC Series products are easy to use and value optimized. We will continue to optimize the SC Series for value and server-attach.

Unity Family: The Ultimate in Simple, Flexible, Unified Storage
The EMC Unity family is able to address most general-purpose midrange customer requirements for block, file, and unified workloads with configurations for all flash, converged, hybrid and virtual deployments. The Unity architecture will continue to be optimized for simplicity, flexibility and affordability. In just a few more weeks, we will announce a powerful Unity code update to expand its all-flash data services, increase its category-leading density and provide advanced cloud services.

With such incredible assets and customers, the Dell EMC strategy is to retain both product families and continue investing in them according to their strengths. That benefits us, because it benefits our customers. It’s a strategy we believe supports customer choice and leaves no gaps for the competition.

While we are leading with Unity and SC Series for our midrange customers going forward, we will continue to support our N-1 platforms from both Dell and EMC. Customers can continue with their current products and then choose to evolve over time as Dell EMC invests more in seamless management and mobility across our product set.

For migration, management and mobility, we’ve got our customers covered. We already have EMC ViPR Controller – which is a common storage management platform across multi-vendor storage arrays. In addition, we have world-class data protection across Dell and EMC storage with EMC Data Domain, EMC Avamar, and EMC NetWorker. EMC RecoverPoint and EMC VPLEX can also be used today for replication between Unity and SC Series to facilitate easy coexistence and data mobility.

Bottom line
Dell EMC is better together, and we’re making sure that this is true most of all for our customers, who will be able to stick with what is most familiar and comfortable for them. Both Unity and SC Series product families will continue well into the future with support and R&D that will further develop their capabilities to handle the most diverse set of midrange use cases and workloads. The level of quality, product functionality and support that our customers have come to trust and appreciate will be a minimum baseline for Dell EMC today, and it will be the foundation from which we will exceed customer expectations in the future.

 
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Lower Cost Alternative to DellEMC Support

by with No Comment Data Protection

Lower Cost Alternative to DellEMC Support

The business landscape is growing at a fast speed. Therefore, the pressure of the introduction of new technologies into your IT system has been greater. Time and proficiency require higher costs including maintenance cost, requirements of the vendor, and stability of the system. These all require cost but also provide benefits to the business. To deliver customers with market-leading services and products as well as solutions, Abtech has done a partnership with Dell EMC. Due to Dell EMC support, we have become proficient in many of their technologies.

Here exists the complete wide-range of Dell EMC services. For example, Dell EMC storage products as well as design and implementation of DellEMC storage solutions. Abtech as a Dell chief partner works directly with Dell EMC accounts to provide services to their customers along with the offering of the best IT solutions. We offer cost-effective services for our customers that transform Dell EMC services into IT solutions.

Due to the high demand for IT and complexities in the IT environment, Dell support services are the most suitable option at an economical cost. Here, you can get professionals’ help as well as technologies in a cost-effective manner. This will allow you to focus on the business progress hence, make you competitive. You can get solutions for your data protection here in lower-cost alternative to others as Abtech along with DellEMC offers solutions over the whole continuum i.e. short term data storage to long term retention of data.

To support data storage and movement, DellEMC support services do not involve any additional cost even for big data. As compared to others, Abtech technologies do not charge both to and from external stores. The services for hardware, software, and maintenance of the network are incorporated in the pricing of Dell EMC support services. Also, it includes services of deployment as well as implementation. These services are available at a cost-effective price. The cost related to the power component of hardware as well as data center infrastructure power are based on reasonable estimates and it is market competitive.

It is honored to be a deliberate data protection partner with Dell EMC. We work harder to offer the latest Dell EMC solutions to our customers. Our sales team as well as implementation experts’ work with Dell EMC professionals to deliver these services at an efficient price. DellEMC can secure data for customer end-to-end. This end-to-end advanced Dell EMC service help to lessen or exclude tape infrastructure in an effective manner. Thus, help to reduce cost. With the help of DellEMC support services, energy costs can also reduce with the reduction in demand for bandwidth. Dell EMC services help to operate effective data protection and it represents the cost-saving process.

If you face pressure to support initiatives of new business as well as related to IT costs, you simply need to modernize your data centers and transform your IT system. With the help of Dell EMC support, you can get these services at a controlled cost. With the help of Dell EMC Support Services, we offer cost-effective software for the optimization of your infrastructure. This can cut your cost for the protection of data up to 81%.  Abtech provides a cost-effective system or storage array with EMC support. We have competitive teams for EMC support services and they are delivering premium quality services. For the planning and implementation of EMC solutions, we have architects and consultants. EMC support engineers to solve your complex issues. We have a team of specialists to focus on the unique needs of your business.    

Abtech is committed to Dell EMC and provides you to transform your business and thus help you to stay competitive and increase your market share. You can get this service at a very efficient cost.

For the improvement of operational efficiency and better customer experience, the organization must adopt innovations in technology. This technology innovation is used to keep pace with the speed of digital transformation. The valuable asset for any organization is its data and the most important aspect is the management and protection of data resides. In a highly competitive environment, Abtech helps you to gain a competitive advantage at a reasonable cost. Dell EMC support services help to transform and modernize the data storage environment. It helps you to strengthen your business by focusing on your valuable asset i.e. data. Dell EMC alternatives provide you IT solutions and deliver you the best quality in a cost-effective manner and this will progress your business.