The Dell XC series are hyper-converged appliances using a combination of Nutanix software with Dell hardware. Dell servers are used along with the Nutanix Distributed File System which runs in a Controller Virtual Machine (CVM) in each node. Each scale-out cluster is comprised of a minimum of three nodes and has no specified maximum. Hypervisor options include VMware, Hyper-V or KVM.
Nutanix appliances have multiple-node configurations, either 1, 2 or 4 nodes per chassis. Here, the Dell XC series is different, with each appliance model supporting a single-server node, except the XC 6320, which has 4 nodes per chassis. All models come in hybrid or all-flash configurations.
Dell EMC also offers a ‘storage-only’ node, enabling the cluster to scale capacity without adding compute resources and a 3U, single-node, quad-CPU model based on the Dell R940 server that’s designed for memory- and CPU-intensive workloads.
In addition to these appliances, with the “XC Core” program, customers can also buy the Nutanix software licenses and support directly from Nutanix (and partners), and provide appropriate server hardware through Dell EMC (and partners).
Dell EMC offers a consolidated backup capability for the XC HCI appliances, leveraging existing Dell EMC products. The Dell EMC XC Series Data Protection Management Console is launched from within the Prism management interface, enabling backup to Dell EMC Avamar VE running on the XC cluster and to Data Domain backup appliances. XC can also back up to the cloud via Virtustream and Microsoft Azure.
Dell EMC XC Series Product Brief Includes:
- Overview
- Highlights
- Usage and Deployment
- EvaluScale Table
- Evaluator Group’s Opinion
Download the full Product Brief now!
