Dell PowerVault NX3000 review

For SIS testing, we created two shared folders on one volume and copied the same 7GB data sample to each one. After an hour of SIS operations, the total amount of used storage on the volume had dropped from 14.3GB down to only 7GB.

IP SAN target creation is wizard assisted where you select a volume, provide a target name and assign logged in initiators to it. Within the target you create virtual disks which require an absolute path name for the VHD file and a size. Scheduled virtual disk snapshots provide point in time backups and can also be mounted as new virtual disks.

iSNS services come as standard whilst the Storage Manager for SANs feature provides enhanced LUN management. Microsoft’s distributed file system (DFS) allows you to define folders on multiple servers that contain the same files but appear under a single namespace. This provides share redundancy as if one server fails then clients won’t lose access to their data.

Using an R710 as its hardware platform allows the NX3000 to offer a number of extra features. Storage can be expanded by adding more RAID controllers and using Dell’s M3000 JBODs or it can act as a gateway for the Dell EMC MD3000i appliances.

You also get the Lifecycle Controller and iDRAC6 Express as standard with the latter providing remote access to the server. Power can be controlled remotely and the NX3000 can be upgraded to the iDRAC6 Enterprise if you want full remote control and virtual media.

WSS2008 may not be as exciting in the features department as we’d hoped but it does offer a big cost advantage over many competing NAS/IP SAN solutions. You don’t need any CALs as the NX3000 supports unlimited users straight from the box making it look good value.

Along with a classy hardware platform, the NX3000 also offers very good expansion potential. Furthermore, administrators familiar with Windows Server 2008 will find it a cinch to configure and manage.