New Combo NAS From Dell and Microsoft

December 11th, 2006: Dell and Microsoft have announced that they have been working together to develop a unified, networked storage system for file and application data.

Aimed at business of all sizes, the duo claim that the Dell PowerVault NX1950 combined with Microsoft Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003 goes beyond traditional network-attached storage solutions by offering performance at affordable pricing.

The system comes with either single or two-node cluster configurations, plus a scalable 45-drive SAS back-end storage array. Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003 on the other hand, is new from Microsoft and provides file server and IP SAN (iSCSI) capabilities, as well as a range of management tools for easy deployment and maintenance.

Dell says that network storage solutions are typically large and expensive, reserved for large corporations or governments. According to Darren Thomas, a Dell general manager, the NX1950 caters for a market segment that historically has been “under-served and overcharged.”

“Dell and Microsoft share a vision of redefining the economics of the storage industry through simplicity, affordability and capability,” said Thomas.

In a first for Dell, the NX1950 can swing both file and block-based storage in the same system. While this feat alone isn’t unique in the industry as a whole, in this circumstance Dell is also the first to build a storage system around Microsoft's Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003.

The systems start at US$17,000.

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