Dell Promises Common Architecture to Simplify Data De-duplication

Dell Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL) said on Monday that it is working with EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) and Quantum Corp. (NYSE: QTM) to develop a common architecture for data de-duplication that will work across most of its storage platforms. Dell said it expects to begin shipping systems using the technology early next year.

Dell already offers a variety of data de-duplication technology from its partners on several storage systems. However, the company said plans to offer a target-based system that works with its PowerVault, EqualLogic, and Dell/EMC product lines, and helps to make backup and disaster recovery easier and faster.

"Data de-duplication is far from being an open standard," Brett Roscoe, a senior manager for storage at Dell, tells Byte and Switch. "We are seeking to provide a common standardized approach that makes it easy to use for our customers. We want a common stack, especially for replication, that can handle site to site, or hub and spoke with regional branch offices and data centers. We want compatibility in replication."

Roscoe acknowledged that Dell currently has "multiple solutions" when it comes to data de-duplication. The company is planning to standardize on technology from Quantum for de-duplication and replication. Quantum's software is used in its own DXi7500 enterprise disk backup system and in EMC's DL3D and DL4000 products, which were introduced in May. And Dell currently sells Quantum products.

Dell is going after a market that is booming. Research firm The 451 Group says the data de-duplication market was nearly zero a few years ago and projects that it will pass $1 billion in revenue next year. Roscoe said Dell agrees with those projections.To date, Dell has worked with partners to provide data de-duplication. For example, its PowerVault DL2000 is a turnkey software and hardware appliance that includes CommVault's Simpana 7.0 software with built-in data de-duplication. It also has a partnership with EMC that makes use of software from that company Avamar unit, which includes de-duplication. Dell does not offer data de-duplication on its EqualLogic products, but ExaGrid Systems Inc. offers a de-duplication gateway for iSCSI storage, called the ExaGrid iSCSI De-duplication Gateway, that's been tested on Dell's EqualLogic PS5000 Series iSCSI arrays.

Roscoe said the new push for a common de-duplication architecture won't result in big changes to existing relationships. "The Dell/EMC partnership brings a lot to the table, and the DL2000 with the CommVault software is a different category of product," he says. "It isn't target-based; it is an elegant and easy to use integrated system for smaller businesses."

The goal is to develop an architecture that is target-based and can work with any backup or archiving software. "We are looking for a more general purpose system, a storage device that sits behind any backup or archive application," he said.

Data de-duplication is a technology in transition, and it still isn't clear where in the storage infrastructure it will eventually reside. "It may move up the software stack," Roscoe says. "We will work to integrate it where it makes sense." He says Dell engineers have been working with Quantum and other partners for the past year to develop the products it plans to introduce next year. Dell made the announcement today to "let customers know that we are working to have a solution in this space," he says.

Lauren Whitehouse, an analyst with the Enterprise Strategy Group, says customers can easily get confused with the variety of data de-duplication options that are available. "It is in Dell's best interests to rein in the options and find a simple way to deliver that capability to its customers," she says. "Ultimately, it would be a good thing. But it isn't clear how they're going to pull it off."The problem for most IT managers isn't the return that data de-duplication provides. "The ROI is pretty easy," she says. "The confusing problem for most end customers is trying to evaluate this technology in terms of where it should live in the infrastructure -- in-line process, post process, source-side versus target-side. There may be a place for all of those. But vendors need to step up and make it easier for customers, which is what Dell is promising to do.