DTW day 3 has finished and plenty was covered, though less updates but also some very interesting ones, that certainly have some impact on our customers.

Author: Imran Arshad Senior Solutions Architect

Fortify mission-critical workloads with PowerProtect Data Manager

Amy Jensen and Steve Long presented an overview of PPDM and updates to some key features in 19.19, released in March this year. PPDM is Dell's next generation data protection software, integrated with Data Domain for deduplication, protection and immutability. It has super-fast transparent snap backups of VMs (backup without the cumbersome VADP snapshots), and also supported Kubernetes backups (in cloud and on-prem).

Some new features include:

• Policy-driven protection
• AI threat detection of anomalies
• Hyper-V backups (integration with resilient change tracking)

I also discussed with them:

• Integration of PPDM with Active Directory providing granular level recovery (something not in Avamar).
• Use storage direct from PowerStore/PowerMax to DD for large DBs or VMs.
• PPDM enables application consistency.

PPDM development is ramping up so only a matter of time before it is ready to replace Avamar for many customers.

Lights, Camera, Transformation: Reinventing Storytelling with Tech

We also took to our seats for an entertaining conversation between Ron Howard and Tom Hanks. They delved into the intersection of storytelling and technology. They discussed how technology has evolved storytelling, from enhancing visual effects in films like "Apollo 13" and "The Da Vinci Code" to using AI for de-aging characters.

They emphasised the importance of collaboration and the human touch in storytelling, despite technological advancements.

Howard shares insights from films like "13 Lives" and "Greyhound," highlighting the balance between using technology and maintaining authenticity. They also touched on the ethical considerations of AI in cinema, such as deepfakes and digital likeness rights. My highlight of the session was Tom Hanks brilliant impressions of Ron Howard.

Ctrl+Alt+Defend: Outsmarting cyber attackers with PowerScale

Session covered an OEM rebranding of Superna as Dell Cyber Security Suite with options for Cyber Security Bundle (Ransomware Defender), an Air Gap Vault Bundle, and a Disaster Recovery Bundle (EyeGlass).

Also announced some features coming let this year that improve security for PowerScale this includes:

• Multi-party authorisation for features
• Example of this has been implemented on snapshots enabling Secure snapshots.
• Improved S3 operation logging and support for S3 object lock for immutability.
• Root lockdown is now available in non-compliance mode.
• Enhancing security of the built-in firewall.

Smart Sync now stepping with PowerScale’s File-to-Object replication to automate to AWS, Wasabi or Dell ObjectScale for lower-cost back up storage, enabling backup to different media.

Speaking of UDS, I also heard that project Lightening is currently undergoing validation with one of CAE's  customers. Will be interesting to see if they validate the sheer performance expected from it.

Blockchain networks: Real-world digitization at the edge

Having got into blockchain and crypto over the past year, this was a very interesting session for me.

AT&T discussed the practical applications and challenges of AI and AI agents and the centralised nature of this. He proposed blockchain as a solution for transparency and efficiency in AI, emphasising its role in mainstream banking and compensation for AI agents running on decentralised infrastructure. AT&T offers flexible blockchain configurations, running on Dell hardware, including hybrid networks and FirstNet for first responders.

Interestingly they have a partnership with TAO that is a blockchain, providing AI capabilities such as creating AI agents. Had a fascinating discussion on how using Blockchain could verify the authenticity of AI Agents and actions they take utilising smart contracts on chain. If only I’d bought some TAO a month ago.

Dell and Azure Local: Operate and scale with the power of the cloud

Great session and discussions with Kenny Lowe and Matt McSpirit on latest on Azure Local. And some interesting announcements:

• AX nodes are upgraded to Premium Azure Local solutions (up from integrated).
• All 16G customers magically upgraded to Premium.
• Has replaced Azure Cloud Platform MC nodes (though still available till November 25).
• I’ve not told you this but there is no cost increase in AX nodes .
• New Integration with Azure allow some AI features to be deployed on prem, and Copilot to be used with Azure Local hardware.
• Great integration now with Defender to ensure security consistency from cloud to on prem.
• Disconnected version, with a local control plane, but sacrifices certain features such as Azure Monitor and Copilot integration.

With Dell there is additional fantastic integration that are unique to Dell:

• Azure Policy visibility with Dell hardware.
• Azure monitor integration with iDRAC.
• Dynamic CPU, reducing number of cores on the fly to reduce costs (very cool feature).
• PowerFlex support for AX nodes to allow a hyper scalable disaggregated approach.

Also manged to speak to some Dell solution providers:

Hycu: a data protection solution, number 1 for Nutanix, though also supports VMware (Hyper-V coming soon) and a plethora of SaaS applications. Interesting hearing how well it works with Nutanix and is much cheaper than Rubrik. If you are having cost challenges with Rubrik, please speak to us about how Hycu is an excellent alternative.

JetCool: one of my favourite solutions stands I visit each year, allowing Direct Liquid cooling without the plumbing. Now can be installed and integrated in the Dell factory (not requiring a special OEM install). Also supports 17G already with R770 and R670. As a part of Flex now also provide CDU based more traditional Rack cooling solutions.

Prolion: discussed their new integration with ClusterLion with PowerScale replication. Even automates creation of shares on the DR site. Will be interesting if they can crack the holy grail of fully automated metro style failover, watch this space.

Index Engines: The PowerStore support is so new the Index Engines guys are not even fully ready for it . Solution sizing details coming but is a fantastic solution for protecting and monitoring VMs and Databases running on PowerStore with the most advance anomaly detection on the market.

Had a great time, special thanks to Simon Moyes for being great company and all the great people I met out there!