Super backup in a box that’s really quite bodacious

I was going to call this post, “2RU of Awesome”, but let’s face it, “awesome” is a bit overused these days. I can say “awesome” in response to a free muffin, a new Doctor Who episode, or a stellar lip-sync on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Amongst a million other things.

There’s lots of things that are awesome. So calling something “2RU of Awesome” just doesn’t cut it.

So that’s why I’m going to describe the DP4400 as super backup in a box that’s really quite bodacious. Because, seriously, it is.

The DP4400 is the newest member of the Integrated Data Protection Appliance (IDPA) family, which gives you an all-in-one data protection solution in a simple, easy to manage system. This is a hyperconverged data protection appliance that you can deploy on site and be backing up your production workloads the same day, with minimum fuss. And this is the important thing, of course: initial deployment and base configuration of technology is something you want simple – you don’t want to invest lots of time in learning how to do it when you might only do it once every few years. Even if you’re going to be deploying systems in a bunch of offices, the fewer the steps involved to deploy, the faster you’ll be at the point you really want of a backup system: protecting workloads. That’s why the setup process of the DP4400, like all other IDPAs, is so simple – it really is this straight forward:

But it’s not just backup: it’s reporting, it’s searching, and it’s on-going ease of management. If you want an upgrade, it’s not an upgrade of individual components, it’s an upgrade of the integrated software and hardware as a single operation.

The DP4400 is ideal for remote and branch offices to provide a consolidated, all-in-one solution with high capacity and simplified management. The base unit starts at 24TB of usable capacity, and it can be upgraded up to 96TB usable capacity in blocks of 12TB. Those upgrades are done via licensing, meaning you get the performance of a full system out of the box, and seamless expansion without downtime to install hardware. Now those capacities … even if you were using a basic deduplication ratio of 10:1, that’d give you a logical backup capacity between 240TB and 960TB – almost a full PB of logical backup capacity. But we’re not just talking about a basic deduplication ratio of 10:1 – our IDPAs get an average of 55:1 deduplication, so that gives you the potential for a logical backup capacity well into the multi-PB range. (And that 55:1 deduplication ratio isn’t just a marketing number, it’s something that’s backed up by the Dell EMC Future Proof program, too.)

Oh, but did I mention, that’s just for the active tier of the system? DP4400 can be configured with Cloud Tier, too, which lets you push your longer term retention data out to cloud (public or private, such as Elastic Cloud Storage – ECS), with up to twice the maximum active tier in object capacity consumption. So that’s 192TB of usable long term retention capacity. Of course, your data stays deduplicated, compressed, and if enabled, encrypted before it lands in object, giving you great long term retention capabilities.

You can also use Cloud DR with the DP4400 – regardless of whether you’re just a smaller business, or you’re deploying into branch offices, that shouldn’t preclude you from having a cost-efficient disaster recovery option, so you can give yourself that extra protection against site failure – peace of mind doesn’t have to be hard to come by, after all!

All of this is handled in just a single box, with a complete HTML5 interface for install, administration and operations, so the most complex thing you need to deploy to sit down and work with the DP4400 is a web browser. Einstein is attributed as having said things should be “as simple as possible, but no simpler”, and that’s exactly what you get with the management of and interaction with the DP4400 – whether it’s installation, operation, upgrades or expansion, it’s as simple as possible, but no simpler. And that’s exactly how things should be.

The DP4400 isn’t just super backup in a box, it’s a gorgeous unit that’s humming with power and capacity for branch, remote or mid-market environments. (I’m going to be totally jealous of any customer who gets one, I should add: I want one in my home lab – it’d be a stellar addition!)

You can check out the official launch page over here.