Technical White Paper

Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform

Abstract
This white paper introduces the Dell EMC Unity XT platform, including Dell EMC
Unity 380/F, 480/F, 680/F, and 880F models. It also provides an overview of
purpose-built Dell EMC Unity XT systems and compares All-Flash and Hybrid
variants.

January 2020

H17782
Revisions

Revisions
Date Description
June 2019 Initial release (OE 5.0)

January 2020 vVols branding update; minor edits

The information in this publication is provided “as is.” Dell Inc. makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this
publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Use, copying, and distribution of any software described in this publication requires an applicable software license.

Copyright © 2019–2020 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Dell, EMC, Dell EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its
subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners. [1/9/2020] [Technical White Paper] [H17782.1]

2 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Table of contents

Table of contents
Revisions.............................................................................................................................................................................2
Table of contents ................................................................................................................................................................3
Executive summary.............................................................................................................................................................5
Audience .............................................................................................................................................................................5
Terminology ........................................................................................................................................................................5
1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................7
2 Hardware overview .......................................................................................................................................................9
2.1.1 Drive model comparison ...................................................................................................................................10
2.1.2 Data-in-place conversions ................................................................................................................................10
2.2 Disk processor enclosure (380/F).....................................................................................................................10
2.2.1 Storage processor (380/F) ................................................................................................................................11
2.2.2 M.2 SSD (380/F) ...............................................................................................................................................12
2.2.3 Cooling modules (380/F) ..................................................................................................................................12
2.2.4 Battery backup unit (380/F) ..............................................................................................................................13
2.2.5 Baffle (380/F) ....................................................................................................................................................13
2.2.6 DIMMs (380/F) ..................................................................................................................................................14
2.2.7 Power supply (380/F) .......................................................................................................................................14
2.3 Disk processor enclosure (480/F, 680/F, 880/F) ..............................................................................................14
2.3.1 Storage processor (480/F, 680/F, 880/F) .........................................................................................................15
2.3.2 M.2 SSD (480/F, 680/F, 880/F) ........................................................................................................................16
2.3.3 Cooling modules (480/F, 680/F, 880/F) ............................................................................................................16
2.3.4 Battery backup unit (480/F, 680/F, 880/F) .......................................................................................................17
2.3.5 Baffle (480/F, 680/F, 880/F) .............................................................................................................................17
2.3.6 DIMMs (480/F, 680/F, 880/F) ...........................................................................................................................18
2.3.7 Power supply (480/F, 680/F, 880/F) .................................................................................................................18
2.4 I/O module options (380/F, 480/F, 680/F, 880/F) .............................................................................................18
2.5 Disk array enclosure options (380/F, 480/F, 680/F, 880/F) ..............................................................................20
2.5.1 25-drive 2.5-inch 2U DAE .................................................................................................................................21
2.5.2 15-drive 3.5-inch 3U DAE .................................................................................................................................21
2.5.3 80-drive 2.5-inch 3U DAE .................................................................................................................................22
3 Dell EMC UnityVSA ....................................................................................................................................................23
3.1 Overview ...........................................................................................................................................................23
3.2 Hardware requirements ....................................................................................................................................23
4 Dell EMC Unity Cloud Edition.....................................................................................................................................26

3 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Table of contents

5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................................27
A Technical support and resources ...............................................................................................................................28
A.1 Related resources ............................................................................................................................................28

4 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Executive summary

Executive summary
This white paper provides an overview of the Dell EMC Unity™ XT platform hardware and includes
information about virtual deployments of Dell EMC Unity storage. Models covered include Dell EMC Unity
380/F, 480/F, 680/F, and 880F systems. This document also describes purpose-built Dell EMC Unity XT
systems and compares the similarities and differences between All-Flash and Hybrid variants.

For hardware details on the X00/F and X50F Dell EMC Unity models, refer to the Dell EMC Unity: Introduction
to the Platform white paper.

For a software overview on all Dell EMC Unity family systems, refer to the Dell EMC Unity: Operating
Environment (OE) Overview white paper. Step-by-step instructions for using software features within Dell
EMC Unity storage can be found in Dell EMC™ Unisphere™ Online Help.

Audience
This white paper is intended for IT administrators, storage architects, partners, Dell EMC employees, and any
other individuals involved in the evaluation, acquisition, management, operation, or design of a Dell EMC
networked storage environment using the Dell EMC Unity XT family of storage systems.

Terminology
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP): A protocol used to handle the allocation and
administration of IP address space from a centralized server to devices on a network.
• Fibre Channel protocol: A protocol used to perform Internet Protocol (IP) and Small Computer
Systems Interface (SCSI) commands over a Fibre Channel network.
• File system: A storage resource that can be accessed through file-sharing protocols such as SMB or
NFS.
• Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual Pools (FAST™ VP): A feature that relocates data to
the most appropriate disk type depending on activity level to improve performance while reducing
cost.
• FAST Cache: A feature that allows Flash drives to be configured as a large capacity secondary
cache for the pools on the system.
• Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI): Provides a mechanism for accessing block-
level data storage over network connections.
• Logical unit number (LUN): A block-level storage device that can be shared out using a protocol
such as iSCSI.
• Network attached storage (NAS) server: A file-level storage server used to host file systems. A
NAS server is required in order to create file systems that use SMB or NFS shares, as well as
VMware NFS datastores and VMware® vSphere® Virtual Volumes™ (File).
• Network File System (NFS): An access protocol that allows data access from Linux® or UNIX hosts
located on a network.
• Pool: A repository of drives from which storage resources such as LUNs and file systems can be
created.
• REpresentational State Transfer (REST) API: A lightweight communications architecture style that
enables the execution of discrete actions against web services.

5 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Terminology

• Server Message Block (SMB): A network file sharing protocol, sometimes referred to as CIFS, used
by Microsoft® Windows® environments. SMB is used to provide access to files and folders from
Windows hosts located on a network.
• Snapshot: A point-in-time view of data stored on a storage resource. A user can recover files from a
snapshot, restore a storage resource from a snapshot, or provide access to a host.
• Software-defined storage: A storage architecture where the software storage stack is decoupled
from the physical storage hardware.
• Storage Policy Based Management (SPBM): Using storage policies to dictate where a VM will be
stored, as opposed to choosing a datastore manually.
• Storage processor (SP): A storage node that provides the processing resources for performing
storage operations as well as servicing I/O between storage and hosts.
• Unisphere: An HTML5 graphical user interface used to manage Dell EMC Unity XT systems.
• Unisphere Command Line Interface (UEMCLI): An interface that allows a user to perform tasks on
the storage system by typing commands instead of using the graphical user interface.
• Virtual Storage Appliance (VSA): A storage node that runs as a virtual machine instead of on
purpose-built hardware.
• vSphere API for Array Integration (VAAI): A VMware API that allows storage-related tasks to be
offloaded to the storage system.
• vSphere API for Storage Awareness (VASA): A VMware API that provides additional insight about
the storage capabilities in vSphere.
• Virtual Volumes (vVols): A VMware® storage framework which allows VM data to be stored on
individual VMware vSphere® Virtual Volumes™ (vVols). This allows for data services to be applied at
a VM-granularity level while utilizing Storage Policy Based Management (SPBM).

6 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Introduction

1 Introduction
In this constantly changing world of increasing complexity and scale, the need for an easy-to-use intelligent
storage system has only grown greater. Customers using new applications and solutions require dependable
storage and are often tasked with the challenge of doing more with less. The Dell EMC Unity XT family
addresses this challenge by packaging a powerful storage system into a cost and space-efficient profile.
Some of Dell EMC Unity XT highlight features include the following:

• Dual-active architecture: Dell EMC Unity XT storage uses both storage processors (SPs) to serve
host I/O and run data operations in an active/active manner, thereby efficiently making use of all
available hardware resources and optimizing performance, cost, and density in customer data
centers.
• Truly unified offering: Dell EMC Unity XT storage delivers a full block and file unified environment in
a single 2U enclosure. You can use the same pool to provision and host LUNs, consistency groups,
NAS servers, file systems, and vVols alike. The Unisphere management interface offers a consistent
look and feel whether managing block resources, file resources, or both.
• A modern, simple interface: Unisphere, the Dell EMC Unity XT management interface, is built with
the today’s data-center administrator in mind. Using browser-native HTML5, Unisphere can be used
across a variety of operating systems and web browsers without the need of additional plug-ins. The
interface has been designed to mimic the practical flow of an administrator’s daily life, organizing
provisioning and management functions into easy-to-find categories and sections.
• Flexible deployment options: With Dell EMC Unity XT storage, a deployment offering exists for a
range of different use cases and budgets, from the virtual offering of Dell EMC UnityVSA™ to the
purpose-built Dell EMC Unity XT platform. The purpose-built Dell EMC Unity XT system can be
configured as an all-flash system with only solid-state drives, or as a hybrid system with a mix of
solid-state and spinning media to deliver the best on both performance and economics.
• Inline data reduction: Data reduction technologies play a critical role in environments in which
storage administrators are attempting to do more with less. Dell EMC Unity XT data reduction aids in
this effort by attempting to reduce the amount of physical storage needed to save a dataset, which
helps reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a Dell EMC Unity XT storage system. Dell EMC
Unity XT data reduction provides space savings through the use of data deduplication and
compression. Data reduction is easy to manage, and once enabled, is intelligently controlled by the
storage system.
• Optional I/O modules: A diverse variety of connectivity is supported on the purpose-built Dell EMC
Unity XT platform. Also, I/O modules that support iSCSI and NAS may be used for both connections
simultaneously.
• Expanded file system: At its heart, the Dell EMC Unity XT file system is a 64-bit-based file system
architecture that provides increased maximums to keep pace with the modern data center. Provision
file systems and VMware NFS datastores in sizes as large as 256 TB and enjoy creating multiple
millions of files per directory and subdirectories per directory.
• Native data protection: Security and availability of data are critical concerns for many customers,
and Dell EMC Unity XT storage offers multiple solutions to address this need. Unified snapshots
provide point-in-time copies of block and file data that can be used for backup and restoration
purposes. Asynchronous replication offers an IP-based replication strategy within a system or
between two systems. Synchronous block replication benefits FC environments that are close
together and require a zero-data loss schema. Data at Rest Encryption (D@RE) ensures user data
on the system is protected from physical theft and can stand in the place of drive disposal processes,
such as shredding.

7 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Introduction

• VMware integration: Discovery of a VMware environment has never been easier, thanks to Dell
EMC Unity XT VMware Aware Integration (VAI). You can use VAI to retrieve the ESXi™ host and
vCenter® environment details into Unisphere for efficient management of your virtualization
environment. Support for VMware vStorage APIs for Storage Awareness (VASA) and later enables
the provisioning and use of vVols, a virtualization storage technology delivered by VMware ESXi. Dell
EMC Unity XT supports vVols for both block and file configurations.
• Multiple management paths: Configure and manage your Dell EMC Unity XT system in the way you
are most comfortable. The Unisphere GUI is browser-based and provides a graphical view of the
system and its resources. Use Unisphere CLI (UEMCLI) over SSH or a Windows host to run CLI
commands against the system. Dell EMC Unity XT storage also has a full REST API library available.
Any function possible in Unisphere is also possible using Dell EMC Unity XT REST API. Developing
scripts or integrating management of the Dell EMC Unity XT system into existing frameworks has
never been easier.

8 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

2 Hardware overview
The purpose-built Dell EMC Unity system is offered in multiple physical hardware models in both Hybrid
configurations and All Flash configurations. For Hybrid systems, the platform starts with the Dell EMC Unity
300, and scales up to the Dell EMC Unity XT 880. For All Flash systems, the platform starts with the Dell
EMC Unity 300F and scales up to the Dell EMC Unity XT 880F. The models share similarities in form factor
and connectivity, but scale in differently in processing and memory capabilities. See Table 1,Table 2, and
Table 3 for model comparisons.

For software-defined offerings, the Dell EMC Unity family offers a virtual deployment called Dell EMC
UnityVSA which can be installed on applicable VMware ESXi hosts. There is also the option of a dual-SP
deployment of Dell EMC UnityVSA called Dell EMC UnityVSA HA which provides greater resiliency against
disaster. Lastly, there is a cloud-specific deployment called Dell EMC Unity Cloud Edition that customers can
leverage for file synchronization and disaster recovery operations in the cloud. More information about these
available virtual deployments are in section 3 and section 5.

Additionally, the system limits change depending on the Dell EMC Unity model. Find more information on
system limits in the Dell EMC Unity Simple Support Matrix.

Note: This document focuses specifically on the Dell EMC Unity XT systems which include the Dell EMC
Unity 380/F, 480/F, 680/F, and 880/F models. For more information on other Dell EMC Unity models, see the
Dell EMC Unity: Introduction to the Platform white paper.

Dell EMC Unity X00/F model comparison

Dell EMC Unity Dell EMC Unity Dell EMC Unity Dell EMC Unity
Model
300/300F 400/400F 500/500F 600/600F

Processor (per SP) Intel® E5-2603 v3 Intel E5-2630 v3 Intel E5-2660 v3 Intel E5-2680 v3
6c/1.6 GHz 8c/2.4 GHz 10c/2.6 GHz 12c/2.5 GHz

Memory 24 GB/SP 48 GB/SP 64 GB/SP 128 GB/SP

Max. drives 150 250 500 1,000

Max. capacity (raw) 2.34 PB 3.9 PB 7.8 PB 9.7 PB

Dell EMC Unity X50F model comparison

Dell EMC Unity Dell EMC Unity Dell EMC Unity Dell EMC Unity
Model
350F 450F 550F 650F
Processor (per SP) Intel E5-2603 v4 Intel E5-2630 v4 Intel E5-2660 v4 Intel E5-2680 v4
6c/1.7 GHz 10c/2.2 GHz 14c/2.0 GHz 14c/2.4 GHz

Memory 48 GB/SP 64 GB/SP 128 GB/SP 256 GB/SP

Max. drives 150 250 500 1,000

Max. capacity (raw) 2.4 PB 4.0 PB 8.0 PB 16.0 PB

9 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

Dell EMC Unity XT X80/F model comparison

Dell EMC Unity XT Dell EMC Unity XT Dell EMC Unity XT Dell EMC Unity XT
Model
380/380F 480/480F 680/680F 880/880F
Processor (per SP) Intel E5-2603 V4 2 x Intel Xeon® 2 x Intel Xeon 2 x Intel Xeon Gold
6c/1.7 GHz Silver 4108 Silver 4116 6130
8c/1.8 GHz 12 c /2.1 GHz 16c/2.1 GHz
Memory 64 GB/SP 96 GB/SP 192 GB/SP 384 GB/SP

Max. drives 500 750 1,000 1,500

Max. capacity (raw) 2.4 PB 4.0 PB 8.0 PB 16.0 PB

2.1.1 Drive model comparison

Multiple drive types are supported on the Dell EMC Unity XT system. All Flash models support flash drives,
while Hybrid Dell EMC Unity models support flash, SAS, and NL-SAS drives. All drives operate at 12 Gb/s
speeds. SAS and NL-SAS drives utilize a 4 KB drive formatting size, while flash drives utilize a 520 byte block
size. A list of all supported drives can be found on Dell EMC Support.

2.1.2 Data-in-place conversions

Data-in-place (DIP) conversions are not supported on Dell EMC Unity XT systems. Replication can be used to
replicate data onto Dell EMC Unity XT models from other Dell EMC Unity systems, and then a planned
failover can be performed to start production on the destination system.

DIP conversions remain supported on X00 and X50F models. For more information on DIP conversions, see
the Dell EMC Unity Data-in-Place Conversion Guide.

2.2 Disk processor enclosure (380/F)

The Dell EMC Unity disk processor enclosure (DPE) for Dell EMC Unity XT models utilize a 25-drive 2U DPE
using 2.5-inch drives. The Dell EMC Unity XT 380/F model uses a different physical chassis than the 480/F,
680/F, and 880/F models. The following figures and related information are specific to the 380/F model. For
information about the DPE for the 480/F, 680/F, and 880/F models, see section 2.3.

25-drive 2U DPE (380/F)

For 380/F systems, the front of the DPEs (see Figure 2) have LEDs for both the enclosure and drives to
indicate status and faults. The first four drives of the DPE are known as system drives, and contain copies of
data used by the operating environment. While they can be used in pools to hold user data, the entire
formatted capacity of the system drives is not available since some space is reserved for the system. These
drives should not be moved within the DPE or relocated to another enclosure and should be replaced
immediately in the event of a fault. A system drive cannot be used as a hot spare for a non-system drive. For

10 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

this reason, the minimum number of drives in a system is 5, with system drives configured in a RAID 1/0 (1+1
or 2+2) configuration including a non-system-drive hot spare.

The back of the DPE reveals the SPs and their on-board connectivity. Each SP has 2x 12 Gb SAS ports
used for connecting additional storage and each SAS port has a 4-lane configuration. For front-end
connectivity, the SPs have 2 x 10 GbE BaseT ports which can auto-negotiate between 10 Gb/1 Gb/100 Mb,
as well as 2 x converged network adapter (CNA) ports. These CNA ports can be configured to serve 16 Gb/8
Gb/4 Gb Fibre Channel using either multi-mode or single-mode FC SFPs, 10 GbE Optical using SFP+
connectors or TwinAx cables in active or passive mode, or 1 GbE BaseT using RJ45 SFPs. For optical
connections, the CNAs feature full iSCSI offload which relieves the SP from handling TCP/IP network stack
operations. For management and servicing, each SP has a dedicated 1 GbE BaseT management port and a
dedicated 1 GbE BaseT service port; both ports operate at 1 Gb/100 Mb/10 Mb speeds.

The DPE on 380/F systems is internally connected to Bus 0 which is the same bus that the first SAS
expansion port is connected to. Therefore, the DPE is recognized by the system as Bus 0 Enclosure 0 while
the first DAE connected to the first SAS expansion port would be Bus 0 Enclosure 1. Furthermore, this
means that the twenty-five drives in front of the DPE are internally recognized as Bus 0 Enclosure 0 Drive 0
– Bus 0 Enclosure 0 Drive 24.

For a detailed description of the hardware on Dell EMC Unity 380/F systems, see the Dell EMC Unity
Hardware Information Guide.

Back view of DPE (380/F)

2.2.1 Storage processor (380/F)

The Dell EMC Unity XT 380/F system is powered by an Intel® Xeon® processor utilizing the Intel Broadwell
architecture, with 6 cores per SP. Each purpose-built system contains two SPs, which are used for high
availability and load-balancing purposes.

11 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

2.2.2 M.2 SSD (380/F)

An M.2 SSD device is located inside each SP and serves as a backup device in the event of an SP failure
(Figure 3). In the event of an SP failure, the memory contents of the SP cache are written to the M.2 SSD
device so it can be recovered once the SP is restored. If the M.2 SSD device itself encounters a failure, cache
data can be recovered from the peer SP. The M.2 SSD device also holds the boot image that is used to run
the operating environment.

M.2 SSD device (380/F)

2.2.3 Cooling modules (380/F)

Cooling modules or fan packs (Figure 4) are used to provide cool airflow to the SP interior. There are five
counter-rotating cooling modules in an SP for 380/F systems. An SP can tolerate a single cooling module
fault; in which case the surviving fans increase their speed to compensate for the faulted module. If a second
cooling module faults, the SP gracefully saves cache content and shuts down to prevent overheating.

Cooling module (380/F)

12 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

2.2.4 Battery backup unit (380/F)

The battery backup unit (BBU) provides power to the SP in the event that cabinet power is lost. The BBU
(Figure 5) is designed to power the SP long enough for the system to store SP write cache content to the M.2
SSD device before powering down. The BBU includes sensors which communicate its charge and health
status to the SP. In the event the BBU is discharged, the SP disables the write cache until the BBU has
recharged. In the event the BBU has faulted or cannot sustain enough charge, an alert is generated.

Battery backup unit (380/F)

2.2.5 Baffle (380/F)

The baffle (Figure 6) directs airflow within the SP. Cool air drawn in from the cooling modules is directed to
the processor and DIMMs for effective thermal management.

Baffle (380/F)

13 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

2.2.6 DIMMs (380/F)

There are four DIMM slots on an SP for a 380/F system. These are filled with up to four 16 GB DIMMs. An
example DIMM is represented in Figure 7. DIMMs utilize error-correcting code (ECC) to protect against data
corruption. If a DIMM is faulted, the system boots into Service Mode so the faulted DIMM can be replaced.

DIMM (380/F)

2.2.7 Power supply (380/F)

There are two power supply modules in a DPE, one per SP. A single power supply is capable of powering the
entire DPE. Power supplies can be replaced without having to remove the SP or shut down the system.
Power supplies are offered for AC power only. DC power options are not available for Dell EMC Unity XT
systems.

Power supply (380/F)

2.3 Disk processor enclosure (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

The disk processor enclosures (DPEs) for Dell EMC Unity XT models utilize a 25-drive 2U DPE using 2.5-inch
drives. The Dell EMC Unity 380/F system uses a different physical chassis than the 480/F, 680/F, and 880/F
models. The following figures and related information are specific to 480/F, 680/F, and 880/F models. For
information about the DPE for the 380/F model, see section 2.2.

25-drive 2U DPE (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

14 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

For 480/F, 680/F, and 880/F systems, the front of the DPEs (Figure 9) have LEDs for both the enclosure and
drives to indicate status and faults. The first four drives of the DPE are known as system drives, and contain
data used by the operating environment. While they can be used in pools to hold user data, the entire
formatted capacity of the system drives will not be available as some space is reserved for the system. These
drives should not be moved within the DPE or relocated to another enclosure and should be replaced
immediately in the event of a fault. A system drive cannot be used as a hot spare for a non-system drive. For
this reason, the minimum number of drives in a system is 5 with system drives configured in a RAID 1/0 (1+1
or 2+2) configuration including a non-system-drive hot spare.

The back of the DPE reveals the SPs and their connectivity options (Figure 10). Each SP has 1 x 1 GbE
management port, 1 x 1 GbE service port, 1 x 4-port mezzanine card (optional), 2 x I/O module slots
(optional), and 2 x 12 Gb SAS ports, used for connecting additional storage. Each SAS port has a 4-lane
configuration. For management and service, each SP has a dedicated 1 GbE BaseT management port and a
dedicated 1 GbE BaseT service port; both ports can operate at 1 Gb/100 Mb/10 Mb speeds. For front-end
connectivity, the SPs have the option of a 4-port mezzanine card which has the option of being a 4-port 25
GbE Optical, 4-port 10GbE BaseT, or blank filler based on how the system is ordered. For the 4-port 25 GbE
Optical option, the port speed is based on the SFP installed in each of the ports. There can be a mix of SFP
types on the same card as needed. For the 4-port 10 GbE option, the ports can auto-negotiate between
10 Gb/1 Gb/100 Mb speeds as needed. The 4-port card slots can be populated at a later point in time if the
system is ordered with blank fillers for those slots.

The DPE on 480/F, 680/F, and 880/F systems is internally connected to Bus 99 which is a separate bus than
the first SAS expansion port that is connected to Bus 0. Therefore, the DPE is recognized by the system as
Bus 99 Enclosure 0 while the first DAE connected to the first SAS expansion port would be Bus 0
Enclosure 0. This is different than X00/F, X50F, and 380/F systems. Furthermore, this means that the
twenty-five drives in front of the DPE for 480/F, 680/F, and 880/F systems are internally recognized as Bus
99 Enclosure 0 Drive 0 – Bus 99 Enclosure 0 Drive 24. In Unisphere, the drives are seen DPE Drive 0 –
DPE Drive 24.

For a detailed description of hardware for 480/F, 680/F, and 880/F systems, see the Dell EMC Unity 480/F,
Unity 680/F, Unity 880/F Hardware Information Guide.

Back of DPE (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

2.3.1 Storage processor (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

The purpose-built Dell EMC Unity platform for 480/F, 680/F, and 880/F systems is powered by an Intel®
Xeon® processor utilizing the Intel Skylake architecture. The CPU model depends on the system model, and
the core count varies between 8 to 18 cores per CPU with two CPUs per SP. Each purpose-built system
contains two SPs, which are used for high availability and load-balancing purposes.

15 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

2.3.2 M.2 SSD (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

There are two M.2 SSD devices, one connected with the SATA protocol and one connected with the NVMe
protocol, located inside each SP for 480/F, 680/F, and 880/F systems. The devices serve two separate
purposes: one as a backup device in the event of an SP failure (Figure 11) and one as a boot device for the
system operating environment (Figure 12). In the event of an SP failure, the memory contents of the SP
cache are written to the M.2 NVMe SSD device so the data can be recovered once the SP is restored. If the
M.2 NVMe SSD device itself encounters a failure, cache data can be recovered from the peer SP. The M.2
SATA SSD device holds the boot image that is used to boot the operating environment.

M.2 NVMe SSD device (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

M.2 SATA SSD device (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

2.3.3 Cooling modules (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

Cooling modules or fan packs are used to provide cool airflow to the SP interior. There are six counter-
rotating cooling modules in an SP for 480/F, 680/F, and 880/F systems. An SP can tolerate a single cooling
module fault; the surviving fans increase their speed to compensate for the faulted module. If a second
cooling module faults, the SP gracefully saves the write cache content and shuts down.

Cooling module (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

16 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

2.3.4 Battery backup unit (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

The battery backup unit (BBU) provides power to the SP in the event that cabinet power is lost. The BBU is
designed to power the SP long enough for the system to store SP cache content to the M.2 SSD devices
before powering down. The BBU includes sensors which communicate its charge and health status to the SP.
In the event the BBU is discharged, the SP disables cache until the BBU has recharged. In the event the BBU
has faulted or cannot sustain enough charge, an alert is generated.

Battery backup unit (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

2.3.5 Baffle (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

The baffle directs airflow within the SP. Cool air drawn in from the cooling modules is directed to the
processor and DIMMs for effective thermal management.

Baffle (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

17 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

2.3.6 DIMMs (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

There are twenty-four DIMM slots on an SP. These are filled with up to twelve DIMMs, depending on the
model. An example DIMM is represented in Figure 16. DIMMs are between 16 GB and 32 GB in size and use
error-correcting code (ECC) to protect against data corruption. If a DIMM is faulted, the system boots into
service mode so the faulted DIMM can be replaced.

DIMM (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

2.3.7 Power supply (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

There are two power supply modules in a DPE. A single power supply is capable of powering the entire DPE.
Power supplies can be replaced without having to remove the SP. Power supplies are offered for AC power
only. DC power options are not available for Dell EMC Unity XT systems.

Power supply (480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

2.4 I/O module options (380/F, 480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

Each SP on Dell EMC Unity XT systems can support up to two I/O modules. I/O modules provide additional
connectivity. For the two SPs in a DPE, the I/O modules configured must match between SPs. Fibre Channel
over Ethernet (FCoE) and Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) are not supported on the Dell EMC Unity platform.

The Dell EMC Unity XT systems support the following I/O modules:

• 12 Gb SAS (480/F, 680/F, 880/F only)

• 25 GbE optical (4-port)
• 16 Gb Fibre Channel (4-port)
• 10 GbE BaseT (4-port)

18 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

The 12 Gb SAS (4-port) I/O module is used to provide additional back-end connectivity to DAEs. Each SAS
port supports up to 10 DAEs and up to a maximum of 250 drives. This module is required when using high-
bandwidth x8 SAS lane connections for the 80-drive DAE.

12 Gb SAS I/O module

The 16 Gb Fibre Channel (4-port) I/O module offers front-end connectivity at 16 Gb/s speeds and can auto-
negotiate to 8 Gb/s and 4 Gb/s speeds depending on the SFPs installed. There are ordering options for
single-mode SFPs and multi-mode SFPs configurations depending on the use case in a data-center
environment. Single-mode SFPs only operate at 16 Gb speeds and are not compatible with multi-mode
connections. Single-mode connections are usually used for long-distance synchronous replication use cases
to remote sites while multi-mode is typically used for transmitting data over shorter distances in local-area
SAN networks and connections within buildings.

16Gb Fibre Channel I/O module

19 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

The 10 GbE BaseT (4-port) I/O module operates at up to 10 Gb/s speeds, is used for front-end host access,
and supports both iSCSI and NAS protocols. The I/O module can also auto-negotiate to 1 Gb/s and 100 Mb/s
speeds as needed. The ports on an individual Ethernet I/O module, as well as the on-board Ethernet ports or
mezzanine card Ethernet ports, support link aggregation, fail safe networking (FSN), and VLAN tagging. Link
aggregation can be configured across all available Ethernet ports as needed.

10 GbE BaseT I/O module

The 25 GbE optical I/O module runs at a fixed speed of 25 Gb/s given it is using 25 Gb SFPs. The I/O module
also supports 10 Gb SFPs to run at 10 Gb/s speeds. The optical I/O module ports support SFP+ and TwinAx
(active or passive mode) connections. Different SFPs or TwinAx cables can be mixed on the same I/O
module and are hot swappable.

25 GbE optical I/O module

2.5 Disk array enclosure options (380/F, 480/F, 680/F, 880/F)

The purpose-built Dell EMC Unity XT Series systems have three different DAE configuration options:

• 25-drive 2U DAE using 2.5-inch drives

• 15-drive 3U DAE using 3.5-inch drives
• 80-drive 3U DAE using 2.5-inch drives

20 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

2.5.1 25-drive 2.5-inch 2U DAE

The 25-drive, 2.5-inch 2U DAE holds up to twenty-five 2.5-inch drives (Figure 22). The back of the DAE
includes LEDs to indicate power and fault status. There are also LEDs to indicate bus and enclosure IDs.

25-drive 2.5-inch 2U DAE (Front)

The 25-drive 2.5-inch 2U DAE can be powered with AC power and is attached to the DPE with mini-SAS HD
connectors (Figure 23).

25-drive 2.5-inch 2U DAE (back)

2.5.2 15-drive 3.5-inch 3U DAE

The 15-drive 3.5-inch 3U DAE is available for Dell EMC Unity XT Hybrid systems, can be powered with AC
power, and is attached to the DPE with mini-SAS HD connectors (Figure 24).

15-drive 3.5” 3U DAE (front)

21 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Hardware overview

The back of the DAE includes LEDs to indicate power and fault status (Figure 25). There are also LEDs to
indicate bus and enclosure IDs.

15-drive 3.5-inch 3U DAE (back)

2.5.3 80-drive 2.5-inch 3U DAE

The 80-drive 2.5-inch 3U DAE is available for Dell EMC Unity XT Hybrid and All Flash systems. It can be
powered with AC power and is attached to the DPE with mini-SAS HD connectors (Figure 26). A high-
bandwidth x8-lane SAS connectivity option to the DPE is also available for models that support the 4-port 12
Gb SAS I/O module, which include the Dell EMC Unity 480/F, 680/F, and 880/F models. For supported drive
types and sizes on the 80-drive DAE, see the Dell EMC Unity Drive Support Matrix.

In terms of operating power, the 80-drive DAE operates from 200 V to 240 V AC at 47 Hz to 63 Hz with a
maximum power consumption of 1,611 VA (1,564 W). For a full listing of power requirements and related
hardware information, see the Dell EMC Unity Hardware Information Guide on Dell EMC Support.

80-drive 2.5-inch 3U DAE

22 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Dell EMC UnityVSA

3 Dell EMC UnityVSA

Dell EMC Unity™ storage is offered in a virtual storage appliance version known as Dell EMC UnityVSA™.
Dell EMC UnityVSA is a software-defined storage (SDS) solution that runs atop the VMware ESXi server
platform. Dell EMC UnityVSA provides a flexible storage option for environments that do not require purpose-
built storage hardware such as test/development or remote office/branch office (ROBO) environments. Users
can quickly provision a Dell EMC UnityVSA system on general-purpose server hardware, which can result in
reduced infrastructure costs and a quicker rate of deployment.

In Dell EMC Unity OE version 4.5, Dell EMC UnityVSA HA is available. UnityVSA HA is an enhanced version
of the single-SP UnityVSA solution. This is accomplished by adding high availability (HA) functionality
whereby Dell EMC UnityVSA HA can recover from an SP or host failure which significantly increases the
system’s applicable use case scenarios, as well as enables non-disruptive upgrades (NDU). Dell EMC
UnityVSA HA is only available with Professional Edition (PE) licenses in capacity choices of 10 TB, 25 TB, or
50 TB options.

3.1 Overview
Dell EMC UnityVSA retains the ease-of-use and ease-of-management found in the purpose-built Dell EMC
Unity product. Its feature set and data services are designed to be on par with the rest of the Dell EMC Unity
family. There are some main differences in functionality support, which stem from the virtual nature of the Dell
EMC UnityVSA deployment.

3.2 Hardware requirements

Dell EMC UnityVSA can run on any server that supports VMware ESXi and meets minimum hardware
requirements. If local storage is used, a hardware RAID controller on the ESXi server is recommended to be
used to configure redundant storage for Dell EMC UnityVSA. If storage is provided from a redundant storage
system or server SAN, a RAID controller on the ESXi server is not required. A full description of the minimum
server requirements for a single UnityVSA instance is detailed in Table 4.

Dell EMC UnityVSA single-SP server and VM requirements

Component Description

Hardware CPU Intel® Xeon® E5 Series Dual-Core CPU 64-bit x86 Intel 2 GHz+ (SSE 4.2
or greater)

Hardware memory 18 GB (ESXi 6.0)

20 GB (ESXi 6.5/6.7)
Hardware network 4 x 1 GbE or higher for I/O and management

Disk space Minimum 100 GB

Hardware RAID (server DAS) RAID controller: 512 MB NV cache and battery backed (recommended)

VMware ESXi ESXi 6.0–6.7

23 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Dell EMC UnityVSA

Component Description

Storage processors (SPs) 1

Virtual CPUs 2

Virtual memory 12 GB

Virtual network (management) 1 x 1 GbE or 10 GbE

Virtual network (data) 4 x 1 GbE or 10 GbE

Dell EMC UnityVSA HA has similar physical requirements as Dell EMC UnityVSA single-SP on a per-SP
basis. In terms of VMware requirements, a vCenter is mandatory in addition to the configuration of internal
networks. To comply with best practices, Dell EMC UnityVSA HA requires a separate ESXi host for each SP
that is deployed. The white paper Dell EMC UnityVSA provides further detail on the best practices and the
exact VMware requirements. A full description of server requirements for a single SP of the Dell EMC
UnityVSA HA are outlined in Table 5.

Dell EMC UnityVSA HA hardware requirements

Component Description

Hardware CPU (per SP) Intel® Xeon® E5 Series Dual Core CPU 64-bit x86 Intel 2 GHz+
(SSE 4.2 or greater)

Hardware memory (per SP) 18 GB (ESXi 6.0)

20 GB (ESXi 6.5/6.7)
Hardware network (per SP) 4 x 1 GbE or higher for I/O and management; 2 x 10 GbE or
higher unused VMNIC ports for inter-SP networking

Hardware RAID (per SP) RAID controller: 512 MB NV cache and battery backed
(recommended)
VMware ESXi ESXi 6.0–6.7

Hardware switch vLAN/VXLAN support is required (at least 3 VLANs must be

available).
Disk space One private or shared datastore for private system data per SP
VM.1

At least 4 separate shared datastores between the two ESXi

hosts (One for shared system data2, two for separate storage
heartbeat disks3, and one for virtual disk capacity allocation.)
Storage processors (SPs) 2

24 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Dell EMC UnityVSA

Component Description

Virtual CPUs (per SP) 2

Virtual memory (per SP) 12 GB

Virtual network (management) 1 x 1 GbE or higher

Virtual network (data) 4 x 1 GbE or higher

Virtual network (internal communication) 3x 1 GbE or higher

1
Minimum 60 GB for private system data.
2 Minimum 30 GB shared system data.
3 Minimum 2 MB for each storage heartbeat disk.

For more information about the Dell EMC UnityVSA and Dell EMC UnityVSA HA, refer to the white paper Dell
EMC UnityVSA on Dell EMC Support.

25 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Dell EMC Unity Cloud Edition

4 Dell EMC Unity Cloud Edition

As customers select a cloud-operating model to support their applications, elasticity and scalability of public
clouds and enterprise file capabilities such as tiering, quotas, and snapshots are top requirements. Customers
are looking to leverage the cloud for file synchronization and disaster recovery operations.

Dell EMC Unity Cloud Edition addresses these requirements with support for VMware Cloud (VMC) on
Amazon Web Services (AWS). Dell EMC Unity Cloud Edition can be easily deployed in a VMware Cloud
Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) to provide native file services such as NFS and SMB. Dell EMC Cloud
Edition also enables disaster recovery between on-premise-deployed Dell EMC Unity systems and VMware
Cloud-based appliances.

Dell EMC Unity Cloud Edition is a virtualized storage appliance that has a rich feature set, comparable to the
rest of the Dell EMC Unity family. Because of its ease of use and quick deployment time, this makes Dell
EMC Unity Cloud Edition the ideal candidate for test/development environments or production deployments
into VMC on AWS.

For more information on Dell EMC Unity Cloud Edition and its benefits, see the paper Dell EMC Unity Cloud
Edition with VMware Cloud on AWS.

26 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Conclusion

5 Conclusion
The Dell EMC Unity XT product family sets a new standard for storage by delivering compelling simplicity, a
modern design, and enterprise features at an affordable price and compact footprint. Dell EMC Unity XT
storage meets the needs of resource-constrained IT professionals in both large and small companies. The
purpose-built Dell EMC Unity XT system is offered in All Flash and Hybrid models, providing flexibility for
differing use cases and budgets. The converged offering through the Converged Infrastructure Portfolio
delivers industry-leading converged infrastructure powered by Dell EMC Unity XT storage. Dell EMC
UnityVSA and Dell EMC Unity Cloud Edition offer dynamic deployment models that allow starting for free and
growing as business needs evolve.

The Dell EMC Unity XT system was designed with ease-of-use at the forefront. The modern design of the
management interfaces is built with best practices in mind, making it easy to provision storage intelligently
without having to micromanage every detail. A software feature set built with the same mindset allows for
automation and set-it-and-forget-it style upkeep. An IT generalist can set up, configure, and manage a Dell
EMC Unity XT system without needing to become a storage expert. A strong support ecosystem offers a
variety of media for learning and troubleshooting, backed by the quality support model of Dell EMC. Lastly,
users looking to refresh their existing Dell EMC infrastructure can use the intuitive migration capabilities of the
Dell EMC Unity XT platform.

With simplified ordering, all-inclusive software, new differentiated features, internet-enabled management,
and a modern design, Dell EMC Unity XT storage is where powerful meets simplicity.

27 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782

Technical support and resources

A Technical support and resources

Dell.com/support is focused on meeting customer needs with proven services and support.

Storage technical documents and videos provide expertise that helps to ensure customer success on Dell
EMC storage platforms.

A.1 Related resources

The following documents can be found on Dell EMC Support:

• Dell EMC Unity: Best Practices Guide

• Dell EMC Unity: Cloud Tiering Appliance (CTA)
• Dell EMC Unity: Compression
• Dell EMC Unity: Compression for File
• Dell EMC Unity: Data at Rest Encryption
• Dell EMC Unity: Data Integrity
• Dell EMC Unity: Data Reduction
• Dell EMC Unity: DR Access and Testing
• Dell EMC Unity: Dynamic Pools
• Dell EMC Unity: FAST Technology Overview
• Dell EMC Unity: File-Level Retention (FLR)
• Dell EMC Unity: High Availability
• Dell EMC Unity: Introduction to the Platform
• Dell EMC Unity: NAS Capabilities
• Dell EMC Unity: MetroSync
• Dell EMC Unity: MetroSync and Home Directories
• Dell EMC Unity: MetroSync and VMware vSphere NFS Datastores
• Dell EMC Unity: Migration Technologies
• Dell EMC Unity: OpenStack Best Practices for Ocata Release
• Dell EMC Unity: Performance Metrics
• Dell EMC Unity: Replication Technologies
• Dell EMC Unity: Snapshots and Thin Clones
• Dell EMC Unity: Operating Environment (OE) Overview
• Dell EMC Unity: Unisphere Overview
• Dell EMC Unity: Virtualization Integration
• Dell EMC UnityVSA
• Dell EMC Unity Cloud Edition with VMware Cloud on AWS
• Dell EMC Unity Data Reduction Analysis
• Dell EMC Unity: Migrating to Dell EMC Unity with SAN Copy
• Dell EMC Unity Storage with Microsoft Hyper-V
• Dell EMC Unity Storage with Microsoft SQL Server
• Dell EMC Unity Storage with Microsoft Exchange Server
• Dell EMC Unity Storage with VMware vSphere
• Dell EMC Unity Storage with Oracle Databases
• Dell EMC Unity 350F Storage with VMware Horizon View VDI
• Dell EMC Unity: 3,000 VMware Horizon Linked Clone VDI Users
• Dell EMC Storage with VMware Cloud Foundation

28 Dell EMC Unity XT: Introduction to the Platform | H17782