PowerScale A3100 Archive NAS Platform

PowerScale A3100 Archive NAS Platform Overview

The PowerScale A3100 builds on the A3000 platform to deliver a dense archive solution, now with upgraded compute, DDR5 DRAM and an improved thermal design for better performance under scale. Storing up to 1.9 PB per chassis and supporting future HAMR HDDs, it combines long-term retention efficiency with the agility needed for active archive scenarios, accelerating retrieval of cold data to support retraining, versioning and compliance workflows.

The PowerScale A3100 Archive NAS Platform is a four-node Archive platform in the PowerScale scale-out NAS family. Four
self-contained nodes share a single 4U chassis, and every node runs the PowerScale OneFS operating
system, so nodes can be added to an existing PowerScale or Isilon cluster without downtime and
without migrating data. Archive nodes are node-pool compatible with their predecessors, which
makes expansion of an existing cluster straightforward.

Capacity and Drives

• Chassis form factor: 4U chassis, 4 nodes per chassis
• HDD bays: 80 x 3.5-inch HDD bays per chassis (20 per node)
• HDD sizes supported: 12 TB, 16 TB, 20 TB, 24 TB, 32 TB
• Chassis capacity: 960 TB (12 TB HDD)
  1.28 PB (16 TB HDD)
  1.6 PB (20 TB HDD)
  1.9 PB (24 TB HDD)
  2.5 PB (32 TB HDD)
• Raw cluster capacity: 960 TB to 100.8 PB raw
• Self-encrypting drives: FIPS 140-3 self-encrypting drive options
  FIPS 140-3 (CMVP pending) for 20 TB and 24 TB drives

Compute and Memory

• ECC memory: 96 GB per node
• Cache SSD: 800 GB, 3.2 TB or 7.68 TB SSD, 1 or 2 per node
  Capacity and number of SSDs determined by HDD size and count; some versions default with a single 800 GB SSD and support L3 cache configuration only
• Nodes per chassis: 4
• Nodes per cluster: 4 to 252
• Chassis per cluster: 1 to 63

Connectivity

• Front-end networking: 2 x 25GbE (SFP28) or 2 x 100GbE (QSFP28) per node
• Infrastructure (back-end) networking: 2 x 25GbE (SFP28) or 2 x 100GbE (QSFP28), or 2 InfiniBand connections with EDR links per node

Operating System and Software

Every node runs the PowerScale OneFS distributed file system, which presents an entire cluster
as a single file system with a single global namespace. OneFS is fully journaled, fully
distributed and keeps a globally coherent write and read cache across all nodes.

• Scale-out architecture: distributed fully symmetric clustered architecture that
  combines modular storage with the OneFS operating system in a single volume, single namespace and
  single file system
• Modular design: four self-contained nodes per chassis, each including server,
  software, HDDs and SSDs, all integrated into a 4U rack-mountable enclosure
• High availability: no single point of failure, with a self-healing design that
  protects against disk or node failure and includes back-end intra-cluster failover
• Automated storage tiering: policy-based tiering with SmartPools and CloudPools
  to optimise storage resources and lower costs
• Efficiency: SmartDedupe data deduplication plus inline data reduction and
  compression
• Data replication: SyncIQ one-to-many asynchronous replication between clusters,
  and SmartSync for file-to-file and file-to-object data movement
• Data retention: SmartLock policy-based retention and protection against
  accidental deletion
• Network protocol support: NFSv3, NFSv4, NFS Kerberized sessions (UDP or TCP),
  SMB1 (CIFS), SMB2, SMB3, SMB3-CA, Multichannel, HTTP, FTP, NDMP, SNMP, LDAP, HDFS, S3, ADS and
  NIS reads and writes

Data Protection and Security

FlexProtect file-level striping supports N+1 through N+4 and mirroring protection schemes, and
two-way NDMP is available over Fibre Channel and 10GbE. File system auditing and STIG hardening
address regulatory compliance requirements, and PowerScale Cyber Protection powered by Superna
Ransomware Defender can be included.

Physical Specifications

• Height: 7 inch (17.8 cm)
• Width: 17.6 inch (44.8 cm)
• Minimum service clearances: front 40 inch (88.9 cm), rear 42 inch
  (106.7 cm)

Operating Environment

Compliant with ASHRAE A3 data center environment guidelines. Energy Star certification for the
new generation is coming soon.

Services and Warranty

Dell ProSupport with deployment and consulting services. ProSupport Plus is optionally available
with proactive and preventative services.

Ordering

Configuration, availability and lead time depend on the required model, drive mix, protocols and delivery destination. Send your requirement to receive a quotation.

Power and Heat Dissipation

• Power supplies: Dual-redundant, hot-swappable 1050 W (low line) / 1100 W (high line) power supplies with power factor correction, rated for 90 – 130 VAC (low line) and 180 – 264 VAC (high line)
• Maximum power consumption: 1744 W per chassis
• Typical power consumption: 1303 W per chassis
• Airflow: 59.3 CFM per node, 237.2 CFM per chassis (maximum)
• Depth: 40.4 inch (102.6 cm) front NEMA rail to rear 2.5-inch SSD cover ejector
  42.2 inch (107.1 cm) front of bezel to rear 2.5-inch SSD cover ejector
• Weight: 305 lb (138.3 kg) maximum per chassis