Dell and Equinix Partner on Infrastructure Solution

Dell Technologies is partnering with global data center and colocation provider Equinix on a hybrid infrastructure solution designed to keep critical data close to the cloud and ensure predictable performance, compliance, and fast access without egress penalties.

Delivering a cloud-connected data center

The hybrid solution will see Dell’s PowerStore and PowerFlex solutions integrate inside the Equinix Cloud-Connected Data Center.

PowerStore and PowerFlex together provide a hybrid-ready platform that blends intelligent storage with scalable, software-defined infrastructure. 

In an Equinix Cloud-Connected Data Center, PowerStore serves as a secure, low-latency data hub that keeps critical data close to the cloud while ensuring predictable performance, compliance, and fast access without egress penalties. 

PowerFlex complements PowerStore with a flexible, software-defined architecture unifying compute and storage. 

Within Equinix, colocation becomes a complete private cloud platform, enabling rapid scaling, workload mobility, and direct integration with hyperscaler compute via Equinix Fabric.

PowerFlex and PowerStore work together to deliver the performance, efficiency, and agility organizations need in today’s cloud-connected world by combining enterprise-grade intelligent data services with elastic infrastructure. 

Why Dell believes cloud adjacency to data and compute will power the next phase of enterprise growth

Dell says that “cloud adjacency” – the idea of placing enterprise data and compute next to the cloud – will unlock true hybrid freedom, and PowerStore and PowerFlex inside the Equinix Cloud-Connected Data Center realize this freedom. 

Cloud compute runs on AWS or Azure, while data remains secure and high-performing on Dell infrastructure, with PowerFlex scaling compute and storage over private, low-latency links.

This architecture solution will also become a pathway to Dell Private Cloud for organizations. 

Deploying PowerStore and PowerFlex in Equinix establishes enterprise storage, software-defined compute, automation, and secure cloud connectivity, enabling cloud-like elasticity and lifecycle operations. 

The cloud-adjacent solution provides the following capabilities:

• Business continuity/Disaster recovery (DR): Users can deploy PowerStore or PowerFlex at Equinix and replicate to another Equinix facility via private, low-latency links for fast, multi-region recovery with secure, compliant DR, and leverage on-demand compute capacity in public clouds to minimize DR costs.
• Managed Services (Managed Infrastructure): Equinix extends the data center, enabling Dell or MSPs to manage PowerStore/PowerFlex while customers maintain full control and data governance.
• Data Sovereignty (Secure Data Placement): Data and workloads can be kept on PowerStore/PowerFlex, and leverage managed services to simplify operations while retaining full control and governance.
• Copy Data Management (Test/Dev/Version Control): Equinix’s elastic bandwidth and cloud proximity support dev/test. Staging and parallel version control with PowerStore and PowerFlex clones for production copies.
• Storage Optimization (High-Speed Storage for Compute): Compute in public clouds can run while data is stored on PowerStore/PowerFlex, and cloud adjacency ensures ultra-low latency for analytics, AI, databases, etc.
• Performance (Edge Computing and Low-Latency Workloads): Extend Equinix Fabric to edge locations to deploy workloads closer to users or IoT devices for real-time processing, analytics, or AI inference while keeping enterprise data secure.
• Data Protection/Compliance (Hybrid Cloud Backup and Archiving): Efficiently replicate and archive data across on-prem, cloud-adjacent, or multi-cloud environments for compliance, cost savings, and long-term retention.

This new architecture model connects data to the cloud and positions it alongside the cloud. It places a user’s enterprise infrastructure at the edge of every major cloud for unmatched agility, control, and performance.

Not long ago, Dell announced enhancements to the Dell AI Data Platform with new PowerScale, ObjectScale, and data engine upgrades. Read more about the upgrades that work to simplify data complexity and accelerate AI-driven outcomes.