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Dell PowerStore validated for AWS Outposts supporting block storage
Dell and AWS now let enterprises use PowerStore for hybrid cloud deployments on Outposts.
Dell and AWS have expanded platform integration to give enterprises greater flexibility in their hybrid cloud deployments. The collaboration integrates Dell PowerStore with AWS Outposts, allowing organizations to use their on-premises Dell storage for both data and boot volumes while running workloads on Outposts. Through AWS third-party storage integration, the solution supports iSCSI SANboot and Localboot, enabling centralized storage management and seamless operation between on-premises infrastructure and AWS services.
This combined offering is targeted at hybrid cloud environments, preserving data locality and compliance, supporting on-premises application modernization and VMware-to-AWS migrations, and delivering a consistent operational experience across cloud and on-premises systems.
Key Highlights:
- Attach external block volumes from Dell PowerStore arrays to EC2 instances running on Outposts.
- Boot EC2 instances on Outposts from Dell PowerStore using iSCSI SAN boot or localboot (NVMe-over-TCP) options.
- Available on Outposts racks and Outposts 2U servers.
- Preserve existing storage investments (e.g., Dell storage arrays) while migrating or running workloads on Outposts.
The News
Dell PowerStore for AWS Outposts is designed to bring a consistent AWS-native cloud experience on-premises. This offering combines AWS Outposts with Dell enterprise-class infrastructure, delivering the performance, availability, and data services that modern enterprises require.
Enterprises can maintain continuity of the familiar AWS cloud directly in their data center or edge location, now fortified by PowerStore's enterprise-grade performance, ultra-efficient and resilient architecture, and built-in intelligence. This integration enables customers to launch AWS Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances through the AWS Management Console and attach block data volumes backed by Dell PowerStore. Furthermore, customers gain enhanced flexibility and workload mobility by being able to boot Amazon EC2 instances on Outposts directly from Dell PowerStore. For more information, read the Dell blog by Joe Catalanotti, Primary Storage Product Marketing Manager.
Analyst Take
With the introduction of AWS Outposts in 2019, Dell was quick to recognize the synergy with its own hybrid cloud strategy, and publicly welcomed the move as good for customers looking for a consistent cloud and on-premises experience. Now in their second generation, AWS Outposts have continued to expand third-party storage integration on Outposts 2U servers and both generations of Outposts racks.
Introduced in May 2020, Dell PowerStore today addresses core enterprise block storage requirements through its NVMe-based, scale-up/scale-out architecture that delivers sub-millisecond latency and linear performance growth. Current capabilities include:
- High availability with active-active controllers, nondisruptive upgrades, and metro-volume clustering for zero-downtime failover.
- Data protection built in through native snapshots, replication, and integration with PowerProtect and third-party backup tools.
- Automation via REST APIs, Ansible modules, and machine-learning analytics for predictive optimization.
- Security with at-rest/in-flight encryption, secure snapshots, and compliance certifications for regulated industries.
- Support for VMware, AWS Outposts, and Dell APEX consumption models, enabling data mobility and OPEX pricing.
Boasting a 5:1 data-reduction guarantee, thin provisioning, and dense NVMe design that can lower total cost of ownership and energy use, we see that PowerStore is a resilient, intelligent, and sustainable choice for mission-critical enterprise workloads.
AWS Outposts are positioned as a premium, managed solution that extend AWS infrastructure, services, APIs, and tools to on-premises or edge locations that can provide a consistent, familiar experience. Designed by AWS to mirror its data centers, the entire Outposts environment is fully managed, monitored, automated, and operated by AWS. This offers customers a unified experience through a unified pane of glass in the cloud, simplifying operations and ensuring high availability. It integrates with existing AWS workflows, enabling powerful and easy-to-manage hybrid cloud architectures.
The integration with Dell PowerStore and other third-party storage arrays is made possible by two recent AWS updates. First, AWS introduced the ability to attach block data volumes from third-party storage to Amazon EC2 instances directly through the AWS Management Console. Additionally, AWS now enables booting Amazon EC2 instances directly from external storage arrays. By broadening partner support, AWS provides customers greater flexibility in how they integrate and protect their on-premises storage investments with AWS Outposts.
In our opinion, PowerStore and AWS support modernization of legacy systems and deploying cloud-native applications while helping to address key enterprise pain points of latency, data residency, application modernization, and efficient backup and recovery. The combination also helps with private cloud and edge applications where IoT and real-time processing are paramount, or maintaining an all-AWS environment (e.g., in-house dev/test) with local control.
Customers can integrate third-party storage with their current or new Outposts. Either onsite staff or IT providers can install the necessary servers, while AWS handles the remote provisioning of resources. For Outposts rack deployments, AWS technicians confirm site conditions prior to installation, with support from storage partners. This integration is offered at no cost across all supported AWS Regions.
For customers needing petabyte-scale, scale-out flexibility for distributed workloads, Dell PowerFlex for AWS Outposts is also available.
The Continued Evolution of Storage in the Era of Hybrid Cloud and AI
Enterprises of all sizes, particularly those in highly regulated sectors such as finance, healthcare and government, are grappling with stricter and more granular data residency requirements. For example, regulations increasingly mandate that specific datasets, not just entire workloads, must remain within defined geographic or jurisdictional boundaries. Regionally, key regulations mandating data residency include stricter rules across the EU, US, China, India and Australia. Organizations are facing sector-specific controls, localization of critical personal data, and in some cases, government review of cross-border transfers.
As a result, we find that modern storage needs are increasingly driven by compliance, moving beyond simple capacity and performance. Customers require not only management simplicity, but also policy-aware architectures to help address data sovereignty, ensuring data resides in specific geographic locations, and granular data classification, which categorizes data to apply appropriate retention, encryption, and access policies. Achieving unified governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments is crucial for organizations to effectively manage the complexities of diverse regional laws and industry standards.
Compounding this, businesses often choose to keep data and compute resources on-premises to ensure minimal latency caused by distance, bandwidth limits and network unpredictability. This is essential for applications demanding real-time processing measured in milliseconds, like trading systems and healthcare imaging that can’t tolerate round-trip delays to the cloud. This approach is also beneficial when large datasets, such as those from IoT devices, need to be processed close to their source.
By avoiding the variability and limitations of WAN or internet connectivity, on-premises environments can provide reliable, consistent performance for critical low-latency workloads, allowing for greater control and predictable outcomes. Both Dell and AWS recognize these requirements and have continued evolving their offerings to support the flexibility of hybrid workloads.
AI/ML workloads are fundamentally reshaping storage demands, driving a need for significant block storage growth. This is due in part to massive data volumes and throughput requirements, necessitating petabytes of high-throughput, low-latency block storage for training. Checkpointing and versioning operations demand fast, efficient block-level access. Low-latency inference also requires quick access to weights and embeddings, ideally via fast block storage situated close to compute nodes.
Looking Ahead
We believe AWS Outposts support for external Dell PowerStore storage, accommodating both boot and data volumes for EC2 instances, enables organizations to leverage their existing Dell infrastructure. While AWS's third-party storage extension program facilitates this, VMware's involvement in integrating, managing, or abstracting these external volumes within a VMware-on-Outposts environment is less clear. Customers are responsible for configuring and managing the external storage, and further vendor guidance is needed to determine interoperability with VMware features like vMotion, storage policies, and monitoring.
Precise adoption numbers are not public, but the expansion of a partner ecosystem and continued investment by AWS in Outposts suggest that the business is healthy and strategic. Outposts are by definition a solid AWS footprint in the data center, providing consistency, compliance and performance not possible with a public cloud-only approach. Partnering with Dell and others signals extensibility and evolution of the platform to help organizations modernize and manage data-intensive workloads and growing data volumes.
For its part, Dell has long-recognized that a majority of workloads benefit from a hybrid environment, and embracing both cloud and on-premises architectures is a win-win for Dell and its customers. The relentless growth of data and AI adoption is fueling staggering estimates for data center demand, and both storage and compute stand to benefit. Additionally, both Dell and AWS know VMware intimately. Whether customers choose to remain with VMware implementations or move to lower-cost alternatives, AWS and Dell have options to support their specific preferences.
From our viewpoint, Dell remains the global external storage market leader and for good reason: It’s invested in a range of strong products with common tools and a vibrant ecosystem. In order to maintain its leadership and differentiate in a crowded market, Dell should continue to market its concept of hassle-free, worry-free storage. Clients want to know they have resilient, high performant and cost effective solutions that just work – even as workload demands spike.
The 5:1 data reduction guarantee is an important benefit to help save costs, and that needs to be in every customer conversation. The addition of intelligence and AI-driven operations are important as enterprises prioritize uptime while redeploying IT staff from day-to-day administration to higher value projects. Taken together, these PowerStore pillars represent a strong foundation for an extensible storage solution that handles today’s workloads and will continue to flex with ever-changing requirements.
Ron Westfall | Analyst In Residence
Ron Westfall is a prominent analyst figure in technology and business transformation. Recognized as a Top 20 Analyst by AR Insights and a Tech Target contributor, his insights are featured in major media such as CNBC, Schwab Network, and NMG Media.
His expertise covers transformative fields such as Hybrid Cloud, AI Networking, Security Infrastructure, Edge Cloud Computing, Wireline/Wireless Connectivity, and 5G-IoT. Ron bridges the gap between C-suite strategic goals and the practical needs of end users and partners, driving technology ROI for leading organizations.
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Don Gentile | Analyst-in-Residence -- Storage & Data Resiliency
Don Gentile brings three decades of experience turning complex enterprise technologies into clear, differentiated narratives that drive competitive relevance and market leadership. He has helped shape iconic infrastructure platforms including IBM z16 and z17 mainframes, HPE ProLiant servers, and HPE GreenLake — guiding strategies that connect technology innovation with customer needs and fast-moving market dynamics.
His current focus spans flash storage, storage area networking, hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), software-defined storage (SDS), hybrid cloud storage, Ceph/open source, cyber resiliency, and emerging models for integrating AI workloads across storage and compute. By applying deep knowledge of infrastructure technologies with proven skills in positioning, content strategy, and thought leadership, Don helps vendors sharpen their story, differentiate their offerings, and achieve stronger competitive standing across business, media, and technical audiences.