Definition
Dell EMC Isilon refers to a brand of scale-out network-attached storage (NAS) solutions originally developed by Isilon Systems, Inc., acquired by EMC Corporation in 2010, and subsequently integrated into Dell EMC following Dell's acquisition of EMC in 2016.
Overview
Dell EMC Isilon is a high-performance, scalable storage platform designed for unstructured data, such as files used in media and entertainment, healthcare, life sciences, and enterprise content management. The platform is based on a clustered architecture that allows organizations to scale capacity and performance linearly by adding nodes to an existing cluster. Isilon systems run on the OneFS operating system, a proprietary, distributed file system that manages data and provides features such as data protection, deduplication, compression, and security.
Etymology/Origin
The term "Isilon" originates from Isilon Systems, Inc., a company founded in 2001 in Seattle, Washington. The name "Isilon" does not have a documented linguistic root but was established as a brand name for the company's storage solutions. Following its acquisition by EMC in 2010 for approximately $2.25 billion, the product line was branded as EMC Isilon. After Dell Technologies acquired EMC in 2016, the brand became known as Dell EMC Isilon. As of recent organizational restructuring within Dell Technologies, the products are often marketed under the broader Dell EMC or Dell Infrastructure branding.
Characteristics
- Scale-out NAS architecture: Enables horizontal scaling by integrating additional nodes into a single filesystem.
- OneFS operating system: Provides a unified file system across all nodes, supporting multiple protocols including NFS, SMB, and FTP.
- Data protection: Utilizes Isilon SmartQuotas, Snapshots, and the FlexProtect feature (a form of erasure coding) for resilience.
- High availability: Designed with redundancy at the node, disk, and network levels to ensure continuous operation.
- Integrated data management: Includes tools for data deduplication, compression, encryption, and compliance reporting.
- Use cases: Commonly deployed in environments requiring handling of large volumes of unstructured data, such as video editing, genomics, and cloud storage.
Related Topics
- Network-Attached Storage (NAS)
- Scale-out Storage
- EMC Corporation
- Dell Technologies
- OneFS (Operating System)
- Unstructured Data Management
- Data Lake
Accurate information is not confirmed regarding future branding or product development beyond publicly available releases as of 2023, due to ongoing changes in Dell's product portfolio segmentation.