Dell EMC Unity VSA (Virtual Storage Appliance)
Dell EMC Unity VSA (Dell EMC Unity Virtual Storage Appliance) is a unified Software-Defined Storage (SDS) solution that runs atop the VMware vSphere® platform. Dell EMC Unity VSA provides a flexible storage option for environments that do not require dedicated storage systems such as test/development or remote office/branch office (ROBO) environments. Users are able to quickly provision a Dell EMC UnityVSA on general purpose server hardware, which can result in reduced infrastructure costs and a quicker rate of deployment.
Both existing and new users can benefit from the Dell EMC UnityVSA. Existing users are able to utilise existing third-party server hardware in their test/development or ROBO environments, while new users can use the Dell EMC Unity VSA to try out newer functionality as well as APIs before purchasing a physical system.
Unity VSA is deployed on a VMware ESXi host and is available in two editions:
- Community Edition is a free downloadable 4 TB solution that is recommended for nonproduction use.
- Professional Edition is a licensed subscription-based offering available at capacity levels of 10 TB, 25 TB, and 50 TB. The subscription includes access to online support resources, ESRS support, and on-call software- and systems-related support. With the Professional Edition, you can deploy a single-SP UnityVSA, a dual-SP Unity VSA where each SP is on a different ESXi server (UnityVSA HA), or a dual-SP UnityVSA where the SPs are on the same ESXi server (not recommended). Dual-SP UnityVSA is also called UnityVSA HA.
The Community Edition and single-SP Professional Edition can optionally be deployed on a VxRail appliance.
The Unity Cloud Edition implementation describes deployment of the Unity VSA on the VMware Cloud (VMC) on Amazon Web Services (AWS).