Chassis Overview

Chassis format
All-in-one (dual controllers, internal drive bays, networking and expansion ports) 

Rack size
3U

Controllers
2 hot-swappable per chassis (active/active)

Processors
Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2630 v3, 2.4GHz, 8 cores

Internal storage capacity
30 x 2.5” drive bays

System memory
128GB per SC5020 array (64GB per controller)

Operating system
Dell Storage Center OS (SC OS) 7.2 or greater

Data Mobility and Migration

Replication
Replicates with other SC Series arrays*
Synchronous/Asynchronous via FC or iSCSI
Per-volume QoS bandwidth prioritization
Target/source relationships may be one-to-many or many-to-one
Supports all SC data services on source and target volumes
Change replication types and topologies on demand
Supports cross-platform replication with PS Series/EqualLogic arrays (either direction)

Volume mobility
Live Migrate (included in base product) enables host-transparent data movement among arrays; see also Federation section

Federated multi-array systems
Live Migrate (included in base product) enables host-transparent movement of volumes among arrays
Snapshots maintained/preserved during migration

Thin Import
Space-efficient, non-disruptive data migration from PS Series (EqualLogic) arrays

Thin Clones
Clone standalone volumes with zero duplication of data
Clones maintain independent snapshots and replication
Ideal for VDI, test/dev, other applications that require discrete instances of common data
More efficient than dedupe for database copies

Data Optimization

Auto-tiering method
Policy-based migration based on real-time data usage, customizable 512KB-4MB page size

Auto-tiering structure
Up to 3 primary (media-based) tiers total, up to 2 SSD tiers (write- and read-intensive SSDs)

Tiering customizations
User-defined profiles, option to “pin” volumes to any tier

RAID support
RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, RAID 10, and RAID 10 DM (Dual Mirror); any combination of RAID levels can exist on a single array

RAID tiering
Auto-provisions and dynamically restripes multiple RAID levels on the same tier; no need to pre-allocate RAID groups

Thin provisioning
Active by default on all volumes, operates at full performance across all features

Thin snapshots
Records changes only, snapshots auto-migrate to lower-cost storage

Intelligent deduplication and compression
Selectable option per volume on SSD and/or HDD tiers in hybrid configurations
Compression-only option also available on any configuration

HDD optimization
FastTrack moves frequently accessed data to outer tracks for quicker response times

Data Protection

Data Protection, Disaster Recovery, Security

Business continuity
Live Volume bi-directional auto-failover, auto-repair*
Continuous operations, disaster recovery, disaster avoidance
Includes third-site (tertiary) replication options with Live Volume Managed Replication*
Zero RTO/RPO with customizable site failover SLAs per volume
VMware Metro Stretch Cluster support
VMware Site Recovery Manager

Distributed sparing
No dedicated hot spares required, all drives available for I/O

Thin snapshots
Records changes only, snapshots auto-migrate to lower-cost storage

Application Consistency
Replay Manager: Application-consistent snapshots in Microsoft or VMware environments
AppSync: Application-consistent snapshots in Microsoft, VMware, Oracle environments

Data-at-rest encryption
Self-encrypting drives (SEDs) in SSD or HDD formats
Full Disk Encryption (FCE) based on AES-256
Drives certified to FIPS 140-2 Level 2
Key Management Server (KMS) options available for FIPS 140-2 Level 1, 2 and 3

External key manager support
Gemalto’s SafeNet KeySecure k460, k250, k170v, k150v
Thales EMS 200

Environmental Operating Conditions

Operating temperature: 50 – 95°F (10 – 35°C)
Non-operating temperature: -40 – 149°F (-40 – 65°C)
Operating humidity ranges (non-condensing): 10% to 80% with 29°C (84.2°F) maximum dew point
Non-operating humidity (non-condensing): 5% to 95% with 33°C (91°F) maximum dew point
Inlet type: NEMA 5-15/CS22.2, n°42

Expansion Capacity

Supported expansion enclosures
Dell EMC SC420: 24 x 2.5” drive bays (12Gb SAS)
Dell EMC SC400: 12 x 3.5” drive bays (12Gb SAS)
Dell EMC SC460: 60 x 3.5” drive bays (12Gb SAS)

Maximum drive count
222 per array (30 internal, plus 192 external), more in federated systems*

Max raw capacity
2.16 PB per array (SSD or HDD)*, more in federated systems*

Max raw capacity (NAS)
2.16 PB per array (requires FS8600 NAS appliance)
4PB in single namespace (requires FS8600 and multiple arrays)
20PB with global namespace (requires FS8600 and multiple arrays)

Storage media
SAS and NL-SAS drives; different drive types, transfer rates and rotational speeds can be mixed in the same system.
SSD: write-intensive and read-intensive drives 
HDD: 15K, 10K, 7.2K RPM

Functional

Array configurations
All-flash, hybrid or HDD arrays

Storage format
Block (SAN) * 

Max SAN hosts: 500
Max initiator ports: 1000
Max LUN size: 500TB
Max number of LUNs: 2000
Max number of snapshots: 8192
Max IOPS: 1,025,000*
Max IOPS (with latency less than 1ms): 818,000*
Max IOPS (80% reads, 20% writes): 330,000*
Max throughput (reads): 19,000 MB/s*
Max throughput (writes): 9,500 MB/s*

Management

Management interface
Browser-based (HTML 5):
Unisphere for SC (element manager)
Unisphere Central (multi-array management)
CloudIQ (cloud-based analytics and monitoring)
Client application:
Dell Storage Manager (multi-array, multi-site, cross-platform management)

Federation
Create large multi-array systems under unified management, with seamless workload migration between arrays via included Live Migrate feature. Add like or unlike SC arrays non-disruptively, efficiently utilizing their combined capacity and performance. Volume Advisor monitors federated arrays to suggest optimal data placement and load balancing. Volume movement does not impact snapshots or replication data protection.*

Scripting support
Microsoft PowerShell API
RESTful API

Host OS support
Microsoft® Windows Server®, Oracle® Solaris, HP®-UX, Oracle Linux, IBM® AIX®, Novell® NetWare, SLES, Apple, HPTru64, VMware®, Citrix® XenServer®, RedHat®

Third-party application integration
VMware, Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, OpenStack™, Symantec™, Commvault®, Veeam®, Docker™ — see SC Series Management spec sheet for more details

Data-in-place upgrade option
Transfer drives from SC4020 head unit and/or expansion enclosures to new SC5020/SC7020

Coexistence with PS Series arrays
Replication in either direction
Day-to-day management from a single interface
Thin import: space-efficient, non-disruptive data migration from PS Series arrays

Certifications
VMware vSphere Metro Storage Cluster, VMware SRM, Veritas Storage Foundations Suite, IBM VIOS Recognized, Oracle Validated Infrastructure (OVI); see Dell Storage Support Matrix for additional certifications and details

Reporting/alerts
Support assist (phone home), remote diagnostics and performance monitoring, automated alerts, reports and notifications, departmental chargeback

Firmware updates
Online, non-disruptive.* Firmware may be set to download automatically, with option to trigger installation manually if desired.

Workload management
QoS, VVOLs

Network and Expansion I/O

Front-end-network protocols
FC, iSCSI, SAS (supports simultaneous multiprotocol)

Max 32Gb FC ports
8 per array (SFP+)

Max 16Gb FC ports
8 per array (SFP+)

Max 100Gb iSCSI ports
8 QSFP28 per array

Max 25Gb iSCSI ports
8 SFP28 per array

Max 10Gb iSCSI ports
16 SFP+ or BaseT per array

Max 12Gb SAS ports
8 12Gb SAS ports*

Management ports
2 per array (1Gb BASE-T)

Back-end expansion protocols
12Gb SAS

Max back-end expansion ports
8 per array
Up to 16 expansion enclosures per array

Physical

Rack size: 3U
Height: 13.33 cm (5.25 inches)
Width: 44.5 cm (17.52 inches)
Depth: 78.5 cm (30.9 inches)
Weight at maximum configuration: 24.22 kg (53.4 lb)
Weight empty: 15.15 kg (33.4 lb)

Power

Power/wattage: 2 hot-swappable power supplies (1378W or 1485W options available, wattage type not interchangeable after point of sale)
Maximum output power: 1378W supply option: 1378 W; 1485W supply option: 1485 W
Maximum input power: 1378W supply option: 1584 W; 1485W supply option: 1688 W
Maximum input current: 1378W supply option: 16 A, 1485W supply option: 8.8 A
Maximum inrush current: 55A for 10 ms or less
Nominal input voltage operating range: 1378W supply option: 100-240 VAC; 1485W supply option: 200-240 VAC
Nominal input frequency: 50/60 Hz
Maximum thermal output/heat dissipation: 1378W option: 5,770 BTU per hour; 1485 option: 5,760 BTU per hour (for all-in-one base appliance, no expansion enclosures)