Dell EMC Isilon

Dell EMC Isilon is a scale-out NAS storage platform under Dell EMC, originally developed by Isilon Systems, later acquired by EMC, and eventually integrated into Dell Technologies. It is known for high scalability and support for big data workloads.

Isilon Systems was established in Seattle in 2001 by Sujal Patel and Paul Mikesell to address the difficulty of managing rapidly expanding collections of unstructured digital information. Its approach combined server-like storage nodes with a clustered file system so that customers could scale a shared storage environment without managing every appliance as a separate system. The company targeted digital-content producers and other industries whose data consisted largely of files rather than structured database records. The technical foundation of the platform was OneFS, an operating system derived from FreeBSD. OneFS coordinated storage nodes as a single distributed resource, providing a unified namespace and allowing files to be accessed through standard enterprise protocols. A cluster generally required three or more nodes, and capacity and performance could be expanded by adding nodes. Data protection used distributed techniques, including Reed–Solomon-based erasure coding, to spread data and parity across the cluster. This design supported resilience while making the storage pool appear as one file system to applications and users. Isilon became publicly traded on December 16, 2006. By that stage, it used both a direct field-sales organization and a channel program involving more than 100 resellers and distributors. Its customer base included organizations such as NBC Universal, Cedars-Sinai, Kelman Technologies and Kodak. The company’s early public-market performance was disappointing, and executive changes followed. Chief executive Steve Goldman and chief financial officer Stu Fuhlendorf departed, while co-founder Sujal Patel returned to the company as chief executive in October 2007. In April 2008, Isilon disclosed revenue-recognition events from the prior management period to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several previously submitted 2006 and 2007 earnings reports were revised, and the company introduced a new revenue-recognition policy. These events became a significant part of Isilon’s corporate history because they occurred while the company was attempting to establish a record of sustained profitability. EMC acquired Isilon Systems in November 2010 for approximately $2.25 billion. EMC presented the acquisition as a way to strengthen its storage infrastructure for private and public clouds and for large-scale data-intensive workloads. Examples cited in connection with the platform included gene sequencing, online streaming and oil-and-gas seismic analysis. After the transaction, Isilon remained a recognizable product family within EMC’s storage portfolio, with the technology serving customers in media, entertainment, technology, financial and other sectors. The EMC product strategy expanded the platform from a clustered hardware appliance into a broader data-management environment. OneFS continued to provide the core operating layer, while CloudPools supported movement of data between primary storage and cloud or other tiers. IsilonSD Edge offered a software-defined form of the platform for remote or smaller sites. EMC also linked Isilon to data-lake and Hadoop initiatives. Support for HDFS allowed analytics frameworks to process files held on the storage system, and EMC’s relationship with Cloudera was intended to make Hadoop-based analytics more accessible to existing Isilon customers. In 2017, Dell EMC introduced systems using the Infinity architecture. The design emphasized higher input/output operations, throughput, capacity and physical density, while allowing customers to update selected components without replacing an entire node. The product line subsequently moved toward the PowerScale identity. OneFS 9.0, released in June 2020, marked the beginning of the PowerScale moniker. Under Dell Technologies, PowerScale represents the continuation of the Isilon architecture and software heritage. The historical Isilon brand therefore remains important as the origin of a platform now positioned as Dell Technologies’ scale-out file and unstructured-data storage offering.

1. 2020PowerScale branding begins

   The release of OneFS 9.0 is accompanied by the adoption of the PowerScale name for the product family.

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2. 2017Infinity architecture is introduced

   Dell EMC introduces a new Isilon system architecture with greater claimed throughput, IOPS, capacity density and modular upgradeability.

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3. 2015Edge, cloud and availability additions are announced

   EMC announces IsilonSD Edge, CloudPools and OneFS high-availability improvements for its data-lake strategy.

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4. 2010EMC acquires Isilon Systems

   EMC completes the acquisition of Isilon Systems in November for approximately $2.25 billion.

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5. 2008Financial reports are revised

   Isilon discloses revenue-recognition concerns and revises reports covering portions of 2006 and 2007.

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6. 2007Sujal Patel returns as chief executive

   The co-founder returns to lead the company after weak initial public-company performance and senior-management departures.

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7. 2006Isilon Systems becomes publicly traded

   The company begins public trading on December 16 and expands its combination of direct sales and channel distribution.

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8. 2001Isilon Systems is founded

   Sujal Patel and Paul Mikesell establish Isilon Systems in Seattle to develop clustered storage for digital content and other unstructured data.

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Enterprise scale-out file storage for organizations with rapidly growing volumes of unstructured data. The platform emphasizes a single expandable namespace, clustered performance, simplified administration, multi-protocol access, data protection and integration with analytics and cloud-storage workflows.

• OneFSClustered storage operating system

  OneFS is the FreeBSD-derived operating system at the core of Isilon and PowerScale systems. It joins independent nodes into one logical storage resource, coordinates data and metadata across the cluster, and provides a unified namespace. OneFS supports NFS, SMB, FTP and HDFS access, together with distributed protection, management, high availability and scale-out expansion.

• Isilon clustered storage systemsScale-out NAS hardware

  Isilon systems are built from three or more integrated storage nodes connected through a cluster network. Each node contributes processing, memory, networking and storage resources to a shared file system. The architecture is intended for large unstructured-data repositories and can be expanded by adding nodes rather than replacing the complete system.

• IsilonSD EdgeSoftware-defined storage2015

  IsilonSD Edge was announced as a scaled-down, software-based Isilon offering for remote locations and smaller deployments. It extended the platform’s clustered-storage concept beyond the main appliance portfolio and was positioned as part of EMC’s edge-to-core-to-cloud data-lake strategy.

• CloudPoolsCloud data-management software2015

  CloudPools is an Isilon software capability designed to move or tier data between the primary Isilon file system and cloud or other storage resources. It formed part of EMC’s effort to connect scale-out NAS repositories with cloud migration and broader data-lifecycle workflows.

• Infinity architectureStorage-system architecture2017

  Infinity architecture was introduced for a new generation of Isilon systems in 2017. Its design increased drive density and supported modular upgrades to components such as processing and storage, allowing customers to refresh parts of a system without replacing the entire node platform.

• PowerScaleScale-out file and NAS platform2020

  PowerScale is the current Dell Technologies branding associated with the Isilon technology lineage. Beginning with OneFS 9.0 in 2020, Dell EMC increasingly used PowerScale to describe the scale-out storage family, while retaining OneFS as its core software foundation.

• 2020Adoption of the PowerScale brandOther

  Dell EMC was consolidating its modern scale-out storage portfolio while continuing the OneFS software and Isilon architecture.

  What changed. With OneFS 9.0, the product family began using the PowerScale moniker.

  Aftermath. PowerScale became the principal current brand associated with the Isilon technology lineage.

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• 2017Move to Infinity architectureGeneration change

  Isilon needed to increase performance and density while preserving the platform’s scale-out and modular-upgrade model.

  What changed. Dell EMC introduced Isilon systems based on Infinity architecture, with higher claimed IOPS, throughput and capacity and support for component-level upgrades.

  Aftermath. The new generation reduced physical footprint and allowed customers to refresh selected system components as technology evolved.

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• 2015Expansion toward edge, core and cloud data lakesStrategy

  EMC was positioning Isilon as a platform for large data lakes and wanted to address storage requirements beyond the primary data center.

  What changed. EMC announced IsilonSD Edge, CloudPools and OneFS high-availability improvements.

  Aftermath. The portfolio was broadened to cover remote deployments, cloud migration and highly available scale-out storage.

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• 2010EMC acquires Isilon SystemsM&A

  EMC sought to strengthen its storage infrastructure portfolio for cloud environments and large-scale unstructured-data workloads.

  What changed. EMC acquired Isilon Systems in November for approximately $2.25 billion.

  Aftermath. Isilon technology became a distinct scale-out NAS family within EMC and later formed the technical lineage of Dell Technologies PowerScale.

  Acquisition value. Approximately $2.25 billion (November 2010)

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• 2008Revenue-recognition disclosure and financial restatementControversy

  Isilon reported questionable revenue-recognition events associated with its previous management regime to the SEC. It revised portions of its 2006 and 2007 financial reporting and introduced a revised revenue-recognition policy.

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• 2020Isilon technology begins transition to the PowerScale name

  With OneFS 9.0, Dell EMC began using the PowerScale designation for the product family, continuing the OneFS and scale-out storage technology lineage.

  Product generation
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• 2017Dell EMC introduces Isilon systems based on Infinity architecture

  The new architecture increased claimed performance, capacity and drive density while allowing modular upgrades to storage and processing components.

  Product launchProduct generation
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• 2015EMC expands the Isilon portfolio with edge and cloud capabilities

  EMC announced IsilonSD Edge, CloudPools and OneFS high-availability enhancements as part of a data-lake strategy spanning edge, core and cloud environments.

  Product launch
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• 2010EMC agrees to acquire Isilon Systems

  EMC acquired Isilon Systems in November, bringing its scale-out NAS technology into EMC’s storage portfolio.

  M&A
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• 2007Founder returns as Isilon chief executive

  Following weak initial performance as a public company and the departure of senior executives, co-founder Sujal Patel returned to lead Isilon Systems.

  Leadership change
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• 2006Isilon Systems becomes a public company

  Isilon Systems began public trading on December 16, expanding its sales model through direct field representatives and a channel network of more than 100 resellers and distributors.

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1. Dell EMC Isilon