Dell today announced new disk, tape and management products designed to simplify storing, managing and protecting data for enterprises of all sizes. "Dell is setting the standard for making simplicity and affordability in the enterprise a reality by consistently delivering a comprehensive suite of products that match customer requirements," said Darren Thomas, general manager, storage and services, Dell Product Group. "Today's storage announcements are linked to that vision and demonstrate our commitment to deliver integrated server and storage systems that make storing, managing and protecting data easy and highly cost effective for businesses of all sizes." Dell's storage initiative spans a broad array of products including direct-attached storage (DAS), network-attached storage (NAS), storage area network (SAN) and tape. With the worldwide introduction of two new Dell Storage Servers, Dell is significantly enhancing its NAS portfolio. Optimized for file sharing, designs of both NAS products were designed on Dell's ninth generation of industry-standard PowerEdge 2900 and PowerEdge 2950 servers. To speed customer deployment time, Dell's Storage Servers offer simple installation with setup possible in as little as 15 minutes. For SAN environments, Dell is offering customers streamlined deployment and management capabilities by integrating Dell IT Assistant management software with EMC's Navisphere software. Customers now can manage Dell/EMC SAN environments very easily via a single management console. To address customers' requirements for excellent storage optimization, Dell is expanding disk drive technology on PowerVault D1000 DAS systems to include support for Serial ATA (SATA) II disk drives. This technology is available in addition to previously announced configurations supporting 3.5-inch Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drives. Dell is also meeting customers' needs for simple, automated data center backup by expanding its line of PowerVault ML6000 tape libraries with the PowerVault ML6030 control module (CM) and PowerVault ML6000 expansion module (EM). These modular tape products feature intelligence and self-diagnostic capabilities designed to ensure maximum system availability. Key Product Features and Benefits Dell Storage Servers -- Designed on the basis of Dell's PowerEdge 2900 and 2950 servers -- Can be pre-installed and pre-configured with Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 for simple installation and setup in as little as 15 minutes -- Advanced features such as Single Instance Storage (SIS) and excellent file replication features with distributed file system (DFS) for storage capacity optimization and simple branch office operations PowerVault MD1000 with SATA II disk drives -- Supports key customer applications including tiered storage, streaming media and disk-based backup and recovery -- Affordable option for customers needing to store a large amount of data on inexpensive disk storage PowerVault ML6030 CM, ML6000 EM -- ML6000 -- a family of modular, scaleable, building blocks with self aware intelligence for the data center or remote site locations -- ML6000 EM offers additional drive and cartridge capacity for any ML6000 solution -- ML6030 CM can scale up to 10 Fibre Channel or SCSI tape drives and 218 LTO-3 cartridges To deliver long-term investment protection, Dell provides a range of enterprise support services that help ensure storage systems consistently achieve optimum performance. Dell service professionals assist customers to help prevent problems before they happen, prepare for high-demand situations and provide a comprehensive approach to quick problem resolution. Additionally, Dell offers services to help customers in the assessment, design and implementation of storage products to enhance performance and maximize their investments. Pricing and Availability Dell's Storage Servers are available globally today starting around USD $2,980. The PowerVault MD1000 is also available this month starting around USD $4,500. Worldwide, customers can also purchase the PowerVault ML6030 CM starting around USD $36,000 and the PowerVault ML6000 EM starting around USD $13,000.