#Dell sells two all-flash storage platforms that target #VDI workloads: #DellEMC #Unity and Dell EMC #XtremIO #X2. Unity is a midrange storage platform for small to medium-sized businesses, and XtremIO is an enterprise-scale platform for organizations with large VDI deployments.
In May 2016, EMC introduced the Unity platform to replace its aging VNX systems. Several months later, Dell acquired EMC, and it has since expanded the Unity product line by adding four additional all-flash platforms: Unity 350F, 450F, 550F and 650F. These arrays are faster and more efficient, and they support larger capacities than either the VNX systems or the earlier Unity models.
Dell offers Unity in several forms. The first is the purpose-built physical platform, which you can configure with all-flash drives, or in a hybrid setup that includes a combination of flash and traditional hard disks. An all-flash storage system delivers the best performance because it offers higher I/O rates and submillisecond response times.
The second form is the Unity Virtual Storage Appliance (UnityVSA), a software-defined storage product for consolidating hardware resources. You can download and use the UnityVSA Community Edition for free, or you can go with the subscription-based Professional Edition, which includes technical support and can handle larger capacities. Both editions require that you install UnityVSA on a VMware ESXi host.
Unity also comes as part of a Dell EMC VxBlock System 350 or Vblock System 350 converged infrastructure. With this option, you can take advantage of the Unity all-flash storage system and get a package that simplifies your VDI implementation.
The Unity platform primarily targets VDI implementations with fewer than 500 virtual desktops, but you might be able to support up to 2,000 nonpersistent desktops -- as long as your VDI deployment stays nonpersistent. Persistent virtual desktops require significantly more storage.
