Digital Transformation

A Match Made On-premises: Dell Technologies and AWS EKS Anywhere

Dell Technologies and AWS announce support for AWS EKS Anywhere on award-winning VxRail and PowerStore platforms.
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Dell Technologies and Amazon today announced that Amazon EKS Anywhere has been validated on Dell VxRail hyperconverged infrastructure and Dell PowerStore storage systems. EKS Anywhere is a new deployment option for Amazon EKS that enables customers to easily create and operate Kubernetes clusters on-premises while allowing for easy connectivity and portability to public cloud environments.

Dell Technologies collaborates with a broad ecosystem of public cloud providers to help our customers support multi-cloud environments that help place the right data and applications where it makes the most sense for them. Deploying EKS Anywhere on Dell Technologies infrastructure streamlines application development and delivery by allowing organizations to easily create and manage on premises Kubernetes clusters.

Across nearly all industries, IT organizations are moving to a more developer-oriented model that requires automated processes, rapid resource delivery and reliable infrastructure. In order to drive operational simplicity through Kubernetes orchestration, Amazon EKS Anywhere helps customers to automate cluster management, reduce support costs, and eliminate the redundant effort of using multiple open source or 3rd party tools for operating Kubernetes clusters. Dell infrastructure intelligence and automation streamlines operations, reducing downtime by 92% and making IT infrastructure teams over 68% more efficient.¹ The combination of automated Kubernetes cluster management with intelligent, automated infrastructure is truly a match made on-premises allowing IT organizations to provide infrastructure as code and empower their DevOps teams to be the innovation engine for their businesses.

Today’s announcement includes certification of two infrastructure configurations based on our fully curated and turnkey VxRail hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) system. The VxRail advantage is based on our unique VxRail HCI System Software which provides end to end orchestration and automation for all day to day operations and single click, full HCI stack lifecycle management for ease of operations. Customers can easily run traditional and cloud native apps on their VxRail deployments, eliminating the potential of DevOps silos. As the only HCI system jointly engineered with VMware, VxRail is the ideal platform for EKS Anywhere, which utilizes VMware vSphere to run VM-based Kubernetes clusters.

Amazon EKS Anywhere has been validated on VxRail with vSAN persistent block and file storage and our VxRail dynamic nodes have been validated to run with our groundbreaking Dell PowerStore scalable all flash, intelligent and adaptable storage platform for primary, persistent block storage. Customers will enjoy the incredible compute performance, storage flexibility and ease of operations of Dell Technologies infrastructure and the flexibility of the EKS managed service.

Workflow of VxRail with vSAN and vSphere in Amazon EKS
Diagram 1: Amazon EKS Anywhere on Dell VxRail cluster using vSAN for block and file storage. VxRail with vSAN configuration, using First Class Disks (FCD) on vSAN block storage and vSAN file shares storage.
Diagram showing workflow of VxRail and Dell PowerStore with Amazon EKS.
Diagram 2: Amazon EKS Anywhere on Dell VxRail dynamic node cluster using PowerStore for block storage. VxRail dynamic nodes with PowerStore configuration, using First Class Disks (FCD) deployed onto VMFS datastores made from PowerStore block storage volumes.

In each of the two validated infrastructure configurations, VMware Cloud Native Storage and its corresponding Kubernetes CSI driver are used. The CSI driver is leveraged by DevOps and platform teams to deliver dynamic and automated provisioning capabilities of EKS Anywhere Persistent Storage Volumes utilizing native Kubernetes APIs, enabling infrastructure as code operations.

VMware Cloud Native Storage in vSphere and vSAN enables customers to adopt a consistent operating model for cloud native storage with support for any vanilla Kubernetes distribution, all on their choice of underlying infrastructure architecture. In both VxRail configurations, DevOps and platform teams benefit from the same consistent operational experience that empowers them to innovate and deliver value for their organization.

Our work with Amazon reinforces the importance of on-premises infrastructure and Kubernetes orchestration integration in driving the future of IT. Customers can run their Kubernetes orchestration in the public cloud or on premises through a single console with EKS Anywhere, while at the same time having the reliability, security, ease of operations and global support that only Dell Technologies infrastructure can offer. At Dell Technologies, we are committed to transforming businesses and shaping the future of innovation and look forward to collaborating with AWS now and in the future on additional infrastructure platforms to make this vision a reality.

Additional information on EKS Anywhere can be found in today’s announcement blog. For additional details on Dell VxRail, visit DellTechnologies.com/VxRail and for more on Dell PowerStore, visit DellTechnologies.com/PowerStore.

1 IDC White Paper: The Business Value of Dell VxRail and VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell VxRail. November 2020.

About the Author: Chad Dunn

Chad Dunn is a seasoned technology executive with over 17 years of experience at Dell Technologies, where he currently serves as the Vice President of Product Management for Artificial Intelligence and Data Management. In this role, Chad leads a dynamic team responsible for defining and delivering cutting-edge AI solutions that cater to a wide range of applications, including generative AI, model training, digital assistants, content and code generation, and data virtualization. His leadership in this domain is helping drive innovation in AI across Dell's global customer base. Previously, Chad held the position of Vice President of Product Management for Dell APEX, where he played a pivotal role in transforming Dell’s portfolio through cloud-like consumption models, subscription services, and as-a-service offerings. He also drove the development of the APEX Console, enabling customers to seamlessly manage their infrastructure across multi-hybrid cloud environments. Earlier in his career, Chad led the product management efforts for Dell’s Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI), Converged Infrastructure (CI), and Software Defined Storage (SDS) product lines. Under his leadership, these product lines grew to an impressive $4B run rate, with flagship offerings like VxRail, PowerFlex, Microsoft Azure Stack Hub, and VxBlock. Prior to joining Dell, Chad held various senior roles at innovative companies such as TAZZ Networks, Invento Networks, WaveSmith Networks, and Ciena, where he specialized in product marketing, product management, and driving early-stage technology solutions. Chad is known for his strategic vision, deep expertise in AI, cloud computing, and infrastructure technologies, and his ability to guide products from concept to market success. He is based in Boston, Massachusetts, where he continues to push the boundaries of what technology can achieve in today’s rapidly evolving landscape.