Dell EMC CX4-120 Features

DELL™|EMC® CX4-120

Bringing a new level of performance, flexibility, and resource utilisation to
enterprise-class storage

EntErprisE-CLass storagE

Dell/EMC CX series storage arrays have built a reputation for performance, ease of use, scalability,
flexibility, reliability, and investment protection since their initial launch in 2002. Now in their fourth
generation, the new CX4 arrays build on that reputation and are designed to greatly increase
performance and capacity from the previous generation. The CX4 series provides impressive
flexibility and investment protection with the introduction of new UltraFlexTM technology.

CX4-120

The Dell/EMC CX4-120 is the entry point to the CX family arrays and oers enterprise storage
features at an aordable cost. It is an ideal product for customers who require increased capacity
and modularity in a small but scalable footprint with enterprise-level data protection and high
availability.

ULtraFLEX tEChnoLogy

The CX4 series introduces UltraFlex technology that enables the user to customise the network
interconnect and number of ports needed to meet current and future storage requirements
The CX4-120 comes standard with both true end-to-end 4Gbit Fibre Channel and 1Gbit iSCSI
connectivity and can be expanded with additional FC or iSCSI ports, as well as new network
technologies, such as 8Gbit Fibre Channel and 10Gbit iSCSI, as they become available.

MassivE sCaLabiLity anD FLEXibiLity

The CX4-120 supports up to 120 hard drives, connects to as many as 128 highly available hosts
in a SAN, and has six UltraFlex I/O slots (three per controller) for connectivity customisation,
helping to provide investment protection for your enterprise storage needs. The CX4-120 consists
of a 2U storage processing enclosure (SPE), a 1U standby power supply (SPS), and 3U disk array
enclosures (DAEs), which contain up to 15 hard drives.

SIMPLIFY STORAGE AT DELL.COM/AP/EMC

FEATURES DELL|EMC CX4-120

Storage Capacity

Up to 48TB2 raw storage capacity with Fibre Channel drives;
Up to 120TB2 with high-capacity SATA drives

Scalability

Up to 120 drives in the storage array

Number of Storage
Processors

2 per array

System Cache

6GB

RAID Levels

RAID 0, 1, 1/0, 3, 5, and 6

Supported Servers

All dual and quad socket DellTM PowerEdgeTM servers;
Variety of Compaq®, HP®, IBM®, and SUN® servers as
validated by EMC

OS Support

Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server, Windows ServerTM 2003,
Windows ServerTM 2008, Linux®, SolarisTM, VMware®, AIX, HP-UX

Number of
Supported Hosts

Up to 6 FC and 2 iSCSI or 2 FC and 4 iSCSI direct attached
HA connected hosts;
Up to 128 SAN attached HA connected hosts

Front End
Connectivity
(Ports Per Array)

Base Ports:

Four 4Gbit Fibre Channel and Four 1Gbit iSCSI

Additional Optional Ports (UltraFlex I/O Modules):

Eight 4Gbit Fibre Channel or four 1Gbit iSCSI

Drive Interface

4Gbit Fibre Channel interface
Failover from each storage processor to both Fibre Channel
loops is possible

Drives Available

Fibre drives:

146GB2 15k RPM
300GB2 15k RPM
400GB2 10k RPM
450GB2 15k RPM

1

SATA II drives:

1TB2 7.2k RPM
1TB2 5.4k RPM

Available Software

EMC SnapViewTM, EMC MirrorViewTM, EMC Navisphere® Manager,
EMC Navisphere Analyzer,
EMC Navisphere Quality of Service Manager,
EMC PowerPath® (bundled), EMC SAN CopyTM, Virtual Provisioning,
Replication Manager Family, VMware®

Dimensions

Storage Processing Enclosure with Standby Power Supplies

Height: 5.25 in. (26.67 cm), 3 EIA units
Width: 17.5 in. (44.45 cm)
Depth: 24.25 in. (61.6 cm)
Weight: 99.5 lb. (45.4 kg) max.

4Gb Fibre Channel Point-to-Point Disk Array Expansion

Height: 5.25 in. (13.34 cm), 3 EIA units
Width: 17.72 in (45.0 cm)
Depth: 14.00 in. (35.56 cm)
Weight: 68 lb. (30.9 kg) max. configuration

EMC CX4-120/0808/NEW

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rEDUCE opErationaL Costs

Virtual provisioning1 enables the CX4-120
to allocate space only as it is needed by
hosts instead of setting up a large pool
of storage that goes unused. The result
is that fewer drives are required, helping
to reduce hardware costs, management
time and costs, and power consumption.

EnhanCED Data tiEring

With the addition of energy-ecient
SATA drives, new options for data tiering
are available for the CX4-120 that can
help reduce costs and maximise resource
utilisation. Data can be tiered on 15K RPM
FC, 10K RPM FC, 7.2K RPM SATA, and

5.4K RPM SATA drives within the same
storage array.

hELp rEDUCE powEr anD
CooLing Costs

Low-power SATA drives consume up to
32% less energy than standard 7.2K RPM
SATA drives.* In addition, the array uses
adaptive cooling where fans spin only as
fast as needed to keep it cool.

ManagE yoUr Data

With Dell/EMC storage arrays, you can
easily deploy, expand, and redeploy
storage. You can migrate data
seamlessly between dierent classes
of drives and RAID types to deliver the
optimal combination of performance
and availability. And with Virtual LUN
technology, data migration takes place
dynamically and eortlessly, helping
avoid disruption. Dell/EMC storage arrays
support the EMC data replication and
migration applications, Mirrorview™ and
SAN Copy™. These optional tools let you
remotely mirror data from one array to
another to help meet disaster recovery
goals or to simply move data across
arrays.

soLvE yoUr probLEMs

Dell/EMC storage arrays are integrated
into Dell’s Exchange®, SQL Server®, and
Oracle® solutions, which oer tested
and validated reference architectures to
help solve your messaging and database
challenges.

* Based on drive specifications. Actual power consumption will vary based on configuration, usage,

and manufacturing variability.

1

Virtual Provisioning/ 450GB 15k FC drive are expected to be available in Oct/Nov 2008. Date is

an estimate only and subject to delays.

2

For hard drives, one TB = one trillion bytes; one GB means 1 billion bytes. Actual capacity varies

with preloaded material and operating environment and will be less.