Dell has announced a number of updates to its PowerStore storage platform for private cloud, including the introduction of 30TB QLC (quad-level cell) drives.

In a statement, the company said the advancements will make PowerStore “smarter, denser, and more secure.”

To help tackle rising energy costs and storage requirements, Dell said the 30TB QLC drive allows customers to store two petabytes of data in a 2U rack space, doubling the capacity per rack unit whilst also achieving up to 23 percent improved power efficiency, when compared to 3200Q appliances configured with 15TB QLC drives.

QLC flash storage is a capacity-optimized NAND memory technology that can lower the total cost of ownership for read-centric loads, providing increased capacity with the speed of all-flash.

Meanwhile, added support for NFSv4.2 (Network File System version 4.2) through features such as server-side copy and sparse files will help to reduce network traffic when moving or duplicating data and optimize capacity for virtual machines and databases. A new ‘Top Talkers’ feature will provide customers with insights into resource consumption and allow them to monitor metrics such as IOPS and bandwidth.

Finally, Dell said that enhanced cybersecurity capabilities, including sync and asynch replication over Fibre Channel for both block and workloads and file systems, will help to eliminate data loss and improve disaster recovery efforts.

DCD took a closer look at QLC storage and the shortages facing the storage market in the most recent issue of the DCD Magazine. You can read it here.