Why Dell PowerScale’s intelligent data placement is critical for AI-era performance and efficiency

TL;DR

• Dell PowerScale simplifies data management for enterprises experimenting with AI
• Automation tools provide more intuitive cluster management to break down silos
• Intelligent storage tiering features enable smoother data flows for AI training and inference

Data is the lifeblood that fuels AI innovation, but ensuring seamless access to it is a key factor in the efficiency of the technology and its successful deployment.

The volume of data required to feed AI applications is growing significantly, placing significant pressure on traditional infrastructure. Indeed, analysis from IDC in late 2025 noted that spending on AI storage infrastructure has been “driven by the need to manage large datasets” required for AI models.

Similarly, storage capabilities for training datasets as well as repositories of data for inference are also driving huge enterprise investment on this front.

Storage is a foundational aspect of AI innovation, according to Omdia, and failing to address this and update infrastructure accordingly can have a huge detrimental effect on AI strategies.

A 2025 research paper from the consultancy warned that modern storage solutions are “essential for processing large AI models because it directly impacts the efficiency and speed of the entire workflow”.

With this in mind, enterprises seeking to capitalize on the generative AI boom and upgrade their storage capabilities need to opt for a trusted solution.

Dell PowerScale, for example, offers best-in-class capabilities on this front, particularly in crucial areas such as data management.

Powering AI with Dell PowerScale

Dell PowerScale is a scale-out NAS platform designed to streamline and simplify unstructured data management, with a particular focus on mid to large-sized enterprises.

The platform forms a key component within the broader Dell AI Data Platform ecosystem and aims to simplify data management for AI innovators. The platform is trusted by upwards of 25,000 customers globally, according to official Dell figures.

There are a number of notable built-in features, tools, and capabilities that separate Dell PowerScale from competitors and make it a go-to option for enterprises seeking to maximize the use of data in AI innovation.

The power of OneFS

OneFS is the operating system that underpins Dell PowerScale and is designed specifically to simplify data management processes for AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads.

By using OneFS, enterprises are able to consolidate their data within a single system, enabling them to eliminate troublesome silos that can hamper data flows.

This marks a step change from traditional storage models, combining multiple nodes into a single cluster while granting simultaneous access to file and object applications, making it a particularly versatile solution.

Data silos still remain a key inhibitor to AI innovation, according to research from IDC. Analysis from the consultancy in March 2026, for example, identified data silos as one of the “top barriers to scaling AI” across the enterprise alongside data quality and availability.

Notably, seven-in-ten IT leaders told IDC that data silos were one of their biggest challenges when it comes to AI adoption.

Intelligent data placement

The OneFS operating system offers users intelligent data placement features such as the ability to automatically move data between HDD, SSD, and NVMe storage tiers.

With OneFS, the data is placed based on the appropriate tier, such as NVMe for performance-sensitive workloads and high-capacity HDD for long-term data retention.

Notably, applications can still interact with a single file system, improving efficiency by reducing the need to scour disparate datasets.

Similarly, PowerScale also includes data reduction features: the service offers a 2:1 data reduction guarantee, helping to deliver up to 200% effective capacity efficiency improvements.

Combined, these capabilities help bolster efficiency and reduce the cost of storage.

“PowerScale’s Data Reduction Guarantee is tied to real infrastructure outcomes, covering both the software efficiency and the physical storage deployed,” says VP of product management for unstructured data solutions David Noy, in a blog post.

SmartPools

SmartPools are another key software capability with PowerScale, aimed at improving storage efficiency and data management practices through policy-based tiering.

This works by allowing users to “define the value of data” within specific workloads based on policies, aligning said data to the relevant price and performance tiers.

In this context, examples of policy triggers include a range of criteria, including:

• File age
• Location
• Owner
• Size
• Type

“Utilizing file-level granularity and control with automatic policies, you can tune performance and data layout, storage tier alignment, and protection settings - all without impact to your end-users,” Dell says.

“SmartPools aligns the business value of data with optimal storage performance and cost by optimized data placement, including flash, hybrid, archive, and cloud storage.”

Notably, SmartPools jobs run on a nightly basis, meaning that new policies can be applied to tier files on a rolling basis and based on changing requirements.

“Capacity and performance-based data placement provide even further granularity while improving storage efficiency,” the company notes.

What these features mean for users

PowerScale’s combination of intelligent data placement and intuitive automation features has tangible benefits in terms of performance and cost-efficiency for enterprises. They also come at a critical time for those experimenting with AI.

Many enterprises have moved on from early-stage training practices and are shifting to inference tasks. Research from McKinsey shows inference workloads will account for more than half of all AI workloads by 2030, and these workloads require far greater storage performance capabilities and flexibility.

PowerScale provides users with high throughput capabilities and low latency, enabling them to optimize performance. Combined with intelligent tiering features, this enables users to both store and retrieve data in a far more efficient manner.

Take the PowerScale F910, for example. This is the latest product in the all-flash lineup designed specifically for high-capacity AI-related workloads.

The F910 boasts 24 NVMe SSDs within each node, providing enterprises with between 92 terabytes and 2.9 petabytes per node, with a minimum and maximum of three and 252 nodes, respectively.

This, according to Dell, makes the F910 a viable option for organisations experimenting with data-intensive tasks such as AI training and inference.

Underpinned by OneFS and automation features, PowerScale’s simplicity also helps enterprises streamline data processing capabilities in AI-related activities.

By breaking down disparate silos and hosting data in a single cluster, this improves data flows and prevents bottlenecks that can seriously impact AI application performance.

Simply put, PowerScale has the potential to deliver faster training and inference cycles for enterprises experimenting with AI while simultaneously reducing the high storage costs associated with AI workloads.

If you think a PowerScale is the right storage solution for your business, find out more on the Dell website: US readers click here and CA readers here.