Dell EMC Isilon

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Scale-out network-attached storage (NAS) product line under Dell EMC.

Last updated August 31, 2026

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Overview

Dell EMC Isilon is a scale-out NAS storage platform under Dell EMC, originally developed by Isilon Systems, later acquired by EMC, and eventually integrated into Dell Technologies. It is known for high scalability and support for big data workloads.

History

Isilon Systems was established in Seattle in 2001 by Sujal Patel and Paul Mikesell to address the difficulty of managing rapidly expanding collections of unstructured digital information. Its approach combined server-like storage nodes with a clustered file system so that customers could scale a shared storage environment without managing every appliance as a separate system. The company targeted digital-content producers and other industries whose data consisted largely of files rather than structured database records. The technical foundation of the platform was OneFS, an operating system derived from FreeBSD. OneFS coordinated storage nodes as a single distributed resource, providing a unified namespace and allowing files to be accessed through standard enterprise protocols. A cluster generally required three or more nodes, and capacity and performance could be expanded by adding nodes. Data protection used distributed techniques, including Reed–Solomon-based erasure coding, to spread data and parity across the cluster. This design supported resilience while making the storage pool appear as one file system to applications and users. Isilon became publicly traded on December 16, 2006. By that stage, it used both a direct field-sales organization and a channel program involving more than 100 resellers and distributors. Its customer base included organizations such as NBC Universal, Cedars-Sinai, Kelman Technologies and Kodak. The company’s early public-market performance was disappointing, and executive changes followed. Chief executive Steve Goldman and chief financial officer Stu Fuhlendorf departed, while co-founder Sujal Patel returned to the company as chief executive in October 2007. In April 2008, Isilon disclosed revenue-recognition events from the prior management period to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several previously submitted 2006 and 2007 earnings reports were revised, and the company introduced a new revenue-recognition policy. These events became a significant part of Isilon’s corporate history because they occurred while the company was attempting to establish a record of sustained profitability. EMC acquired Isilon Systems in November 2010 for approximately $2.25 billion. EMC presented the acquisition as a way to strengthen its storage infrastructure for private and public clouds and for large-scale data-intensive workloads. Examples cited in connection with the platform included gene sequencing, online streaming and oil-and-gas seismic analysis. After the transaction, Isilon remained a recognizable product family within EMC’s storage portfolio, with the technology serving customers in media, entertainment, technology, financial and other sectors. The EMC product strategy expanded the platform from a clustered hardware appliance into a broader data-management environment. OneFS continued to provide the core operating layer, while CloudPools supported movement of data between primary storage and cloud or other tiers. IsilonSD Edge offered a software-defined form of the platform for remote or smaller sites. EMC also linked Isilon to data-lake and Hadoop initiatives. Support for HDFS allowed analytics frameworks to process files held on the storage system, and EMC’s relationship with Cloudera was intended to make Hadoop-based analytics more accessible to existing Isilon customers. In 2017, Dell EMC introduced systems using the Infinity architecture. The design emphasized higher input/output operations, throughput, capacity and physical density, while allowing customers to update selected components without replacing an entire node. The product line subsequently moved toward the PowerScale identity. OneFS 9.0, released in June 2020, marked the beginning of the PowerScale moniker. Under Dell Technologies, PowerScale represents the continuation of the Isilon architecture and software heritage. The historical Isilon brand therefore remains important as the origin of a platform now positioned as Dell Technologies’ scale-out file and unstructured-data storage offering.

2020
PowerScale branding begins
[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
The release of OneFS 9.0 is accompanied by the adoption of the PowerScale name for the product family.
2017
Infinity architecture is introduced
[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
Dell EMC introduces a new Isilon system architecture with greater claimed throughput, IOPS, capacity density and modular upgradeability.
2015
Edge, cloud and availability additions are announced
[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
EMC announces IsilonSD Edge, CloudPools and OneFS high-availability improvements for its data-lake strategy.
2010
EMC acquires Isilon Systems
[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
EMC completes the acquisition of Isilon Systems in November for approximately $2.25 billion.
2008
Financial reports are revised
[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
Isilon discloses revenue-recognition concerns and revises reports covering portions of 2006 and 2007.
2007
Sujal Patel returns as chief executive
[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
The co-founder returns to lead the company after weak initial public-company performance and senior-management departures.
2006
Isilon Systems becomes publicly traded
[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
The company begins public trading on December 16 and expands its combination of direct sales and channel distribution.
2001
Isilon Systems is founded
[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
Sujal Patel and Paul Mikesell establish Isilon Systems in Seattle to develop clustered storage for digital content and other unstructured data.

Products and positioning

Enterprise scale-out file storage for organizations with rapidly growing volumes of unstructured data. The platform emphasizes a single expandable namespace, clustered performance, simplified administration, multi-protocol access, data protection and integration with analytics and cloud-storage workflows.

Clustered storage operating system
OneFS
OneFS is the FreeBSD-derived operating system at the core of Isilon and PowerScale systems. It joins independent nodes into one logical storage resource, coordinates data and metadata across the cluster, and provides a unified namespace. OneFS supports NFS, SMB, FTP and HDFS access, together with distributed protection, management, high availability and scale-out expansion.
Scale-out NAS hardware
Isilon clustered storage systems
Isilon systems are built from three or more integrated storage nodes connected through a cluster network. Each node contributes processing, memory, networking and storage resources to a shared file system. The architecture is intended for large unstructured-data repositories and can be expanded by adding nodes rather than replacing the complete system.
Software-defined storage · 2015
IsilonSD Edge
IsilonSD Edge was announced as a scaled-down, software-based Isilon offering for remote locations and smaller deployments. It extended the platform’s clustered-storage concept beyond the main appliance portfolio and was positioned as part of EMC’s edge-to-core-to-cloud data-lake strategy.
Cloud data-management software · 2015
CloudPools
CloudPools is an Isilon software capability designed to move or tier data between the primary Isilon file system and cloud or other storage resources. It formed part of EMC’s effort to connect scale-out NAS repositories with cloud migration and broader data-lifecycle workflows.
Storage-system architecture · 2017
Infinity architecture
Infinity architecture was introduced for a new generation of Isilon systems in 2017. Its design increased drive density and supported modular upgrades to components such as processing and storage, allowing customers to refresh parts of a system without replacing the entire node platform.
Scale-out file and NAS platform · 2020
PowerScale
PowerScale is the current Dell Technologies branding associated with the Isilon technology lineage. Beginning with OneFS 9.0 in 2020, Dell EMC increasingly used PowerScale to describe the scale-out storage family, while retaining OneFS as its core software foundation.

Controversies

2008
Revenue-recognition disclosure and financial restatement
Isilon reported questionable revenue-recognition events associated with its previous management regime to the SEC. It revised portions of its 2006 and 2007 financial reporting and introduced a revised revenue-recognition policy.
Source

2020
Adoption of the PowerScale brandOther
Background
Dell EMC was consolidating its modern scale-out storage portfolio while continuing the OneFS software and Isilon architecture.
Action taken
With OneFS 9.0, the product family began using the PowerScale moniker.
Aftermath
PowerScale became the principal current brand associated with the Isilon technology lineage.
Source
2017
Move to Infinity architectureGeneration change
Background
Isilon needed to increase performance and density while preserving the platform’s scale-out and modular-upgrade model.
Action taken
Dell EMC introduced Isilon systems based on Infinity architecture, with higher claimed IOPS, throughput and capacity and support for component-level upgrades.
Aftermath
The new generation reduced physical footprint and allowed customers to refresh selected system components as technology evolved.
Source
2015
Expansion toward edge, core and cloud data lakesStrategy
Background
EMC was positioning Isilon as a platform for large data lakes and wanted to address storage requirements beyond the primary data center.
Action taken
EMC announced IsilonSD Edge, CloudPools and OneFS high-availability improvements.
Aftermath
The portfolio was broadened to cover remote deployments, cloud migration and highly available scale-out storage.
Source
2010
EMC acquires Isilon SystemsM&A
Background
EMC sought to strengthen its storage infrastructure portfolio for cloud environments and large-scale unstructured-data workloads.
Action taken
EMC acquired Isilon Systems in November for approximately $2.25 billion.
Aftermath
Isilon technology became a distinct scale-out NAS family within EMC and later formed the technical lineage of Dell Technologies PowerScale.
Acquisition value. Approximately $2.25 billion (November 2010)
Source

Recent events

2020
Isilon technology begins transition to the PowerScale name[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
Product generation
With OneFS 9.0, Dell EMC began using the PowerScale designation for the product family, continuing the OneFS and scale-out storage technology lineage.
2017
Dell EMC introduces Isilon systems based on Infinity architecture[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
Product launch · Product generation
The new architecture increased claimed performance, capacity and drive density while allowing modular upgrades to storage and processing components.
2015
EMC expands the Isilon portfolio with edge and cloud capabilities[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
Product launch
EMC announced IsilonSD Edge, CloudPools and OneFS high-availability enhancements as part of a data-lake strategy spanning edge, core and cloud environments.
2010
EMC agrees to acquire Isilon Systems[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
M&A
EMC acquired Isilon Systems in November, bringing its scale-out NAS technology into EMC’s storage portfolio.
2007
Founder returns as Isilon chief executive[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
Leadership change
Following weak initial performance as a public company and the departure of senior executives, co-founder Sujal Patel returned to lead Isilon Systems.
2006
Isilon Systems becomes a public company[1]Dell EMC Isilonen.wikipedia.org
Other
Isilon Systems began public trading on December 16, expanding its sales model through direct field representatives and a channel network of more than 100 resellers and distributors.

Sources7 sources

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