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Overview
The PowerVault ME5012 is an entry-level block storage array designed for SAN (Storage Area Network) and DAS (Direct Attached Storage) environments. It delivers a balance of simplicity, performance, and affordability for small-to-medium businesses or IT environments needing scalable, reliable storage. It comes with all-inclusive software capabilities and supports seamless expansion through compatible enclosures.
The base unit is a 2U rackmount chassis with 12 internal drive bays (3.5" form factor with support for 2.5" via carriers) and dual-active controller architecture. It is ideal for workloads such as virtualization, databases, backup/archiving, VDI, and general mixed I/O environments.
Key Features
- Dual-active controller architecture for high availability
- All-inclusive software (no extra licensing for core features)
- Support for multiple connectivity protocols (e.g. SAS, iSCSI, Fibre Channel)
- 12 Gb/s SAS backend for expansion and drive connectivity
- Flexible drive support: can be configured as all-flash, hybrid, or HDD-only
- Auto-tiering, SSD read cache, thin provisioning, snapshots, replication
- Integration with Dell tools: PowerVault Manager (HTML5 GUI), CLI, REST (Redfish/Swordfish) APIs
- SupportAssist for proactive system health monitoring
- LDAP integration, firmware update management, performance metrics & alerts
- Capacity scaling via expansion enclosures (ME412, ME424, ME484)
- Broad host and operating system compatibility (Windows, Linux, VMware, etc.)
- RAID options: RAID 1, 5, 6, 10 or ADAPT RAID
Specifications
Category
Specification
Form Factor
2U rackmount base chassis
Drive Bays
12 × 3.5" bays (supports 2.5" drives via carrier)
Supported Media
HDD (NLSAS, 7.2 K rpm), SAS 10K, SSD (various enterprise types)
Backend Interface
12 Gb/s SAS
Controllers
Dual-active controller design
Controller Memory
16 GB per controller (typical)
Connectivity / Host Interfaces
10 Gb iSCSI, 25 Gb iSCSI, 12 Gb SAS, 16/32 Gb Fibre Channel (depending on configuration)
Scalability / Expansion
Up to 9 × 2U expansion enclosures (ME412/ME424) or up to 3 × 5U dense enclosures (ME484)
Maximum Raw Capacity
Up to ~8 PB (with expansion enclosures)
Physical Dimensions (Base Unit)
Height: ~8.79 cm (3.46 in), Width: ~48.30 cm (19.01 in), Depth: ~61.87 cm (24.36 in)
Weight
Up to ~32.0 kg fully populated; ~4.8 kg without drives
Power / Cooling
580 W redundant supplies, ~1980 BTU thermal output
Operating Conditions
Temperature: 5 °C – 35 °C; Humidity: 8% to 85% (non-condensing)
Interfaces & Protocols
SAS (internal), iSCSI, Fibre Channel; supports asynchronous replication
Software / Features
ADAPT RAID, auto-tiering, snapshots, thin provisioning, SSD read cache, replication, alerting, performance stats, firmware update management
Management Tools
PowerVault Manager (HTML5 GUI), CLI, REST API (Redfish/Swordfish), vCenter plugin, scripting
Supported Hosts / OS
Windows Server, Red Hat, SUSE, VMware ESXi / vCenter, Citrix XenServer, etc.
Warranty / Service Options
Base warranty with optional extended support levels (on-site, mission-critical, etc.)
