As many current customers who own one or more of our Compellent Storage Center array solutions knows, Dell's Enterprise Solution Group does quite a bit of testing around their storage products. For several years - with our EqualLogic Peer Storage array solutions - we have been very open about providing important information that customers and partners can - and should - use as part of their SAN planning process. Dell TechCenter has been the "Go To" site for whitepapers, configuration guides, and other great technical content about Dell Storage products.
Today, we are applying that same policy towards some of our Storage Center products. As of today, you can now view the list of tested components for our Compellent Storage Center arrays. This list, previously only available to existing Compellent customers via the Customer Portal, and Dell sales partners via the Partner Portal, is now available on Dell TechCenter.
So, what kind of information can you find in the Compatibility Matrix?
At a high level, you can find the following:
- An description of how the Compatibility Matrix can affect Dell's CoPilot support for your storage solution
- A list of switches that have been tested with SC Series arrays
- Switch FW versions tested
- Corresponding array FW versions that were tested
- HBA's / CNA's and Software initiators that have been tested with various host operating systems
- A list of switches that have been tested with the Fluid FS based FS8600
Why is this list important?
While Dell supports any standards based SAN component, we can't test all of them...there are just too many HBAs, CNA, switches, operating systems, etc. So, by building your SAN with components that Dell has specifically listed - i.e. components we have specifically tested - you can be assured that your SAN will have a greater chance of successful implementation and that Dell will have the knowledge and experience to provide top-notch support...not that we don't already do this. 
Is this a Support List?
No! Dell's Storage Center array solutions are built around industry standards. As long as a SAN component adheres to these standards, it should work fine. Dell will provide support to any Compellent customer, whether the SAN consists of only listed components or not. That being said, experience with unlisted components can be limited. We may not know how to optimize the component for best performance, we may have to work with the vendor to resolve some issues, and there may be those rare times where there is a true compatibility issue that either Dell or the component vendor will need to address in a future product update, BUT Dell's CoPilot support team is top notch and always provides the best care possible to their customers...and they will do so for all of our customers...fear not!
If you have any questions, or recommendations, please feel free to comment on this blog post or on the document WIKI page...I will review all of your comments and respond in a timely fashion.
The Compellent Compatibility Matrix is available for your enjoyment!