Use Cases for Data Orchestration for Dell
Introduction
Data Orchestration supports several distinct target use cases, and choosing the right configuration depends on what you're trying to accomplish: a recoverable backup copy, a long-term archive, a self-service archiving portal for end users, or an ongoing hybrid cloud data mobility workflow. This section walks through each use case at a "when to use this" level — for configuration steps, see Managing the Solution.
Synced Backup Copy (Single Version)
Use this when you need a synced backup copy of file data in object storage, with a single (most recent) version of each file. File modifications overwrite the previous object version, deleted files are either synced as deletions or retained (with deletes disabled), and no S3 object expiry is set. A full copy is followed by an ongoing incremental schedule driven by the PowerScale change list and snapshots. This use case favors near-line storage tiers, since the assumption is that recall/restore speed matters and only one version of each file needs to be retained.
Requires: Golden Copy Backup Bundle & Adv license and Pipeline license subscription, or Data Orchestration TB subscription.
Synced Backup Copy (Versioned)
Use this when you need the same synced backup behavior as above, but with multiple retained versions of each file, using S3 bucket versioning. You configure how many versions of a file to retain — for example, a daily incremental with 7 retained versions provides a 7-day restore window, with the oldest version automatically purged as new versions are added. Restore supports version-aware recall, letting you recall the version of a file closest to (older or newer than) a specific date. Versions consume additional storage equal to the file size of each retained version, so object retention/expiry is generally not used alongside versioning.
Requires: Golden Copy Backup Bundle & Adv license and Pipeline license subscription, or Data Orchestration TB subscription.
One-Time Copy for Long-Term Storage or Archive
Use this when you need a full, one-time copy of a path moved to long-term object storage — for example, project close-out, compliance retention, or infrequently accessed data. This use case assumes a low probability of needing to recall the data, and supports optional object lock retention and tiering to lower-cost storage classes for long-term retention.
Requires: Golden Copy Backup Bundle & Adv license and Pipeline license subscription, or Data Orchestration TB subscription.
Data Archiving by User Portal or Age Policy
Use this when end users or administrators need self-service control over what gets archived, rather than a purely administrator-driven backup schedule. This use case provides an end-user web portal for self-service archive and recall to cloud or on-premises object storage (respecting SMB-level security so users only see data they're authorized to access), plus administrator-defined age-based policies that automatically archive aging data. It also supports storage-tier cost transparency and pricing estimation for cloud archive tiers, helping build the business case for archiving cold data.
Requires: Golden Copy Archive Engine subscription license.
Data Shuffle Workflow
Use this for "just in time" storage scenarios where newly created data needs to move off primary storage quickly to free up on-premises capacity — for example, ingest workflows that generate large volumes of data that only need to live on primary storage briefly before further cloud-based analytics or long-term archive. This use case detects newly created files and moves them to object storage based on age criteria, reducing on-premises storage costs for cold data while preserving it for compliance retention or cloud analytics.
Requires: Golden Copy Backup Bundle & Adv license and Pipeline license subscription, or Data Orchestration TB subscription.
Advanced Hybrid Cloud Workflows
Use this when data needs to move in both directions — from on-premises storage to object storage, and from object storage back to on-premises file shares — on a schedule or in response to newly created or changed data. This is the most flexible use case category and includes:
- Bi-directional data movement between object storage and file systems, automated through the Pipeline feature set.
- End-user cloud data mobility through the Cloud Browser for Data Mobility portal, which gives users a single interface to see and move data between cloud and on-premises repositories, without exposing data they aren't authorized to see.
- Data separation via SMB security, allowing administrators to offer a self-service cloud on-ramp for business processes that create or copy data to the cloud, without manually handling each data-movement request.
This use case category is well suited to media and creative workflows, distributed teams, and any environment where storage administrators want to reduce the volume of manual data-movement requests they handle, while retaining full auditing and traceability of what moved, when, and by whom.
Requires: Golden Copy Backup Bundle & Adv license and Pipeline license subscription, or Data Orchestration TB subscription.
Additional Solution Scenarios
Beyond the core use cases above, Data Orchestration also supports more specialized solution patterns, including cloud-based disaster recovery for applications (to Azure or AWS S3/FSx), immutable/zero-trust backup using Azure Blob or Dell ECS Object Lock, bulk data loading and recall using services like AWS Snowball and Azure Data Box, cost-driven archiving of aging data by file list, cloud or on-premises cyber vault configurations built on S3 object storage, and document management workflows. These scenarios build on the same core capabilities described above, applied to a specific target platform or compliance requirement.
See Also
- Concept – What Data Orchestration is and the terminology used throughout this documentation.
- Pre-Requisites – Platform, licensing, and infrastructure requirements.
- Design Guide – Architecture and performance planning.