Managing multiple networks for storage workloads on OpenShift is not optional: it is essential for performance and isolation. Dell PowerFlex , with its CSI driver, delivers dynamic storage provisioning, but multi-network setups require proper configuration.
This guide explains how to enable multi-network support for CSI PowerFlex on OpenShift, including prerequisites, network attachment definitions, and best practices for high availability.
PowerStore Metro enables active-active synchronous replication between two PowerStore clusters, delivering zero data loss (RPO 0) and continuous availability. Integrated with the Dell CSI driver, it brings high availability to Kubernetes applications that lack native HA by presenting a single Metro-replicated volume accessible from both sites.
Dell PowerScale is a scale-out NAS solution designed for high-performance, enterprise-grade file storage and multi-tenant environments. In multi-tenant environments, such as shared Kubernetes clusters, isolating workloads and data access is critical.
PowerScale addresses this need through Access Zones, which logically partition the cluster to enforce authentication boundaries, export rules, and quota policies. The Dell CSI driver maps Kubernetes StorageClass resources to specific Access Zones, providing per-tenant isolation at the storage layer.
This setup is particularly useful when multiple teams share a common PowerScale backend but require strict separation of data and access controls. This approach proved extremely valuable when building a GPU-as-a-Service AI Factory .
Co-authored with Parasar Kodati.
Dell CSI drivers for PowerStore, PowerMax, PowerFlex, and PowerScale have all been tested and are compatible with KubeVirt . This guide provides instructions for installing Dell CSI for PowerMax on Harvester , though the steps are very similar regardless of the storage backend.
Tested on :
Author(s): Pooja Prasannakumar & Florian Coulombel
Kubernetes is no longer just a container orchestrator. As organizations modernize infrastructure, there’s growing interest in using Kubernetes to manage virtual machines (VMs) alongside cloud-native workloads—while still meeting familiar expectations like disaster recovery (DR).
In this post, we’ll walk through a practical, GitOps-friendly DR approach for VMs running on Kubernetes using:
CAP_SYS_ADMIN Without Breaking StorageMany Kubernetes storage drivers still rely on the powerful—and notoriously over‑broad—Linux capability CAP_SYS_ADMIN to perform host‑level operations. While it enables critical actions like filesystem mounts, it also substantially expands the attack surface of your cluster.
This post explains why CSI node plugins often end up needing CAP_SYS_ADMIN, what breaks when you remove it, and several concrete hardening strategies using tools like seccomp, AppArmor, SELinux, and controlled privilege elevation.
Co-authored with Parasar Kodati.
The Dell CSM Kubernetes Operator packages the CSI driver and other storage services (Container Storage Modules) for observability, replication, authorization, and node resiliency. This single operator supports PowerFlex, PowerStore, PowerScale, and Unity platforms (see Support Matrix ). This post lays out best practices for deployment and lifecycle management of Dell CSMs.
With all the Dell Container Storage Interface (CSI) drivers and dependencies being open-source, anyone can tweak them to fit a specific use case. This post shows how to create a patched version of a Dell CSI Driver for PowerScale.
Co-authored with Sean Zhan.
Network connectivity is an essential part of any infrastructure architecture. When it comes to how Kubernetes connects to PowerScale, there are several options to configure the Container Storage Interface (CSI). This post covers the concepts and configuration you can implement.
To patch a Helm chart without modifying the template manually, you can combine Kustomize's patch transformer and Helm chart generator .