Hot off the press comes ObjectScale version 4.1 – a major release of Dell’s enterprise-grade object storage platform. As a foundational component of the Dell AI Data Platform, ObjectScale 4.1 delivers enhanced scalability, performance, and resilience that’s engineered to meet the evolving demands of AI-driven workloads and modern data ecosystems.
This release is available as a software upgrade for existing ECS and ObjectScale environments, and the core new features and functionality introduced in this ObjectScale 4.1 release include:
Storage Efficiency and Operational Experience
On the storage efficiency and operation experience front, ObjectScale 4.1 introduces support for multiple compression modes including LZ4, Zstandard, Deflate, and Snappy, configurable via both the UI and API. This flexibility allows admins to fine-tune compression strategies to balance performance, cost, and workload characteristics.
Post-upgrade to ObjectScale 4.1, the default algorithms are updated to LZ4 for AFA appliances (EXF900 and XF960) and Zstandard for HDD appliances (EX300, EX3000, EX500, EX5000, X560). Storage admins can change the algorithm at any time via the UI or API, based on workload or use case.
Improved garbage collection throughput enables faster reclamation of deleted capacity. Enhanced monitoring, alerting, and logging tools provide greater visibility into background processes, contributing to overall cluster stability.
An updated dashboard offers refined views of user, available, and reserved capacity. Automated alerts notify administrators when usage exceeds 90%, indicating a transition to Read-Only mode for the affected Virtual Data Center (VDC).
New port-level bandwidth controls for replication traffic allow for more predictable performance and optimized resource allocation across distributed environments.
Security and Data Protection
Within the security and data protection realm, ObjectScale now provides support for Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs) with local key management via Dell iDRAC. This ensures hardware-level encryption and secure, appliance-local key handling for enhanced data protection.
TLS 1.3, the latest version of the Transport Layer Security protocol, is also supported in ObjectScale 4.1. This upgrade delivers stronger encryption, faster handshakes, and the removal of legacy algorithms, improving both control and data path security.
Expanded Capabilities for Modern Workloads
ObjectScale 4.1 now offers up to 3x faster object listing performance in multi-VDC environments. This enhancement improves data browsing and discovery, with better handling of deleted metadata and validation of Untrusted Listing Keys.
Through webhook-based APIs, ObjectScale can now push real-time notifications to external applications when events such as object creation, deletion, or modification occur—enabling responsive, event-driven architectures.
Support for S3FS in 4.1 allows users to mount S3 buckets on Linux systems as local file systems. This simplifies access and management, particularly for legacy applications that rely on traditional file system operations.
On the integration front, ObjectScale 4.1 is compatible with the latest AWS SDK v2.29, so Java developers can immediately use new S3 features and performance fixes in their applications, and build cloud-native applications with full access to modern AWS features and APIs.
The following hardware platforms are supported by the new ObjectScale 4.1 release:
| Gen 2 systems | U480E, U400T, U400E, U4000, U400, U2800, U2000, D6200, D5600, D4500 |
| Gen 3 systems | EX3000, EX300, EXF900, EX5000, EX500 |
| Gen 4 systems | X560, XF960 |
Note that upgrading to ObjectScale 4.1 is only supported from ECS 3.8.x and 4.0.x releases.
In summary, ObjectScale 4.1 represents a strategic advancement in Dell’s commitment to delivering intelligent, secure, and scalable storage solutions for the AI era. Whether upgrading existing infrastructure or deploying new systems, this new 4.1 release empowers organizations to meet the challenges of data growth, complexity, and innovation with confidence.