EMC Corporation, (Hopkinton, Mass.) is giving its competition a definite challenge by making data storage more user friendly with its latest new offering. This new development is the first since the announcement of Dell’s proposed buyout last October.
The DSSD D5 flash storage box can now be directly plugged into a data center’s server rack—for servers with Hadoop or other analytics. This creates a convenient shortcut from the data storage base to the data processing arena, thus speeding up the process of managing massive storage and humongous processing power.
The advantage of flash storage, compared to using traditional disk drives, is, of course, speed. However, there is a drawback. Speed costs money. (The main advantage of hard disk storage is its cost.) Yet EMC and other vendors say the cost differential is getting better.
EMC was actually slow getting on board the flash storage train, getting “up-to-speed” in 2012 (whereas a new kid on the block, Pure Storage, and others began in 2009). In 2012 EMC bought Xtrem10, the market leader in disk-based storage. Right on the heels of this acquisition, EMC brought out its flash storage products. The result? A billion dollars in total sales!
Now the DSSD D5 Flash Storage box enters the scene!
When EMC bought DSSD, DSSD wanted to align fast storage with new applications. The result was the DSSD D5. The direct connection to the server rack is the magic formula, enabling the flash storage to be shared with no less than 48 servers in a single rack. We’re talking about speed! Speed is important because of the large amount of data in huge workloads which must be stored quickly.
The conduit between the flash drive and the server that makes the difference is the PCle connection; that is, the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express. The benefit is increased performance, because this particular entity cuts “wait time” to 100 microseconds and achieves IOPS (input/output per second) of 10 million.
So it makes for a great marriage, combining the latest in flash storage to lightning-fast connections to servers. The mushrooming of ever-increasing data is the motivation to make quantum leaps in managing every phase of data storage, processing, and distribution.
Even with its latest accomplishments, EMC is not resting on its laurels. EMC apparently knows it will have to stay on its toes and keep up the momentum. Nipping at its heels are young new companies (such as Pure Storage and Nimble Storage) as well as older traditional institutions, such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. All these companies, old and new, are claiming and striving to be in the vanguard in flash storage development.
This may be what EMC had in mind when it recently announced development of a new product – an all-flash version of the VMAX storage array, something that will definitely be a hot new item for large companies. They describe this event in their trend toward leading the field as groundbreaking and revolutionary. EMC announces this milestone as the means to making optimal use of all flash drive technology.
Katrina features an ”Ask Katrina” video series on YouTube in a addition to being a product specialist with Rack Solutions