Hyper-Converged ClusterBlock Architecture Introduced by DataON

DataON Storage, the storage division of Area Data Systems, Inc. and provider of hyper-converged appliances for Windows Server 2016; for enterprise applications, software-defined storage and Azure cloud environments, showcased a new IO/s record for Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct at Intel Developer Forum 2016 (IDF16).

Leveraging DataON Storage’s new Hyper-Converged Storage Appliance (HCSA) based on its ClusterBlock Architecture (CBA), and Intel Corp.‘s 3D NAND SSD-based technology running on the new NVMe interface, the demonstration yielded more than 2.4 million IO/s for Storage Spaces Direct software-defined storage capabilities.

Uncompromised in its single-purpose to support Microsoft environments, DataON Storage’s hyper-converged appliances allow IT administrators to build the ultimate software-defined Microsoft data center.

As part of IDF16, DataON Storage provided a first look at the key features of its new performance optimized hyper-converged appliances, based on its CBA, which included:

• Scale-out Services – CBA provides the ability to support Windows Server 2016, including its cloud-inspired infrastructure focus on scale-out services, as well as Storage Spaces Direct scale-out file system (SoFS) and Resilient File System (ReFS).
• Scale-up Appliances – The CBA provides additional scaling resources to each appliance in the form of 12Gb of SAS expansion JBODs. This is for supporting the data protection features of Windows Server 2016, such as Storage Replica.
• Improved Visibility and Management – The CBA delivers monitoring and management capabilities that expand upon the services provided by Windows Server 2012 and 2016.
   

“We are thrilled to demonstrate our industry leading IO/s performance at IDF16 with our new hyper-converged architecture,” said Howard Lo, VP sales and marketing, DataON. “DataON Storage and Intel continue to leverage our long-standing relationship to deliver next-generation solutions, such as our industry-leading storage performance on Intel’s 3D NAND-based SSDs. We look forward to further expanding our relationship with Intel with our official introduction into the Intel Solution Builder program.”

For IT organizations that have committed to Windows Server environments for their enterprise applications, their Hyper-V virtualization and Azure cloud environments will benefit from this collaboration between DataON and Intel. This collaboration enables massive scale-out services for private, hybrid and public cloud environments, while minimizing the time to deploy new IT services, maximizing I/O scalability, ensuring application availability and delivery of service-level agreements, as well as simplifying the management of Storage Spaces Direct.
 
“IT Brand Pulse believes DataON Storage’s new ClusterBlock Architecture solves key ease-of-use, scalability and performance challenges in deploying Microsoft environments,” said Frank Berry, senior analyst and founder, IT Brand Pulse. “As we move towards Windows 2016 and Azure cloud each will place new demands on networking and storage performance that required improved data protections and DR services, optimized networking with RDMA for SMB3 and faster application performance via NVMe based SSD.”

“DataON Storage and Intel’s demonstration of over 2.4M IO/s on Windows Server 2016 Storage Spaces, using NVMe connected SSDs is a milestone in the in the evolution of Microsoft’s Hyper-Converged platforms for enterprise, storage and cloud environments,” said Shaun Walsh principal analyst and managing partner, G2M Research, “We think the singular focus of DataON Storage’s optimizing Hyper-Converged platforms for Windows 2016 and Azure deployments could make them a default choice for Hyper-V, S2D and Azure.”

The joint demonstration will be shown in the Intel Pavilion at IDF16 in San Francisco, CA from August. 16-18, 2016 at the Moscone Convention Center.

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