LSI PCIe SSD Solution Demos at One Million IO/s

LSI Corporation has achieved 1 million random read input/output operations per second (IOPS) using a 4K block size in a PCIe-based solid-state storage (SSS) performance demonstration running in a single server. The demo showcases the improved price-to-performance ratio, lower power consumption and increased storage density offered by new LSI PCIe SSS cards compared to storage solutions utilizing hard disk drives (HDDs).

               LSISSS6200

Offering high performance with low latency and a low CPU burden, the small form factor, the small form factor LSISSS6200 PCIe SSS cards are designed to maximize transactional I/O performance for applications such as Web serving, data warehousing, data mining, online transaction processing and high-performance computing. The cards utilize industry-standard and widely deployed LSI SAS software for easy system integration and management and a faster time to market.

"The demonstration of 1 million random IOPS with a low-profile, low-power PCIe-based solution is a significant performance milestone for solid-state storage technologies," said Jeff Janukowicz, research manager, Hard Disk Drive Components and Solid State Drives at IDC. "Achieving this level of performance in a single server will enable new and compelling system and application acceleration usage models for end users in environments where performance is the top priority."

One million IOPS was achieved using six LSISSS6200 PCIe SSS cards in a single white box server running two Intel Xeon 5590 processors. Each LSI small form factor card plugs into a single PCIe 2.0 slot with no additional power required. To achieve equal performance on an IOPS basis utilizing HDDs would require 2,500 drives, three racks of storage and consume nearly 320 times the power. In addition to significantly lower ongoing operational expenses, the reduced infrastructure requirements of the PCIe SSS-based example can translate to a 10X acquisition cost savings compared to the HDD-based example. SSS and HDD solutions are complementary, with each applicable to specific use cases.

"Card-based solid-state storage solutions enable very high performance for system and application acceleration," said Robin Wagner, senior director of outbound marketing, Storage Components Division, LSI. "By building the new LSISSS6200 cards upon the industry’s most widely deployed SAS software stack, LSI will be able to offer OEM customers an enterprise-ready, plug-and-play storage solution for market segments requiring extreme performance."

LSI brings decades of experience in the design, manufacture and support of enterprise-level storage products for critical applications. Bringing the proven engineering capabilities and global scale of LSI to the development of PCIe SSS solutions will help pave the way to market segment maturity and broad enterprise adoption.

LSI will offered 1 million IOPS performance demonstrations utilizing PCIe SSS cards to press and industry analysts in a hosted suite at Storage Networking World Spring 2010.

LSI, along with experts from HP, IBM, NetApp and Seagate, participated in a solid-state storage panel discussion at Storage Networking World. The panel was moderated by industry analyst Jeff Janukowicz of IDC and examined solid-state deployment models and how the technology will fundamentally change enterprise IT architectures.