Nimbus 2nd Gen of S-Class SSD System

Nimbus Data Systems, Inc. announced the general availability of its second generation S-Class series of flash memory storage systems.

The new line, which retains the S-Class designation, is three times faster than the original launched. In addition, the new S-Class supports 8 Gbps and 4 Gbps Fibre Channel and 40 Gbps QDR and 20 Gbps DDR Infiniband natively, in addition to the existing 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet support. This makes the new S-Class a versatile networkable flash memory system.

3x More Performance
The new S-Class incorporates Nimbus’ latest Enterprise Flash Modules, which take advantage of 6 Gbps SAS connectivity and a new higher-performance flash management processor. Combined with lower latency NAND silicon programming, these Enterprise Flash Modules incorporate wear-leveling algorithms to maximize flash durability in non-stop mission-critical installations. The new S-Class also features a new non-blocking internal midplane which is capable of providing full line-rate 6 Gbps performance to every flash module simultaneously. This architecture is superior to expander-based systems, which funnel IO into fewer and fewer lanes, limiting performance. Finally, the new S-Class gets more processor cores, from 8 to 12, to enable even faster data management services like deduplication and replication.

Fibre Channel and Infiniband Connectivity
In response to customer demand, Nimbus also broadened the networking capability of the S-Class by adding native Fibre Channel and Infiniband connectivity options. The new Fibre Channel IO modules provide dual 8 Gbps ports with SFP+ optics, and up to 4 IO modules can be added to the S-Class for a total of eight Fibre Channel ports. The new Infiniband modules provide dual QDR 40 Gbps ports accommodating QSFP style cabling, and up to 4 IO modules are supported for a total of eight Infiniband ports. Both the Fibre Channel and Infiniband connectivity are backward compatible to prior speed generations, including 2 and 4 Gbps FC and 20 Gbps DDR Infiniband.

Versatile Flash Memory System
With support for Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel and Infiniband, the Nimbus S-Class provides a range of network connectivity options. Furthermore, Nimbus HALO operating system, the software that powers the S-Class, features iSCSI, FC, SRP, NFS, and CIFS protocol support simultaneously, enabling complete unified SAN and NAS provisioning from one system. Multipathing and clustering is supported, for virtualization deployments and scale-out databases. The new connectivity also broadens the appeal of S-Class Flash Memory Storage into new markets, including HPC, financial services, and research institutions where low-latency networking is vital.