ESG Validates WhipTail SSD Array

WhipTail Tech announced that Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) has published a Lab Validation Report, WhipTail Tech Solid State Storage Array: Optimizing Solid State for Virtual Desktops.

This report is the result of ESG’s hands-on testing of WhipTail’s solid-state XLR8r solution and explores the benefits of the XLR8r, including cost-effective efficiency; write optimized high performance; LUN and done simplicity; and durable longevity and high availability.

"In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of organizations considering flash-based SSD solutions for data center storage. When ESG asked IT managers their reasons for assessing this option, improved performance topped the list, with 83% of respondents citing it as a consideration and 31% citing it as the most important consideration," said Brian Garrett, Vice President, ESG Lab. "Enter WhipTail’s XLR8r."

The WhipTail XLR8r is an SSD array that supports up to 12 TB of MLC flash in an industry standard rack-mounted 2U form factor. The XLR8r’s patent-pending design overcomes the write performance and longevity challenges typically associated with cost-effective MLC flash technology.

Key ESG Lab findings for WhipTail’s XLR8r:

• Cost effectiveness: Leveraging the affordability of commodity MLC flash technology and an intelligent architecture that writes faster than it reads, Whiptail’s XLR8r appliance is designed to cost effectively meet the demanding performance requirements of VDI. A single 2U WhipTail XLR8r appliance with an entry level price of less than $50,000 can be used to meet the demanding IO performance requirements of up to 3,787 heavy virtual desktop users.
• Write optimized high performance: The XLR8r appliance performs random writes faster than random reads – a valuable capability given the fact that MLC flash components write slower than they read. This capability is suited for a virtual desktop infrastructure as multiple users sharing a common desktop image flips IO from mostly random reads for a single user to mostly random writes for a mix of users.
• LUN and done: Ease of deployment and compatibility with existing applications minimizes management effort and cost. Configuring an XLR8r to accelerate the IO performance of VDI deployment is quick and easy. Ten minutes and three mouse clicks after powering on the XLR8r, new capacity was recognized by a server as a standard block device and ready for use in a VDI environment.
• Longevity: Advanced algorithms running within the XLR8r, combined with the continually improving advances in write leveling within flash components, extends the longevity of a WhipTail SSD solution. A heavily used system in the lab has a projected longevity of 12 years and a well-used system in the field is expected to last 22 years -well beyond the expected useful life of the IT infrastructure it supports.
• High availability: As business-critical virtual desktop, database, and e-mail deployments that rely on SSD solutions grow in size and complexity, so too do the chances of things going wrong. The redundant architecture of the WhipTail XLR8r solution can be used to create a self-healing high-performance SSD solution that never needs to be turned off.

"Dozens of organizations have come to rely on the high speed and reliability of XLR8r appliances to eliminate IO performance bottlenecks for a number of business critical applications including databases, e-mail, and VDI. ESG believes that this is a key strength and advantage compared to the plethora of SSD startups that have emerged recently," concluded Garrett. "The WhipTail team understands SSD application requirements and has years of experience supporting the latest MLC flash drives in production environments. If you’re planning a VDI deployment or you’ve run into an IO performance problem that can’t be met cost effectively with your existing disk array, ESG Lab recommends that you schedule a call with the SSD experts at WhipTail."

"ESG’s Lab Validation Report clearly defines the hurdles companies often find themselves up against when considering a VDI implementation and how WhipTail’s XLR8r allows our clients to clear those hurdles without taking a huge hit to the wallet," said Brian Feller, CMO and VP Strategic Alliances at WhipTail. "This report is invaluable in validating what we’ve been saying about the XLR8r all along – it provides companies with an incredibly high performing array at a dramatically lower ‘cost per IO.’ ESG’s lab results illustrate this element poignantly: Disk Is Dead for ‘hot-spot’ applications like VDI, and demanding databases."