NetApp Unveils Flash Accel

With storage capacity requirements increasing at exponential rates, flash memory continues to gain popularity as a complement to traditional HDD storage. Its ability to break through the input/output latency barrier – a key inhibitor to fast and scalable applications – makes an efficient and flexible flash strategy a critical part of an agile data infrastructure. From their server to their back-end storage, cost- and performance-conscious system architects must balance how flash is used within their organizations to maximize application performance, minimize rising IT costs, preserve HA, protect data, and simplify management.

NetApp, Inc. extended its Virtual Storage Tiering (VST) strategy by introducing NetApp Flash Accel, expanded its Technology Alliance Program to include server caching hardware and software partners, and unveiled a reseller relationship with Fusion-io. This strategy update to VST enables end-to-end storage management for customers with physical and virtualized environments, from the user-accessible flash memory on the server to the cost-effective HDD storage on the back end. Flash Accel will be on display at the NetApp booth at VMworld San Francisco on August 26-30.

VST also creates new opportunities for partners to develop technologies that integrate with the capabilities of Data ONTAP software. Through Data ONTAP and other VST innovations such as NetApp Flash Cache and NetApp Flash Pool, IT administrators can now manage server-level, controller-level, and disk-level flash memory and back-end HDD storage usage within a single data management infrastructure. This lets them meet service levels and gain storage efficiencies by enabling the right storage media to be used at the right time for the right data.

Flash Accel Can Accelerate Application Performance
by Up to 90% by Turning Server Flash
into ‘Hot’ Data Storage
Flash Accel can speed application performance by turning server-side flash into a cache for storing ‘hot,’ frequently accessed data. NetApp testing shows that by storing up to 2TB of hot data in server flash memory, application and server latency can be reduced by up to 90% and IOPS are increased by 80%. And, by off-loading ‘hot’ IOPS at the server, Flash Accel helps reduce demand on back-end FAS storage.

As part of a VST strategy, server caching delivers:

• Application and Server Performance Acceleration: Accelerates enterprise applications and server performance by as much as 90% by deploying server cache on virtual machines.
• Data Integrity and Reliability: Coordinates with Data ONTAP back-end platforms so that a persistent copy of all data is always stored on the back-end Data ONTAP platform, benefiting from the HA and data protection of Data ONTAP; relies on the HA and data protection of Data ONTAP.
• Coherency and Integration with Data ONTAP: End-to-end data coherency issues are identified and resolved, enabling deployment of high-confidence solutions.
• Broad Use Case Coverage: Customers can deploy solutions over a range of applications and operating environments using validated partner solutions.
• Flexibility: Validated solutions provide flexibility, allowing customers to deploy any server caching solutions (software and hardware) that have been validated.

In addition to the above,
Flash Accel has these features:

• Flexibility at the Server Level: Provides the freedom to choose any server PCI-e flash card or SSD flash device.
• End-to-End Intelligent Data Coherency: Addresses data coherency issues that can cause data corruption using automated and efficient data coherency detection and correction software technology.
• Cache Persistency and Durability: Preserves cache content consistently with applications in the event of server and VM reboot and crashes so that cache restarts in a warm state; enables consistently high performance.

NetApp Expands Alliance Partner Ecosystem
to Include Server-Caching Partners
Reinforcing its commitment to enabling an open partner ecosystem for intelligent caching, NetApp is expanding its Alliance Partner Program to embrace hardware and software server-caching partners looking to develop solutions with NetApp. Partners can submit and qualify server-caching solutions as ‘NetApp validated’ in accordance with established criteria for coherence and integration with Data ONTAP and Flash Accel. Among the first partners to submit server-caching solutions for qualification are Fusion-io, LSI, Micron, SanDisk Enterprise Storage Solutions, STEC, and Virident.

NetApp, together with its partners, will provide a wide coverage for its customers’ infrastructures as they deploy server-side caching to deliver increased ROI. This will include the support for different hypervisors and OS. Validated solutions will enable quick deployment of partner-specific innovations in the evolving server flash and caching market.

Technology Reseller Agreement with Fusion-io
As part of its commitment to providing customers with a single source for VST technologies, NetApp has entered into a resale agreement with Fusion-io, Inc. It will resell Fusion-io ioMemory platform products and two server caching software products: ioTurbine for virtualized environments and Direct Cache for non-virtualized environments.

Revlon Looks to Flash Accel
to Run Applications at Peak Performance
In recent years, global cosmetics company Revlon has undergone an IT transformation: a move to a completely virtualized environment that enables Revlon IT to deliver more services faster, better, and cheaper. It now has more than 530 applications running on its private cloud, which supports more than 15,000 automated application moves a month and 14,000 transactions a second. To keep its applications running at performance, Revlon requires rapid access to data across the SAN. In collaboration with NetApp, Revlon has been testing Flash Accel to reduce latency, improve server and storage performance, and simplify storage management.

"Revlon and NetApp share the vision that storage is a critical foundation for a virtualized agile data infrastructure," said David Giambruno, SVP and CIO, Revlon. "Currently, Revlon has more than 530 and counting business-critical applications, including SAP, multiple enterprise databases, multiple ERP and MRP systems, financials, warehouse management, Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SharePoint, and virtual desktops, running on VMware virtual machines. To ensure that these applications run at peak performance requires an approach to storage that minimizes the latency between operations. We’ve been testing Flash Accel from NetApp and have already seen considerable efficiency and performance gains from our applications that for our business means that our scientists and marketers have greater access to the data that drives the creation and sales of our glamorous products."

Tim Russell, VP and GM, Data Lifecycle Ecosystem Group, NetApp, said: "Creating an agile data infrastructure depends heavily on anticipating and managing application performance needs. NetApp Flash Accel and caching products from our partners add a persistent and durable storage layer on the server, which, when used as part of our Virtual Storage Tiering approach, leads to the automatic management of data from storage to the application based on affinity and workload. This results in dramatic application and server performance boosts that will accelerate how business is conducted using virtualized environments."

Neil Carson, CTO and EVP, Fusion-io, said: "NetApp’s open approach to partnering with industry leaders through its Technology Alliance Program will provide customers with efficient solutions that will enable them to achieve performance gains with Fusion-io software and hardware at a fraction of the cost of legacy systems. NetApp’s innovative approach to Flash with VST, combined with software like Fusion ioTurbine or directCache software and Fusion ioMemory hardware, uniquely enables IT administrators to scale performance on demand in response to ever-changing business requirements."

Gary Smerdon, SVP and GM, Accelerated Solutions Division, LSI Corporation, said: "Server side flash-based caching for application acceleration is one of the most exciting and compelling trends in IT today. As a leading provider of server-based acceleration solutions with our extensive Nytro product portfolio of PCIe Flash card solutions, LSI is pleased to be working with NetApp and their Flash Accel server caching software to deliver dramatic application acceleration improvements for customers’ data-intensive workloads and mission-critical datacenter applications."

Greg Goetz, VP and GM, SanDisk Corp.‘s Enterprise Storage Solutions, said: "Collaborating with NetApp allows us to work together to provide Flash memory-based solutions that optimize storage performance and address the problem of I/O latency in the server. Combining NetApp products and our FlashSoft software will deliver significant improvements in application performance and VM density."

Ali Zadeh, corporate SVP, CMO and GM, STEC, Inc., said: "STEC, like NetApp, is committed to delivering intelligent, efficient, high-performance hardware and software solutions to the enterprise storage market. Our SSD-caching software extends this commitment by fully supporting NetApp’s VST and server-caching initiatives which will enable greater cohesion between virtualized enterprise storage systems and host-based applications. As a member of the Alliance Partner Program, STEC looks forward to further advancing SSD technology in NetApp environments and accelerating enterprise storage across an ever-increasing range of applications."

Availability
Flash Accel will be available in December 2012. Fusion-io products resold by NetApp are available.

Video on Flash Accel