ESG Validates 1.35 Million IO/s for Violin Flash Memory Arrays

Violin Memory, Inc. announced Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) lab tests validating Violin’s ability to deliver 1.35 million IOPS for virtualized mixed workloads on VMware vSphere.

The test also showed these arrays can scale up to 10,000 virtual desktops using VMware View without restrictions.

"VMware and other server virtualization providers are looking to provide customers with economic value through consolidation," said Narayan Venkat, VP of products at Violin Memory. "While most workloads have been moved to a virtual server construct, mission- critical environments have lagged due to the randomization of the I/O that occurs with virtualization. The Violin Memory 6000 series solves this problem and breaks the I/O barrier, allowing for a 100% virtualized environment."

Legacy HDD-based storage systems cannot manage the performance and scalability required to virtualize business critical applications and desktops. Disk-based systems have slowed the pace of virtualization for enterprises who want a 100% virtualized datacenter. ESG validates the performance density and sustained low latency of the Violin Memory 6000 Series flash Memory Arrays, an impossible feat using disk. By supporting 10,000+ desktops through sustained low latency, even during load, the 6000 system enables large enterprise-wide VDI with a small storage footprint in the data center.

"Violin’s 6000 Series flash Memory Arrays delivered flawlessly under load in ESG Lab testing, providing over 1.35 million IOPS as well as supporting 10,000 desktops in a VDI setup," said Tony Palmer, senior engineer and analyst at ESG Lab. "The ability to do this in a 3U form factor is remarkable and enables enterprises to work toward new levels of consolidation resulting in impressive OPEX savings."

According to Mark Peters, senior analyst at ESG, "In an increasingly virtualized server world, solid-state storage technologies help address key challenges, such as the need to simultaneously deliver more random I/O and accessibility with ever-more capacity. As a result, it is crucial to apply efficiency just as judiciously to solid-state as to any other storage."

"Violin Memory’s all flash Memory Array looks to be targeting the heart of these challenges by providing massive IOPS with sustained low latency. As recent ESG Lab testing validated, Violin’s approach may represent an answer to what server virtualization efforts have been missing, allowing organizations to move to the next phase of their virtualization efforts and virtualize even more of their business critical applications," Peters continued.