Proximal Data Enhancing AutoCache

Proximal Data, Inc., provider of hypervisor I/O intelligence software solutions, announced several enhancements to AutoCache, its hypervisor caching solution.

AutoCache removes I/O bottlenecks and improves VM density by two to three times to attain maximum performance for business-critical applications. AutoCache with I/O Intelligence turbocharges a small amount of flash to have a big impact on application performance.
 
Among AutoCache’s new features are the ability to fast load the cache quicker upon installation, the ability to pre-warm the cache upon vMotion of a particular VM, support for caching VM virtual disks stored on NFS or software iSCSI datastores, and integration with VMware ESXi 5.1, latest release of vSphere hypervisor.
 
AutoCache’s load caching algorithm fills the cache more quickly to improve performance faster upon initial boot or reboot. The caching adjusts over time to choose the most appropriate blocks or data files to fast load into cache.
 
AutoCache also offers a new feature to pre-warm cached data from the source host onto the destination host once a VMware vMotion event is detected. This provides vMotioned VMs with a head start on making critical data available faster on the target host.
 
In this release, Proximal Data has expanded AutoCache support to include software iSCSI and NFS datastores in addition to the FC and SAS block datastores previously supported. Support for VMware ESXi 5.1 is now included in addition to its support for ESXi 4.1 and 5.0. AutoCache’s hardware compatibility with flash devices has been expanded to include support for PCIe cards from LSI, Micron and Intel; SSDs from Micron and Intel; and PCIe cards and SSDs from other server vendors.
 
"We are always focused on developing additional ways that AutoCache can optimize I/O caching performance and also improve its manageability within the hypervisor environment," said Rory Bolt, CEO of Proximal Data. "With AutoCache, customers have a fast, efficient caching solution that optimizes VM data processing while minimizing system resource usage. The end result is accelerated performance for those applications that are critical to the businesses we serve, all done with a modest investment in Flash devices."
 
"Proximal Data has added impressive features to this latest version of AutoCache, specifically the fast load caching and the pre-warming of the VM metadata," said George Crump, president and founder of Storage Switzerland. "Customers should be expecting more from caching solutions. Fast load of the cache and cache pre-warming are excellent examples of how innovative vendors like Proximal Data are expanding the use case of server-side caching solutions."
 
AutoCache is an hypervisor I/O intelligence solution designed to increase VM density in virtualized servers and accelerate business application performance. With its I/O Intelligence, it automatically characterizes I/O in real time and dynamically places hot I/O into a local PCIe Flash card or SSD, and then intelligently supplies priority data traffic to VMs. AutoCache dynamically adjusts to changing workloads and will not impact HA processes such as vMotion. This simple solution is also a cost-effective way to take advantage of the performance benefits of enterprise flash, converting a modest flash investment into value.
 
Availability and Pricing
The AutoCache new version is available and offered via direct sales representatives and resellers, including CMT, Sanity Solutions, Condre and Allsystems. Pricing starts at $999 for flash cache sizes under 500GB.