Fusion-io Claims 2X Compression to ioMemory Flash Without Affecting Performance

Fusion-io, Inc. announced NVM Compression, a flash-aware interface that can double the useable capacity of ioMemory flash while eliminating the performance impact associated with disk-era compression algorithms commonly used with flash SSDs.

When integrated with the Atomic Writes interface, NVM Compression also delivers 4x more flash endurance by streamlining commands to optimize databases for persistent flash memory architectures.

The ioMemory platform and software defined storage solutions accelerate virtualization, databases, cloud computing, big data and performance applications. From e-commerce retailers to the world’s social media leaders and Fortune Global 500 companies, customers are improving the performance and efficiency of their data centers with Fusion-io technology to accelerate the critical applications of the information economy.

“From each email we send to every song we listen to online, databases manage our ever-expanding information that must be processed and stored,” said Monty Widenius, creator of MariaDB. “The NVM Compression interface introduced by Fusion-io emphasizes how flash architected as a memory for application acceleration goes far beyond the capabilities of SSDs. The results MariaDB saw in testing NVM Compression were astounding, and it’s very exciting to deliver new innovation in flash-aware database performance with Fusion-io.“

“Solutions like the flash-aware NVM Compression and Atomic Writes interfaces integrate powerful software-defined features that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of modern IT architectures, making flash an even more essential addition to the data center,” said Eric Burgener, research director for IDC’s storage practice. “While much of the rest of the industry is looking at flash as a replacement for disk, these flash aware interfaces emphasize how Fusion-io is architecting flash as a replacement for memory.“

With traditional disk storage, data compression hinders database performance. Testing conducted by MariaDB database developer SkySQL showed that using the NVM Compression interface with the Fusion-io nonvolatile memory file system (NVMFS) doubled the useable capacity of the ioMemory server flash available to the database without affecting performance. As NVM Compression reduces undesirable write amplification, testing of longer workloads demonstrated that the MariaDB database featuring NVM Compression became even faster than the traditional uncompressed database.

“Database compression provides the valuable ability to store more information in a limited storage capacity and reduces TCO of database management systems,” said Peter Zaitsev, Percona CEO and co-founder. “We recognize Fusion-io’s continued leadership in providing hardware level storage optimization for databases and leverage that expertise when possible. We integrated both the flash-aware NVM Compression interface and Atomic Writes into Percona Server to ensure maximum capacity as well as maximum performance when used with Fusion-io flash memory products. We see this as enabling Percona Server users to enjoy lower total ownership costs and enhanced performance.”

Unlike disk-era compression techniques, flash-optimized NVM Compression shares the vast majority of the application code with the traditional uncompressed database logic. By leveraging the underlying architecture of flash as a memory tier, NVM Compression reduces the complexity of storage engines, which allows for improved scalability and higher efficiency.

In addition, the interface of NVM Compression allows developers to introduce flash-aware compression to their applications using versatile workload-optimized compression algorithms. Once integrated into an application, NVM Compression enables developers to help enterprises scale their IT infrastructure to meet increasing data demands by effectively balancing storage efficiency with customer workload performance requirements.

“Flash-aware interfaces like NVM Compression and Atomic Writes underline the significant divide between flash as a memory and flash SSDs,” said Fusion-io CTO Pankaj Mehra. “The value of enterprise flash memory is maximized as a memory tier that enables unique optimizations for cloud computing, big data, in-memory databases and high volume transactions. Fusion-io is proud to collaborate with MariaDB and Percona to make these interfaces available to the businesses that use these databases every day.”

The NVM Compression and Atomic Writes interfaces are now in early access testing in MariaDB 10 and Percona 5.6. Fusion ioMemory platforms for MySQL database acceleration are available from server vendors including HP, Cisco, Dell, IBM, and Supermicro.

The NVM Compression interface and other flash-aware interfaces led by Fusion-io were being showcased at the Percona Live conference April 1-4, 2014.