Kaminario With K2 v5.5 All-Flash Primary Storage Array at $1/GB

Kaminario Technologies, Ltd. unveiled its K2 v5.5 all-flash primary storage array.

K2 drops the average cost/GB usable less than $1/GB and introduces deployment of 3D TLC drives, building on the company’s earlier K2 and offering a more cost-effective and scalable all-flash array to enterprises. Company’s new system includes native array-based replication and the company’s Perpetual Array program, enabling customers to phase in new hardware and phase out old to deliver on the evolving needs of enterprise storage.

“Flash is being adopted rapidly in the data center, and enterprises need all-flash systems that will keep costs down and simplify day-to-day operations, as well as deliver flash performance,” said Tim Stammers, senior analyst, 451 Research. “Kaminario’s new option for 3D TLC flash, native array-based replication and its promised average price of less than $1/GB usable creates an advanced, scalable storage system at a very competitive price.“

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Fully scalable all-flash storage for under $1/GB usable
The K2 offers an average price of under $1/GB usable, slicing cost/GB in half from v5 introduced in May 2014. In addition, Kaminario customers will continue to be guaranteed effective capacity; if a customer is unable to store the capacity that is guaranteed, they will receive additional hardware at no expense to expand their system and fulfill that guarantee. K2 keeps pricing simple and transparent, allowing customers to now reap more benefits from K2 at costs 40-46% lower than the competition.

“At BlackLine, we require a storage solution that will continue to enhance data performance while delivering strong TCO and ROI benefits for our business,” said Alain Avakian, CTO, BlackLine, Inc., a provider of finance controls and automation software. “The K2’s newly-reduced price point of sub-$1/GB usable will allow us to accelerate the implementation of a true all-flash data center. Not only will we continue to benefit from the simplicity, scalability and performance of Kaminario’s unique architecture, but we will also reduce the data center footprint required for storage as we scale.“

3D TLC SSDs cut cooling costs, reduce footprints and boost innovation
The first vendor to offer 3D MLC NAND, the company offers high-capacity and data center-ready 3D TLC SSDs with the new K2, allowing enterprises to double effective capacity to more than 360TB per K-block and scale one K2 array to multiple petabytes in a single rack unit while providing consistent performance. Customers can expect higher data endurance and increased scalability, and therefore the ability to move all active data to all-flash arrays. And because K2 is optimized for writing to SSDs and includes advanced inline data reduction, it ensures 3D TLC technology is risk-free in delivering true enterprise flash endurance and functionality. The company will also continue to provide its Flash Endurance Booster, a seven-year warranty on all drives.

Native replication: grow as you go and maintain focus on core business
The K2 features native array-based asynchronous replication, based on K2’s native and mature snapshot capabilities, giving users instant benefits at both primary and DR sites. K2’s comprehensive DR scheme includes application-aware support, VMware Site Recovery Manager integration, a sub-minute recovery point objective (RPO) and sub-second RTO. K2’s integrated, simple-to-manage and cost-efficient replication comes at no extra charge, allowing customers to replicate data anywhere in the world across different K2 configurations, as well as benefit from easy DR testing and lossless failback without any impact on performance. With all-inclusive native replication at no extra cost and a new disruptive price, the company is the first vendor to enable customers to implement all-flash data centers at both production and DR sites.

Perpetual array: eliminate forklift upgrades and take control of storage future
The days of forklift storage upgrades and painful, expensive data migrations with the addition of a new platform are numbered. Company’s Perpetual Array program allows users to take control of their storage future by offering support for any and all hardware added. Named to reflect the always-on nature of company’s arrays, this program allows customers to mix and match different generations of technologies within the same K2 system. The Perpetual Array enables hardware expansion without downtime or forklift upgrades and allows customers to decommission hardware when the time is right. It also allows customers to start small and scale to petabytes of capacity while meeting tailored enterprise performance needs, all done under a single array. The program enables organizations to upgrade to newer generations of hardware while preserving and eventually retiring the old investment.

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“Our strategic partnership with Kaminario allows us to deliver an incredibly cost-efficient and innovative all-flash storage solution to our enterprise customers, one that scales to fit their evolving business needs,” said Tony Meisner, VP, sales, Avisolve, a technology reseller. “The addition to our portfolio of the new K2, with its sub-$1/GB price point and native asynchronous replication, enables our customers to deploy a cost-efficient and flexible storage solution. With Kaminario, complex and protected replication is possible with a few easy clicks, allowing organizations to focus on scaling their businesses easily and without high costs on production and DR sites.“

“In developing our transformative v5.5 all-flash array, we listened to our customers and kept a close eye on the market trends driving the evolution of the modern data center now and will through the next decade,” said Dani Golan, CEO, Kaminario. “The result is our best K2 yet; a truly dynamic and scalable storage system that allows any business to quickly, and extremely cost efficiently, expand its data center. Our new K2 makes all-flash storage lower cost than hybrid arrays.“

K2 v5.5 will be available in Q3 2015.

All new K2 features will also be made available for existing customers via a non-disruptive upgrade.