The NetApp Virtual Storage Tier optimizes the use of flash on the server through intelligent caching to improve the performance and efficiency of shared storage infrastructure. With the new Flash Accel, NetApp is extending the Virtual Storage Tier strategy to the server to provide caching of random read operations for virtual server infrastructure that leverage the performance of any server PCIe or SSD drive.
The NetApp Virtual Storage Tier optimizes the use of flash on the server through intelligent caching to improve the performance and efficiency of shared storage infrastructure. With the new Flash Accel, NetApp is extending the Virtual Storage Tier strategy to the server to provide caching of random read operations for virtual server infrastructure that leverage the performance of any server PCIe or SSD drive.
New server cache solutions based on Flash Accel from NetApp and its partners create a persistent storage layer in flash, which allows the automatic management of data from storage to the application based on affinity and workload. Flash Accel enables read caching for selected virtual machines with specific support for VMware vSphere 5.0 and 5.1, NetApp Virtual Storage Console, and Microsoft Windows 2003 and 2008 guest OS.
NetApp Flash Accel can speed application performance by turning server-side flash into a cache for storing frequently accessed “hot” data. According to NetApp’s benchmarks, storing up to 2TB of hot data in server Flash memory can reduce application and server latency up to 90% and IOPS are increased by 80%. Flash Accel 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.
NetApp Alliance Partner Program Announcements
NetApp has also announced additions to its Alliance Partner Program to embrace hardware and software server-caching partners, including Fusion-io, LSI, Micron, SanDisk Enterprise Storage Solutions, STEC, and Virident. NetApp has entered into a resale agreement to resell Fusion-io ioMemory platform products and two server caching software products: ioTurbine for virtualized environments and Direct Cache for non-virtualized environments.
Availability
Flash Accel will be available in December 2012. Fusion-io products being resold by NetApp are available now.
