05
Tue, Nov
5 New Articles

Are Solid-State Drives Moving from the Laptop to the Enterprise?

Analysis of News Events
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

Several companies believe SSD technology is ready for mission-critical data.

 

Those handy little flash drives are as common today as floppies used to be, and laptops, such as the recently announced 17-inch Apple MacBook Pro, are offering optional, if a bit pricey, 256 GB solid-state drives (SSDs). So when will SSDs be ready for enterprise computing? Turns out they are already here.

 

Limited write cycles, drive size, higher cost per gigabyte of solid-state drives compared to conventional hard drives, and even the inability of today's operating systems to properly manage them have all slowed the introduction of SSDs. However, SSD prices are coming down by about 50 percent a year while their capacity is doubling in the same period of time.

 

Earlier this month, Hewlett-Packard announced the HP StorageWorks IO Accelerator, an enterprise flash drive especially designed to attach to a blade server. The IO Accelerator is offered in three sizes: 80GB, 160GB, and 320GB. The drive serves over 100,000 IOPS and up to 800MB/s in bandwidth. IBM offers a line of new SSDs on select blade servers that it says offer higher reliability, durability, and power savings over conventional drives. The SATA-based drivers are in the realm of 15GB. At this year's CeBIT conference and exhibition in Germany, OCZ was reported to have demonstrated a 1TB flash SSD drive that uses the PCI Express x8 interface. The drive had a minimum read speed of 654MB/s and a maximum read speed of 712MB/s.

 

Not all SSDs are alike, and some are designed to last longer than others. Their inherent weakness is that they break down over time from the repeated data write and erase process. While this characteristic is dependent to some extent on their design, it can be managed and reduced in other ways--for example, by writing data evenly across the entire drive (called wear leveling). Windows 7, now in beta, will include features that make reading and writing data to SSDs more efficient and cause less wear and tear to the drive.

 

Pillar Data Systems is an eight-year-old San Jose-based company that develops storage systems for midsize and enterprise organizations. The Pillar Axiom solutions are among the most efficient storage systems on the market, according to the company, which claims they cut the total cost of storage by half compared to other solutions. The company announced this week that it is introducing SSD technology into its Pillar Axiom storage system.

 

"In support of Pillar's promise to drive innovation and help customers maximize ROI, we're making SSD technology affordable," said Mike Workman, CEO and chairman of Pillar Data Systems." Workman says that recent tests show that Pillar Axiom has become "the most efficient, best-performing storage system in its class." In a recent SPC-1 Benchmark test, Workman says that Pillar Axiom came out in first place in overall performance and price/performance among similarly priced and configured products from EMC, IBM, and NetApp. The company's products compete against those from EMC, IBM, NetApp, Hitachi Data Systems, 3PAR, Isilon, BlueArc, and Compellent in the midrange storage hardware industry.

 

The firm, which today has about 500 employees, was founded by Workman, former vice president of the Storage Systems Division at IBM. Workman holds both a PhD and an MS in electrical engineering from Stanford and a BS degree, also in electrical engineering, from U.C. Berkeley. Pillar Data Systems is funded by Tako Ventures, LLC, the venture arm of Larry Ellison, CEO and founder of Oracle.

 

The company's claim to fame is that it allows companies to simplify data management by consolidating storage into one storage pool. Its platform unites both SAN and NAS environments and enables the management of tiered storage on a single platform. Axiom supports any combination of iSCSI SAN, Fibre Channel SAN, and NAS, according to the firm. It offers what it calls "application-aware" storage systems that differentiate services based on application priority. Users can match multiple application characteristics to the appropriate service levels within a single storage platform.

 

One of the inherent problems in using SSDs for enterprise storage is that, while having very fast, nonvolatile storage available would seem an advantage, being able to exploit it is another matter altogether. There are few tools that easily allow an administrator to make sure the most performance-sensitive, mission-critical data reside on the SSDs. What the Pillar Axiom system does is allow administrators to prioritize data. They define the type of application and its value to the business through a menu, and the system automatically tunes itself to deliver differentiated storage service levels, based on the business priority of each application. Those storage service levels include determining which drive type--SSD, Fibre Channel, or SATA--will be used to write the data on.

 

According to Joseph Unsworth, research director at Gartner Inc., there are performance benefits when SSDs are properly managed, but that management has to be present. "When SSDs are managed and optimized properly, it is clear that they provide compelling performance benefits," he says. "In order to fully exploit the technology, users need something that will differentiate data type and tier it accordingly," he says.

 

According to Pillar Data, most storage systems today treat different drive types equally, and the benefits of SSDs are negated. Administrators might want to take a look at SSDs again, however, because they can do more than improve performance; they may also reduce energy use, depending on design. Low-capacity flash SSDs typically have low power consumption and emit little heat. High-end SSDs and DRAM-based SSDs, on the other hand, generally have considerably higher power requirements.

 

One of Pillar Data Systems' customers, Hilton Reading, vice president of IT and CIO of Skyservice Airlines, a Canadian charter airline, said, "We initially chose the Pillar Axiom over other storage systems because of its exceptional efficiency and price-performance advantage. Bringing SSD technology into the Axiom should significantly extend that proposition and provide the ability to maximize performance while slashing energy consumption."

 

Regardless of whether it's an IBM or HP SSD or Pillar Data Systems' advanced Axiom storage solution, it appears that SSDs are a significant trend and provide an alternative to electro-mechanical hard drives. Because of the low storage cost of today's hard drives, however, it may be quite awhile before today's drives are replaced by SSDs.

Chris Smith

Chris Smith was the Senior News Editor at MC Press Online from 2007 to 2012 and was responsible for the news content on the company's Web site. Chris has been writing about the IBM midrange industry since 1992 when he signed on with Duke Communications as West Coast Editor of News 3X/400. With a bachelor's from the University of California at Berkeley, where he majored in English and minored in Journalism, and a master's in Journalism from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Chris later studied computer programming and AS/400 operations at Long Beach City College. An award-winning writer with two Maggie Awards, four business books, and a collection of poetry to his credit, Chris began his newspaper career as a reporter in northern California, later worked as night city editor for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, and went on to edit a national cable television trade magazine. He was Communications Manager for McDonnell Douglas Corp. in Long Beach, Calif., before it merged with Boeing, and oversaw implementation of the company's first IBM desktop publishing system there. An editor for MC Press Online since 2007, Chris has authored some 300 articles on a broad range of topics surrounding the IBM midrange platform that have appeared in the company's eight industry-leading newsletters. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: