IT/Datacenter & Super Computing - Page 7

Samsung has formally announced their purchase of Proximal Data for their innovative server-side caching software. As enterprise SSD manufacturers continue to mature we have witnessed a string of acquisitions of various caching companies. Caching technology provides HDD capacity and the speed of flash, and also provide companies with a clear differentiator for their products. Samsung originally purchased NVELO in 2012, and their caching solution was quickly merged into Samsung's client offerings as RAPID caching technology.

Proximal Data is geared for virtualized environments. Their award-winning AutoCache software embeds I/O intelligence inside the hypervisor to cache hot I/O onto server-side flash. It's intelligent and selective caching removes the I/O bottleneck and improves VM density and efficiency. As with all caching software your mileage may vary, but typical AutoCache implementations sport 2x to 3x performance improvements.

Pairing easy-to-deploy software with leading hardware is key to attracting many of today's datacenter customers. Many administrators struggle with the best method to deploy cache, and value-added software offerings are becoming the deciding factor for many. Pairing AutoCache software with Samsung's high-performance SSD offerings, such as the XS1715 we tested recently, can provide transparent acceleration for virtualized environments. As always, jump over to our IT/Datacenter section to take a look at our recent competitive performance analysis of Samsung enterprise SSD products against their competitors.

MRAM has the ability to fundamentally change the way we use memory by combining the speed and endurance of DRAM with the data storage characteristics of NAND. ST-MRAM (Spin-Torque Magnetoresistive Random-Access Memory) retains data without power, which removes the need for complex capacitor arrangements and the associated firmware enhancements. MRAM has already been used in small quantities as data buffers in some cutting-edge SSDs and other applications. In spite of billions of dollars in research by several industry heavyweights, Everspin Technologies is the only company in full commercial production with MRAM.

The only thing holding MRAM back from wider acceptance is density. Higher density allows for wider application and also reduces cost. Everspin has over 600 patents and has been in production for over five years at their own facilities, but bringing Global Foundries in as a manufacturing partner is sure to speed advancements in the technology. Global Foundries will initially produce ST-MRAM on 300mm CMOS wafers with a 40nm lithography, but plans are already in place to move to a 28nm process soon, underlining the accelerated advance of ST-MRAM products. Other competitors are falling further behind Everspin at this point, with other manufacturers slated to begin production of MRAM in 2018.

As always, the leading edge of memory technology usually occurs in the enterprise space. With mass adoption of MRAM we can expect to see this technology utilized in everything from desktop computers to tablets, mobile phones, and essentially any device that currently utilizes RAM memory. We have had several opportunities to set down with Everspin on camera to discuss the future of MRAM, and those interviews can be found in our IT/Datacenter section.

Lite-ON is launching their latest line of enterprise SSDs at Dell World 2014. The new EP1 Series leverages the M.2 connection with 4 lanes of PCIe 2.0 speed. The EP1 series is designed for the enterprise space and features power loss protection to guard against data loss during unsafe shutdowns. The new modules can cram up to 1TB of fast storage onto a relatively tiny M.2 form factor SSD, yet still deliver incredible performance. The EP1 series SSDs will top out at 150,000 4k read IOPS, and 44,000 write IOPS.

The PCIe connection also enables ultra low latency of 40/30 microseconds for read/write transactions. Customized firmware will also include multiple layers of protection from data loss, and tailors the device for application workloads such as online transaction processing (OTP), financial transactions, E-commerce, SQL logging, collaboration, and email servers.

Lite-ON isnt skimping on endurance either, with a 1 DWPD (Drive Write Per Day) threshold and an MTBF of 2 million hours.

PMC-Sierra has announced a new line of embedded I/O controllers that offer double the density and a 40% power consumption reduction compared to competing solutions. These new controllers differentiate themselves by offering the only 16-port 12Gb/s SAS and 6Gb/s SATA option for OEM and ODM applications. These controllers address expanding Open Compute, Windows Cloud Server, OpenStack and Project Scorpio designs. The emergence of easy-to-use cluster-in-a-box solutions and the enhanced functionality of Windows Storage Spaces also provide exciting new possibilities for I/O controllers, which do not provide RAID functionality.

The controllers offer the choice of either SAS or SATA, and are fully compatible with Adaptec's burgeoning product stack, which includes RAID adapters and HBA's, SAS Expanders, and the emerging Flashtec NVMe solutions. Two 16-port controllers, the 12Gb/s SAS PM8076 and 6Gb/s SATA PM8006, offer 16 ports of connectivity; and the 12Gb/s SAS PM8074 offers a scaled back 8-port design. All three controllers are pin-compatible, allowing OEM's and ODM's to offer purpose-built solutions based upon similar designs.

Reducing the number of components required to manage ever-growing numbers of storage devices is an important consideration. The PMC controllers can remove the requirement for plug-in RAID controllers, HBA's, and expanders. This delivers the lasting advantage of lower power consumption and reduced design complexity. Bringing these features onto the motherboard enables the ultra-dense designs becoming more commonplace in hyperscale deployments.

HGST Press and Industry Analyst Briefing - HGST has announced a new line of PCIe SSDs for the datacenter with their Ultrastar SN100 Series. This new series of PCIe SSDs offers the new NVMe standard as the backbone for communication with the host system. For an in-depth look at the NVMe specification, from top to bottom with testing included, take a look at this recent article in our IT/Datacenter section.

NVMe has many advantages over proprietary software implementations, but the vFAS structure employed with HGST's FlashMAX line (Product evaluation here) is particularly strong. The FlashMAX II offers multiple software features that make it a compelling offer in many environments, and after speaking with HGST executives at the event we were assured that these same software capabilities will be extended to the Ultrastar SN100 line of products.

HGST is also announcing a new FlashMAX III, so the two product lines, with both vFAS and NVMe, will continue to have a place in the HGST product stack. Performance specifications and endurance information will hash out the differences between the two PCIe SSD offerings from HGST, but at this point there aren't any related publicly available specifications for either new product. We will keep our readers updated as more information becomes available.

HGST Press and Industry Analyst Briefing - HGST has announced the extension of their fruitful Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with Intel for their SAS SSDs. This is an important agreement due to the sharing of important NAND and engineering expertise. The JDA also affords HGST with a guaranteed NAND flash supply for HGST's SAS SSDs, a paramount need in today's SSD market. The details of the arrangement aren't entirely public, of course, but we do know that both HGST and Intel have already leveraged the existing relationship to develop the fastest SAS SSDs on the market.

The JDA began in 2008, and HGST first began to offer SAS SSDs in 2010. Intel flash and controller technology has provided the base components, but the real engine lies in HGST's SAS design, firmware, reliability, qualification and system integration. Intel does not sell SAS SSDs, instead relying upon the JDA with HGST to provide high-quality SAS offerings. The cooperation has led to four generations of successful SAS SSDs. The agreement is slated to continue for three more years, and we look forward to seeing the exciting new products that will come as a result of the JDA.

HGST is a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Western Digital Corporation, but is rapidly shaping up to be the flash arm of WD. Strategic acquisitions of Velobit, STEC, and Virident have allowed HGST to expand their portfolio rapidly in terms of both hardware and software patent portfolios and expertise. HGST has sent the clear message that they believe software is a key differentiator that will provide them a competitive advantage over their rivals. Coupling this vision with the extension of a cooperative agreement with Intel provides a solid footing as they move forward with innovate solutions for the datacenter.

Amplidata, a software provider in the nascent object storage market, has received $10 million in a latest round of funding by Western Digital Capital. In the announcement regarding the investment, Amplidata also announced that HGST, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Digital Corp., will jointly develop a suite of storage solutions built on the Amplidata Himalaya software.

Exactly what product will result from the HGST partnership is still an unknown. According to the press release, "The companies will partner to create solutions that will dramatically improve the storage economics for the Exabyte-scale needs of the world's largest businesses." The future products are described as being "ultra-dense storage solutions" which most likely translates to a total external storage solution, no longer just components from HGST. This is interesting to note since HGST was acquired by WD in 2012 and has remained mostly a hard drive manufacturer until now. It appears that they now aim to enter the space of their ex-parent, Hitachi (owner of HDS), and provide total solutions to the enterprise market.

With several other competitors in the space, one has to wonder why HGST chose to partner with Amplidata, a fairly small upstart. Especially, taking into consideration that Amplidata is in a three year old patent infringement lawsuit with Cleversafe. A possible explanation is that Amplidata is gaining serious traction with marque accounts. In June, they announced that Verizon had standardized on the Himalaya software for the Verizon Cloud Storage platform. According to John Considine, chief technology officer for Verizon Terremark, "Amplidata's storage technology was built with enterprise clients in mind - providing the speed, security and scalability large organizations need."

Sandisk and Dell are announcing the integration of the Sandisk DAS Cache software into the next generation Dell PowerEdge Servers. SSDs feature extreme performance specs, but unfortunately they continue to carry a price premium over hard disk storage. One of the challenges has been to find an easy method to marry the capacity of hard disk drives with the speed of SSDs. Sandisk DAS Cache software boosts hard drive performance by accelerating frequently used data in an SSD cache layer.

Using flash-based caching techniques can radically alter workload performance in a production environment. The Sandisk DAS Cache software is based off of the popular Sandisk FlashSoft product line. The easy-to-use interface and seamless performance acceleration software is battle tested in thousands of deployments across the world, bringing a level of confidence in the software that allows Dell to offer it as an OEM solution. When users purchase a PowerEdge server with flash and HDD storage they are automatically given the software as a default option.

There are several different approaches to SSD-based caching techniques from a number of players. Many involve hardware-based implementations that typically execute the caching algorithms and functionality on a RAID card connected to both the HDD's and SSDs. This can limit choice and also can bring about vendor lock-in concerns.

Flash Memory Summit 2014 - Scott Shadley stopped by our booth to discuss Micron's latest products at the Flash Memory Summit. Micron's ability to create their own NAND provides them a huge advantage over many non-fab competitors. The consumer SSD market is extremely competitive of late, and Crucial (Micron's consumer arm) leads the pack with some of the lowest price points available. Another key advantage is the use of their 16nm NAND. This allows them to retain a pricing advantage (The MX100 is a perfect example), and its solid performance also keeps Micron's SSDs among the best in price v performance metrics.

Moving to the enterprise side, Micron is very competitive in the value segment and high-end PCIe SSDs. The M500DC sports impressive performance at an equally impressive price point for the 2.5" segment. The P420m fills the role of an affordable PCIe SSD with chart-topping performance, and for those in need of the ultra-high-end, the Micron P320h still holds the overall crown. It doesn't get better than durable SLC NAND paired with speed fast enough to saturate the PCIe 2.0 bus with random data. If we had an SSD Hall of Fame, the P320h would be the first drive in the door.

Of course Micron isn't resting on their laurels. They are releasing their NVMe PCIe and 2.5" SSDs early next year. Much of the secret sauce that provides Micron's chart topping performance with the existing PCIe SSDs is likely due to NVMe knowledge; they are one of the founding members of the NVMe consortium. Micron helped define expectations for high-performance PCIe SSDs, which leads to some excitement to see what Micron brings with their new NVMe SSDs.

Flash Memory Summit 2014 - The list of software caching solutions is expanding rapidly as manufacturers, and software vendors, try to make their way into this expansive market. Deploying flash is great, but deploying it in a manner that accelerates existing infrastructure is even better. Very few will totally replace spinning disk in their datacenter deployments, so marrying the capacity of HDD with the performance of SSDs is the current go-to solution.

Cachebox wades into this large market with a new method of caching. The CacheAdvance software uses an ASM (Application Specific Module) that analyzes what is important to the application and provides seamless acceleration based upon application-centric performance profiles. The system has predefined knowledge of existing popular programs, but also adjusts to the specific environment.

One of the advantages of application-centric caching is that it doesn't accelerate any unwanted processes or applications, such as backup operations. This maximizes the capacity of the underlying flash solution. Users can use any block-level device for caching, so there is hardware independence from specific vendors and the system is also interface agnostic. PCIe, SAS, SATA, NVDIMMS, and UltraDIMMS can all play equally. Any block-level device is fair game. One particularly exciting aspect of the flexible design is that it will also allow for future storage technologies as well.

Flash Memory Summit 2014 - LiteOn isn't accustomed to the SSD limelight even though they have been in the OEM SSD business since 2008. In many ways they should receive more recognition in the SSD market. LiteOn is known for their ODD (Optical Disk Drive) offerings, such as CD and DVD players. However, they are also the brains behind the Plextor SSD brand, which gives them quite a bit of experience in the retail space with Plextor, and on the OEM side as LiteOn.

LiteOn is expanding into the datacenter with a new line of enterprise SSDs that are tailored for enterprise applications. They are developing both 2.5" and M.2 form factor SSDs with enterprise-centric features. LiteOn is currently working on a 1TB M.2 SSD with power loss protection that was being demo'd in their booth at the show. The SSD features a PCIe 2.0 x2 interface and blistering sequential speeds of 600 MB/s read and 520MB/s write. Jeffrey Chang, the Technical Product Manager at LiteOn, stopped by the booth to talk about the latest enterprise SSDs from LiteOn.

The N9S will serve the 2.5" market with capacities up to 2TB, and are also available in the small 1.8" form factor. LiteOn is initially using AHCI for their new M.2 SSDs, with NVMe solutions coming next year. Stay tuned to TweakTown for future product evaluations as the new SSDs become available.

Flash Memory Summit 2014 - It's always fun to catch up with DriveSavers, simply because of the interesting stories from the latest data recovery projects they are working on. We were lucky enough to take a tour of the DriveSavers labs in April, and we recently crossed paths with Chris Bross again at the Flash Memory Summit.

Chris detailed the recovery of some of Gene Roddenberry's (the creator of Star Trek) lost files, which were stored on 200 x 5.25" floppy disks. These very old disks held a number of files, which are not yet released, and there will be a public disclosure of the content in the future. This highlights some of the varied storage technologies that DriveSavers encounters every day. While staying up to date with helium and SMR HDDs, they also have to continue to extract data from old devices as well.

Chris also discusses the need for data recovery services for the datacenter, and a word of caution for those using cloud data storage. For instance, when Hurricane Sandy struck five datacenters were literally underwater, so users are cautioned to always keep multiple copies of their data. Of course, if you should lose data DriveSavers will be there to help recover it, and you can take a closer look at our tour of the DriveSavers facility here.

Flash Memory Summit 2014 - NVDIMM was a hot topic at the Flash Memory Summit, and Viking Technology is leading the way in the NVDIMM space with their ArxCis-NV solution. NVDIMM allows the use of DRAM memory as a persistent memory. In the event of a power loss the NVDIMM flushes data from the DRAM down to NAND that is embedded on the device. This allows users to leverage the ultra-fast speed of DDR3 (and DDR4 in future versions) as a block storage device, yet still recover from any power loss event with the data intact.

Users can also leverage the ArxCis-NV as a memory space with their software applications. One of the advantages of using an NVDIMM from Viking is that it can be integrated into industry standard x86 servers via the DDR sockets. The ArxCis-NV is a DDR3 240-pin JEDEX pin compatible ECC registered DIMM with an integrated SSD for data backup. The speed of the device far outstrips any 12Gb/s or 6GB/s products, even when they are aggregated behind a RAID controller or HBA.

The ArxCix-NV can be used for the most bleeding-edge applications, such as a write cache or buffer, and also boosting metadata performance. We have a device in the lab now, and look to these pages soon for a performance breakdown!

Flash Memory Summit 2014 - Avago Technologies recently acquired LSI and their SandForce division, and then scooped up PLX Technology as well. The merger with Avago isn't complete yet, so we couldn't discuss the details of the acquisition with Larry Chisvin, the VP of Strategic Initiatives at PLX Technology. PLX Technology is a right in the middle of the datacenter evolution with the advent of NVMe, and also the need for a new interface for converged server architectures. NVMe is currently a new interface that is still developing to offer multipath and fail-over features which will lean heavily on PCIe switches.

We visited PLX's office and took a tour through the ExpressFabric architecture, which can replace or augment networking infrastructure in the datacenter. The advent of hyperscale and cloud computing has spurred a re-imagination of datacenter architecture. Disruptive technologies and Open Compute initiatives are challenging the old way of thinking and delivering designs purpose-built for optimum efficiency. The emergence of software-defined datacenters (SDDC) and software-designed storage (SDS) requires new designs that allow total control of resource allocation. Using ExpressFabric's PCIe connections as a rack-level interconnect allows for new exciting datacenter designs that will pool server resources in separate chassis for optimum performance.

Integration with Avago will allow for access to a much larger company with a large IP portfolio to accelerate PLX Technology's initiatives.

Flash Memory Summit 2014 - Ray Pang, Director of Marketing at Skyera, stopped by our booth to discuss the skyHawk All-Flash Array (AFA). Skyera aims to bring the price of AFA down below $3 per GB, a similar price to disk-based storage subsystems. Skyera accomplishes much of the cost reduction by using their own design that doesn't rely upon traditional form factors. The end result is a remarkably slim 1U device that boasts up to 44TB of screaming flash storage.

skyHawk delivers 88 times more storage density at 1/10th of the power consumption of a like-priced HDD solution. Another key benefit of skyHawk is its converged storage architecture, which unifies block-based iSCSI and NAS file systems (NFS v3). The slim package provides up to 2.4 GB/s of bandwidth and 400,000 IOPS. skyHawk also employs compression and de-duplication technologies to boost the amount of use-able SSD space, but has base configurations before data reduction of 12, 22, and 44 TB.

Delivering all of this performance requires either 40 x 1GBe connections, or only 3 x 10GBe connections. The total package weighs under 20 lbs and pulls less than 350W, which is insanely efficient for a datacenter storage system.

Flash Memory Summit 2014 - As we reach the end of planar (2D) NAND scaling we will begin to see more disruptive products emerge with futuristic technology such as PCM and magnetic and carbon nanotubes, the only question is which will rise to the top as the premier after-NAND technology. These new technologies will initially emerge as complimentary technologies to the existing NAND used in SSDs. Saul Zales, the Chief Executive Officer of Contour Semiconductor, brought along a wafer of their DTM (Diode Transistor Memory)that is valued at nearly $10 million, due to its early design and rarity. DTM is a phase-change based memory (PCM)that reduces the mask and process costs by up to 65% compared to NAND.

The 4F2 self-aligned structure uses a vertical epitaxial diode as the select device. In the future, Contour Semiconductor could include magnetic or carbon nanotube storage elements. The wafer is built on the CMOS process with a cross-point array architecture that supports word, sector, and page-level erase commands, which are very similar to NAND's design and fucntion. This will allow the use of the DTM packages with NAND controllers. We were lucky enough to see one of the only DTM wafers in existence, and had a quick chat with Saul Zales in the booth.

What does all this mean? Up to a billion P/E Cycles, which would be nearly immeasurable endurance compared to current SSDs. Using this type of memory as a cache for less-durable NAND could boost performance and endurance exponentially, and eventually new storage devices could use this type of memory.

Flash Memory Summit 2014 - BiTMICRO's newest MaxIO SSDs pack a whopping 6TB of data into a half-length full-height PCIe form factor. The new MaxIO SSDs feature full data path protection and their proprietary DriveLight Management Software. The MaxIO series leverages Toshiba A19nm MLC NAND to provide 240,000 random read IOPS and 100,000 random write IOPS. Sequential performance weighs in at 1.1 GB/s read and 800 MB/s write. The MaxIO is exceptionally power efficient, requiring less than 30W active for up to 6TB of flash storage. The MaxIO also differentiates by running all of its processes, including ECC, on the SSD. Other alternatives utilize the host server to handle these basic flash management functions.

BiTMICRO tackles some of the inherent challenges of a large capacity SSD by separating their Talino controller architecture into a Split ASIC technology, placing the FTL (Flash Translation Layer) onto a separate processor. This allows the MaxIO to effectively manage the much larger LBA range of a high capacity device, while also enabling global wear leveling techniques to enhance endurance. Cramming as much capacity onto one device is critical in high-density applications that need the performance of an AFA (All Flash Array), but want to maintain the highest performance by keeping the SSD as close to the processor as possible. This helps to reduce any associated networking infrastructure. The drives are optimized for read-centric applications and features up to 1 DWPD of endurance during the five-year warranty period. We were lucky enough to speak with Zophar Sante and Stephan Uriarte about the differentiators and advantages of their new architecture in the video below.

As always, stay tuned for the latest updates on TweakTown.

Flash Memory Summit 2014 - The SSD industry is moving fast, and several companies with core SSD controller IP have been purchased by larger companies. As SSDs become more mainstream some of the smaller players, such as SMI, JMicron, and Phison, have become more prevalent in the SSD market.

We took a few moments to speak with Iri Trashanski from Marvell Technology Group about the state of the SSD controller industry. Marvell has one of the broadest lines of SSD controllers in the industry, and they recently announced their latest NVMe SSD controller. The NVMe 88SS1093 also features 3rd generation NANDEdge LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) technology. LDPC is the newest form of error correction that requires less space on the drive and also provides more error correction power. LDPC also allows for varying levels of error correction during different stages of the SSD life cycle.

The 88SS1093 features 4GB/s or 2GB/s endpoints, dependent upon host system customization, via a x4 PCIe 3.0 connection. The leaner command set and multiple queue/pair mechanisms within the NVMe stack will provide higher performance and lower latency in comparison to older interfaces.

Flash Memory Summit 2014 - Jim Handy from Objective Analysis stopped by our booth to talk about the latest and greatest in the storage market. Jim's 3D NAND series, which explores the rationale behind 3D NAND and delves into an in-depth breakdown of the architecture, has became a go-to source of information on 3D NAND. His informative series of articles can be found here on thememoryguy.com.

Jim also discusses the possibilities of future storage technology. Objective Analysis offers third-party independent market research and data for the semiconductor industry and investors in the semiconductor industry.

In what may eventually prove to be a very shrewd move, Panzura announced today that it will provide a free virtual appliance version of its cloud gateway. Further, they have partnered with Google so that customers users of the free gateway also get 2TB of free storage via the Google Cloud Platform for one year.

In reading through the press release and blog post on their website, Panzura is clearly looking to drive home the point that there is a stark difference between simply having cloud storage for one office versus actually setting up cloud storage so that it is both high performant AND collaborative across locations. As they point out, the real value add in the Panzura technology is the file locking capabilities for distributed enterprises that have multiple locations. While the gateway may be free, this file locking feature is not.

Call it coincidence or superior planning, but this Panzura announcement comes just one day after EMC announced the acquisition of TwinStrata, another player in the cloud gateway space. It will be interesting to see what effects the commoditization from Panzura combined with the immediate entry by the giant EMC will have on the remaining companies in this market (i.e. Avere Systems, CTERA).