FINAL WORD
IT IS ONLY BE A MATTER
OF TIME BEFORE THE
ALTERNATIVE FLASH
MEDIUM IS USED AS
VOLUME STORAGE, FOR
EXAMPLE FOR SEISMIC
ANALYSES, DESIGN AND
CAD, BIG DATA ANALYTICS,
OR THE INTERNET OF
THINGS (IoT)
because it takes a lot more time to delete
a flash cell and write it again than to read
it. So when you design a storage system
based on flash storage, this asymmetry
is the key to guaranteeing a predictable,
high performance and highly available
experience. You want to significantly
minimise the number of write processes, to
greatly extend the endurance of the flash,
while not having to be concerned about
read processes.
Data reduction makes flash
storage competitive
The secret to the success of the allflash array lies in the development of
technologies, which simultaneously
address two topics.
As mentioned previously, minimising the
number of write processes is key to the
high performance and extending the
service life of flash storage. The flip side
though is that, this also puts flash storage
in the fast lane, because when you look at
the price per gigabyte, despite the rapid
drop in price, flash storage still costs more
than hard disk storage. But state-of-the-art
AFAs cancel out this discrepancy by simply
reducing the raw capacity required to store
the usable and active data.
• Data duplication: Ensures that each
data block, which is stored on the array is
unique
• Data compression: Reduces the capacity
needed to store each of these individual
data blocks
• Thin provisioning: Combining supporting
procedures such as storage reclamation
(SCSI t10 UNMAP) and zero or pattern
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removal, provides thin provisioning to
guarantee that storage capacity is used
only by active applications and user
data, and not by volume managers,
formatting, and deleted data.
Flash arrays thus remove all superfluous
information that automatically
accumulates when storing data on
hard disks. All-flash arrays consequently
enable companies to speed up their
databases in order to obtain business
and competitive benefits, and to make
mobile users happy with the high-speed
response of the VDI environment.
They ensure that cloud environments
(in other words VSI environments) are
simple to provide and operate, and
even the most demanding businesscritical tasks can be executed. It is
impossible not to recognize the all-flash
advantages for VDI, VSI and Database
environments.
The all-flash data centre is
coming
Now that the price hurdle has been
overcome and all-flash storage systems
today cost about the same as hard
disks, it is no surprise that companies are
turning their backs on hard disk systems,
and the switch to flash storage is gaining
momentum. It is only be a matter of time
before the alternative flash medium is
used as volume storage, for example for
seismic analyses, design and CAD, Big Data
Analytics, or the Internet of Things (IoT).
The analyst group 451 Research’s view
that the drop in prices is an advantage
for all-flash systems is also a driver for the
enablement of the all-flash data centre.
Why should companies forgo the simplicity
and the operative savings, which result
from consistently higher performance and
lower latency if it doesn’t cost more than
traditional disk storage?
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