NetApp Accelerates Costs Savings, Boosts Performance with Solid-State Technologies
SUNNYVALE, Calif. - February 3,
2009 - NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) announced two significant
advancements today to deliver on its strategy to drive IT costs
down and improve performance through the use of solid-state memory
for disk as well as for controller caches. As part of its news,
NetApp unveiled V-Series support for Texas Memory Systems'
RamSan-500 solid-state disk (SSD) array and new industry-standard
benchmark results for the NetApp Performance Acceleration
Module.
NetApp Supports High-Performance SSD
Array with V-Series Family
NetApp® V-Series is an open storage controller that unifies
NetApp and non-NetApp storage-including systems from EMC, IBM, HP,
HDS, and Texas Memory Systems-under a common architecture to
consolidate business-critical data and dramatically simplify
management. Now NetApp customers can leverage V-Series with the
RamSan-500 to use flash memory as persistent storage and
cost-effectively meet the needs of performance-intensive
applications. NetApp V-Series and Texas Memory Systems combine the
full benefits of the NetApp Data ONTAP® operating system with
SSD storage to improve application performance and offer advanced
features such as thin provisioning, Snapshot™ copies, and
deduplication to improve storage efficiency and management with
solid-state technology.
"Texas Memory Systems brings more than 30
years of enterprise-class SSD technology expertise to NetApp
customers," said Woody Hutsell, executive vice president, Texas
Memory Systems. "Now our customers can deploy our SSDs with the
best platform for storage efficiency, data management, and
protection from NetApp. Together, we're providing a powerful
combination of leading SSD technology with advanced capabilities
that are inherent in all NetApp systems that our customers can use
for their most critical business applications."
NetApp Performance Acceleration
Module Improves Efficiency and Performance
The NetApp Performance Acceleration Module enables customers to
leverage solid state technology, currently DRAM, as a modular read
cache in the storage controller to improve efficiency and
performance of mainstream storage platforms and common enterprise
applications. New SPECsfs2008® benchmark results for the
FAS3140 storage system with the Performance Acceleration Module
demonstrate the following advantages for data center
environments:
- Improve efficiency and reduce costs. Customers
can deliver the same level of throughput with half as many hard
disk drives (HDDs) to lower cost by 27%, reduce rack space by 44%,
and lower electricity usage by 47-54%.
- Make SATA disk drives viable as primary
storage. Customers can increase storage capacity with SATA
disk drives by 75% while using half as many drives and achieve a
similar level of performance as Fibre Channel disk drives, which
are typical for primary storage environments. Now customers can
save precious data center real estate with higher-density
drives.
- Improve response times. Customers can improve
overall response times in a Fibre Channel disk drive configuration
by 35% while reducing the number of drives by half with a single
Performance Acceleration Module.
Today's demonstrated advantages of the
Performance Acceleration Module are consistent with NetApp's
strategy to use solid-state technology in innovative ways, and
further paves the way for future similar products based on higher
density flash memory.
NetApp's Performance Acceleration Module
helps customers grow cost effectively without the need to add shelf
space or power. Storage administrators typically add hard disk
drives, whether or not more storage capacity is needed, to achieve
increased throughput for file services and similar workloads. This
consumes space and power that are in short supply in many data
centers.
Alternatively, the Performance Acceleration
Module fits directly into an existing storage controller to provide
customers an innovative way to improve application response times
and increase throughput without adding disk drives. Up to five
modules can be supported to provide a single pool of cache so that
customers can scale performance depending on their application
needs. The module also consumes no rack space and 95% less power
than a shelf of Fibre Channel disk drives. Furthermore, by using
the Performance Acceleration Module with NetApp V-Series, customers
can realize the same performance, storage efficiency, and cost
benefits of NetApp storage with their existing HDD-based
third-party storage.
"NetApp is fulfilling our strategy to give
customers innovative choices in deploying SSD and flash
technology," said Jay Kidd, chief marketing officer of NetApp. "Our
partnership with Texas Memory Systems combines the industry's
leading SSD technology with NetApp data management and storage
efficiency technologies that have proven to help customers
significantly lower their IT infrastructure costs. For
cost-sensitive customers, our Performance Acceleration Module gives
them yet another unique way to improve performance and efficiency
and reach the full potential of their overall storage capacity with
a smaller investment."
Pricing and
Availability
Customer pricing for products described in this press release is
available from NetApp sales or reseller partners. The Performance
Acceleration Module and V-Series support for Texas Memory Systems'
RamSan-500 SSD are available immediately.
For more information about the SPECsfs2008
benchmark results described in this press release, visit http://spec.org/sfs2008/results/sfs2008nfs.html.
Discuss this news in the NetApp Community,
where you can exchange thoughts and ideas on a variety of topics
with our community members. Collaborate with our company, engage in
conversation with NetApp leaders and employees, and participate in
our passion to go further, faster. Join now at www.netapp.com/us/communities/.
About Texas Memory
Systems
Texas Memory Systems designs and builds solid state storage systems
for accelerating essential enterprise applications. The
award-winning RamSan product line, known as The World's Fastest
Storage®, delivers fast, reliable, and economical solutions to
a broad base of enterprise and government clients worldwide.
Founded in 1978, Texas Memory Systems continues to architect and
engineer the future of solid state storage. www.texmemsys.com.
About NetApp
NetApp creates innovative storage and data management solutions
that accelerate business breakthroughs and deliver outstanding cost
efficiency. Discover our passion for helping companies around the
world go further, faster at www.netapp.com.
NetApp, the NetApp logo, Go further,
faster, Data ONTAP, and Snapshot are trademarks or registered
trademarks of NetApp, Inc. in the United States and/or other
countries. SPEC and the benchmark name SPECsfs2008 are registered
trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. All
other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective holders and should be treated as such.
Disclaimer-Forward Looking
Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those projected or implied in the forward-looking statements.
NetApp advises readers that these potential risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to: potential changes in industry
standards regarding disk arrays and related products; changes in
customer requests for storage management and application products
and services; potential fluctuations in the company's operating
results; fluctuations and variations in the virtualization product
markets; fluctuations in software development and release
schedules, customers' demand for products and services, changes in
partner, channel and vendor relationships; the ability to maintain
and gain market or industry acceptance of the company's products;
the company's dependence on a limited number of customers and
partners; fluctuations and variances in customers' overall
products, product architectures, and internal configurations;
variations in product availability, international economic,
regulatory, political, and other risks and uncertain benefits from
strategic business combinations. More detailed information on these
and additional factors which could affect the company's operating
and financial results is described in NetApp's Forms 10-K, 10-Q,
and other reports filed, or to be filed, with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. NetApp urges all interested parties to read
these reports to gain a better understanding of the business and
other risks that the company faces. The forward-looking statements
contained in this press release are made only as of the date
hereof, and the company does not intend to update or revise these
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events, or otherwise.
Press Contact:
Roger Villareal
NetApp
(408) 822-1959
rogerv@netapp.com