Business Applications Run Up to 90% Faster with New Server Cache Solutions from NetApp and Its Partners
NetApp Unveils Flash Accel, Extends Technology Alliance Program, and Signs Resale Agreement to Integrate Server Cache Solutions with Data ONTAP for End-to-End Storage Management
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 21, 2012
- With storage capacity requirements increasing at
exponential rates, Flash memory continues to gain popularity as a
powerful complement to traditional hard-disk storage. Its ability
to dramatically break through the input/output latency barrier-a
key inhibitor to fast and scalable applications-makes an efficient
and flexible Flash strategy a critical part of an agile data
infrastructure. From their server to their back-end storage, cost-
and performance-conscious system architects must balance how Flash
is used within their organizations to maximize application
performance, minimize rising IT costs, preserve high availability,
protect data, and simplify management.
Today, NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) extended its
Virtual
Storage Tiering (VST) strategy by introducing NetApp®
Flash Accel™, expanded its Technology Alliance Program to
include server caching hardware and software partners, and unveiled
a reseller relationship with Fusion-io. This comprehensive strategy
update to VST enables end-to-end storage management for customers
with physical and virtualized environments, from the
user-accessible Flash memory on the server to the cost-effective
hard-disk storage on the back end. Flash Accel will be on display
at the NetApp booth, #1402, at VMworld San Francisco on August 26-30.
VST also creates new opportunities for
partners to work with NetApp to develop innovative technologies
that integrate closely with the capabilities of Data ONTAP®
software, NetApp's leading storage management operating system.
Through Data ONTAP and other VST innovations such as NetApp
Flash Cache and NetApp
Flash Pool, IT administrators can now manage server-level,
controller-level, and disk-level Flash memory and back-end
hard-disk storage usage within a single data management
infrastructure. This lets them meet service levels and gain greater
storage efficiencies by enabling the right storage media to be used
at the right time for the right data.
NetApp Flash Accel Can Accelerate
Application Performance by Up to 90% by Turning Server Flash into
"Hot" Data Storage
NetApp Flash Accel can speed application performance by turning
server-side Flash into a cache for storing "hot," frequently
accessed data. NetApp testing shows that by storing up to 2TB of
hot data in server Flash memory, application and server latency can
be reduced by up to 90%[1]
and IOPS are increased by 80%. And, by off-loading "hot" IOPS at
the server, Flash Accel helps reduce demand on back-end FAS
storage.
As part of a comprehensive Virtual Storage
Tiering strategy, server caching delivers:
- Application and Server Performance
Acceleration: Accelerates enterprise applications and
server performance by as much as 90% by deploying server cache on
virtual machines.
- Highest Levels of Data Integrity and
Reliability: 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, benefiting from the high
availability and data protection of Data ONTAP; relies on the high
availability and data protection of Data ONTAP.
- Coherency and Integration with Data ONTAP:
End-to-end data coherency issues are identified and resolved,
enabling deployment of high-confidence solutions.
- Broad Use Case Coverage: Customers can deploy
solutions over a wide range of applications and operating
environments using NetApp validated partner solutions.
- Maximum Flexibility: NetApp validated
solutions provide maximum flexibility, allowing customers to deploy
any server caching solutions (software and hardware) that have been
validated by NetApp.
In addition to the above, Flash Accel has
these key features:
- Flexibility at the Server Level: Provides the
freedom to choose any server PCI-e flash card or SSD flash
device.
- End-to-End Intelligent Data Coherency:
Addresses data coherency issues that can cause data corruption
using automated and efficient data coherency detection and
correction software technology.
- Cache Persistency and Durability: Preserves
cache content consistently with applications in the event of server
and VM reboot and crashes so that cache restarts in a warm state;
enables consistently high performance.
NetApp Expands Alliance Partner
Ecosystem to Include Server-Caching Partners
Reinforcing its commitment to enabling an open partner ecosystem
for intelligent caching, NetApp is expanding its Alliance Partner
Program to embrace hardware and software server-caching partners
looking to develop solutions with NetApp. Partners can submit and
qualify server-caching solutions as "NetApp validated" in
accordance with established criteria for coherence and integration
with Data ONTAP and Flash Accel. Among the first partners to submit
server-caching solutions for qualification are Fusion-io, LSI, Micron, SanDisk Enterprise Storage Solutions, STEC, and Virident.
NetApp, together with its partners, will
provide the widest coverage for its customers' infrastructures as
they deploy server-side caching to deliver increased ROI. This will
include the broadest support for different hypervisors and
operating systems. NetApp validated solutions will enable quick
deployment of partner-specific innovations in the rapidly evolving
server flash and caching market.
NetApp Signs Technology Reseller
Agreement with Fusion-io
As part of its commitment to providing customers with a single
source for Virtual Storage Tier technologies, NetApp has entered
into a resale agreement with Fusion-io (NYSE: FIO), a leader in
Flash memory solutions. NetApp will resell Fusion-io ioMemory
platform products and two server caching software products:
ioTurbine™ for virtualized environments and Direct
Cache™ for non-virtualized environments.
Revlon Looks to NetApp Flash Accel to
Run Applications at Peak Performance
In recent years, global cosmetics company Revlon has undergone a
remarkable IT transformation: a move to a completely virtualized
environment that enables Revlon IT to deliver more services faster,
better, and cheaper. It now has more than 530 applications running
on its private cloud, which supports more than 15,000 automated
application moves a month and 14,000 transactions a second. To keep
its applications running at peak performance, Revlon requires rapid
access to data across the storage area network. In collaboration
with NetApp, Revlon has been testing Flash Accel to reduce latency,
improve server and storage performance, and simplify storage
management.
"Revlon and NetApp share the vision that
storage is a critical foundation for a virtualized agile data
infrastructure," said David Giambruno, senior vice president and
chief information officer, Revlon. "Currently, Revlon has more than
530 and counting business-critical applications, including
SAP®, multiple enterprise databases, multiple ERP and MRP
systems, financials, warehouse management, Microsoft® Exchange
and Microsoft SharePoint®, and virtual desktops, running on
VMware® virtual machines. To ensure that these applications
run at peak performance requires an approach to storage that
minimizes the latency between operations. We've been testing Flash
Accel from NetApp and have already seen considerable efficiency and
performance gains from our applications that for our business means
that our scientists and marketers have greater access to the data
that drives the creation and sales of our glamorous products."
Additional Supporting
Quotes:
- Tim Russell, Vice President and General Manager, Data
Lifecyle Ecosystem Group, NetApp
"Creating an agile data infrastructure depends heavily on
anticipating and managing application performance needs. NetApp
Flash Accel and caching products from our partners add a persistent
and durable storage layer on the server, which, when used as part
of our Virtual Storage Tiering approach, leads to the automatic
management of data from storage to the application based on
affinity and workload. This results in dramatic application and
server performance boosts that will accelerate how business is
conducted using virtualized environments."
NetApp Alliance Technology
Partners
- Neil Carson, Chief Technology Officer and Executive
Vice President, Fusion-io
"NetApp's open approach to partnering with industry leaders through
its Technology Alliance Program will provide customers with
efficient solutions that will enable them to achieve performance
gains with Fusion-io software and hardware at a fraction of the
cost of legacy systems. NetApp's innovative approach to Flash with
Virtual Storage Tiering, combined with software like Fusion
ioTurbine or directCache software and Fusion ioMemory hardware,
uniquely enables IT administrators to scale performance on demand
in response to ever-changing business requirements."
- Gary Smerdon, Senior Vice President and General
Manager, Accelerated Solutions Division, LSI Corporation
"Server side flash-based caching for application acceleration is
one of the most exciting and compelling trends in IT today. As a
leading provider of server-based acceleration solutions with our
extensive Nytro™ product portfolio of PCIe flash card
solutions, LSI is pleased to be working with NetApp and their Flash
Accel server caching software to deliver dramatic application
acceleration improvements for customers' data-intensive workloads
and mission-critical datacenter applications."
- Greg Goetz, Vice President and General Manager, SanDisk
Enterprise Storage Solutions
"Collaborating with NetApp allows us to work together to provide
Flash memory-based solutions that optimize storage performance and
address the problem of I/O latency in the server. Combining NetApp
products and our FlashSoft software will deliver significant
improvements in application performance and VM density."
- Ali Zadeh, Corporate Senior Vice President, Chief
Marketing Officer and General Manager, STEC, Inc.
"STEC, like NetApp, is committed to delivering intelligent,
efficient, high-performance hardware and software solutions to the
enterprise storage market. Our SSD-caching software extends this
commitment by fully supporting NetApp's Virtual Storage Tiering and
server-caching initiatives which will enable greater cohesion
between virtualized enterprise storage systems and host-based
applications. As a member of the Alliance Partner Program, STEC
looks forward to further advancing SSD technology in NetApp
environments and accelerating enterprise storage across an
ever-increasing range of applications."
Availability
Flash Accel will be available in December 2012. Fusion-io products
being resold by NetApp are available now.
Additional Resources
About NetApp
NetApp creates innovative storage and data management solutions
that deliver outstanding cost efficiency and accelerate business
breakthroughs. Our commitment to living our core values and
consistently being recognized as a great place to work around the
world are fundamental to our long-term growth and success, as well
as the success of our pathway partners and customers. Use of the
word "partner" or "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership
between NetApp and any other company. Discover our passion for
helping companies around the world go further, faster at www.netapp.com.
Press Contact:
Jeremiah Glodoveza
NetApp PR
(408) 822-4567
xdl-uspr@netapp.com
NetApp, the NetApp logo, Go further,
faster, Data ONTAP, Flash Accel, and FlexPod are trademarks or
registered trademarks of NetApp, Inc. in the United States and/or
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SAP is a registered trademark of SAP AG. Microsoft and SharePoint
are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Cisco and Nexus
are registered trademarks and Unified Computing System is a
trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc. All other brands or products are
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should be treated as such.
[1] Data from NetApp internal testing based on
standard industry benchmarks and not actual customer performance
results.