Understanding SSD solutions

Understanding SSD solutions
 

There are a number of new and emerging solid state storage companies, each with it's own take on how best to implement solid state storage, whether SSD or PCIe flash memory cards. The one thing that is mutually agreed, is the undoubted performance enhancements that this technology delivers over traditional hard disk based arrays. But not all SSD or PCIe solutions are the same and as the cost of solid state storage is at a premium, choosing the best method of implementation can save you large amounts of money. The following table compares the main types of solid state 'flash' storage.

Comparing the different types of flash solutions

TYPE PROS CONS TYPICAL USE
Server based (PCIe) Great local performance as it is right on the PCIe bus Easy to install Committed to a single server or application No support for server virtualization and vMotion Not Cluster friendly Cannot be shared by multiple servers - costly and over provisioned Limited if no HA and difficult to replace/maintain Deployed in dedicated servers for specific performance tasks
Standard array based SSD Supports Server Virtualization Centralized Maintenance and Replacement Familiar brand and quality Existing SLA Only ‘reasonable’ IOPS as designed for mainstream storage Limited connectivity bandwidth Storage controller bottle neck contention High Cost per IOP Storage vendor preference as array upgrade (e.g. “proprietary vendor upgrade”).
Purpose built flash array from specialist vendors Tuned for high IOPS Great application impact Centralised benefits – virtualisation - Cluster friendly etc. New brand , no single SLA or quality assurance ‘One direction’ approach - committing to single type of flash or connectivity Mixing hardware vendors – increased risk of poor maintenance diagnostic and resolution Adds no value or boost to existing investments Relatively low capacity

High IOPS applications - Exchange/OLTP Databases

Virtual Servers -VMware/Hyper-V

Virtual Desktops (VDI)

VoD/Media Streaming
VS-fusion - Super-Hybrid All the centralised benefits of above solutions Able to use PCIe and / or SSD flash Fastest flash based SAN Able to accelerate existing HDD arrays to SSD level performance! Latency is slightly higher than direct installed PCIe Solid State Storage

High IOPS applications - Exchange/OLTP Databases

Virtual Servers -VMware/Hyper-V

Virtual Desktops (VDI)

VoD/Media Streaming
 
Published on Monday, 30 May 2011 11:56
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