Given the cost of Flash memory, optimizing the performance of primary Flash storage is a top of mind issue for storage administrators. When a lot of data that has little value winds up on Flash storage, it’s a waste of a significant amount of money.
Looking to give storage administrators more control over what data winds up residing in Flash memory, Fusion-io at the VMworld Europe 2013 conference this week unveiled Fusion ioControl SPX. The new offering lets storage administrators cache data in server memory along with updates to software, allowing them to manage where data resides across both Flash storage from Fusion-io and magnetic storage systems.
According to Chris McCall, senior director, ioControl marketing for Fusion-io, Fusion ioControl SPX marks the first time that storage administrators are being given control of data on both the server and the Flash storage attached to it.
Given all the memory now available on the server, the first tier of storage these days is actually the processor on the server. By giving storage administrators control over server caching, Fusion-io is insuring that the data that makes it to its Flash memory systems is the most critical from a performance perspective. Version 3.0 of the ioControl software, which is based on technology that Fusion-io gained with the acquisition of NextGen Storage earlier this year, then extends that control out to both the Flash and magnetic storage that makes up the rest of the storage environment.
As memory continues to transform the economics of storage in the data center, storage administrators are being asked to take a more nuanced approach to the management of data. Rather than simply throwing memory at every performance problem, what’s required is a deeper understanding of what data is really hot in terms of usage. Of course, once that’s determined, the storage administrator is going to need tools that make certain that data remains as close to the server processor as possible.
