NetApp Ups Storage Performance Game

Recognizing the fact that performance is pretty much everything in the world of Flash storage, NetApp today improved the performance of its Flash storage array to provide more than 400K of IOPs over a 12GBper second connection.

In addition, NetApp unveiled an E2700 hybrid storage array that makes use of 4TB drives and an updated E5500 offering that now scales to 1.5PB per system.

According to Mark Welke, senior director of product marketing for NetApp, the EF550 all-Flash array is aimed primarily at performance-intensive applications that need access to shared storage. Magnetic disk drives will continue to support the majority of applications in use in the enterprise, but will be enhanced with the addition of Flash memory cache.

While fierce debate continues about whether to deploy Flash memory storage on the server or the network, Welke says NetApp is committed to offering a full spectrum of storage options that can all be managed via its ONTAP software regardless of whether they are deployed on premise or in the cloud.

In terms of both the underlying technologies involved and deployment options available, there have never been more options available across the enterprise. The challenge facing most IT organizations now is not only figuring out what mix of storage technologies needs to be employed in support of different classes of applications, but also how to logically manage them all in a unified way. NetApp is betting heavily that this latter capability will ultimately decide the issue when IT organizations eventually opt to standardize on a single storage platform both inside and out of the cloud.