Pure Storage Weaves 3D TLC NAND Flash Memory into Storage Mix

5 Big Ways Big Data Is Changing the IT Network

As part of an effort to push the cost per gigabyte of Flash storage down to $1.50, Pure Storage this week announced it is adding support for 3D TLC NAND flash technology in its storage arrays.

Pure Storage is also making available capacity-planning software free of charge and analytics software that promises to alert IT organizations when there might be an issue with a component before an array actually goes down.

Matt Kixmoeller, vice president of products for Pure Storage, says 3D TLC NAND flash makes use of multiple levels within Flash storage to enable Pure Storage to deliver a FlashArray//m offering capable of storing up to 44TB. In addition, Kixmoeller notes that customers can also opt to mix and match TLC and existing MLC Flash storage in the same system to store up to 60TB per rack unit.

Meanwhile, via an existing cloud management service that Pure Storage uses to remotely manage its arrays, a new Pure Storage Pure1 Global Insight service applies analytics against real-time diagnostic data gathered from thousands of arrays. Those scans then create a library of “fingerprints” to more easily identify known issues, configuration and environmental changes, and performance and capacity anomalies. The result, says Kixmoeller, is a significant reduction in the amount of down-time an organization might experience in the event of component failure or human error.

While it may not be clear yet just how much primary storage will be moving into Flash arrays, at a cost of $1.50 per gigabyte, the ability to give multiple applications access to shared Flash storage gets more compelling. The challenge now is to figure out how and when to start migrating terabytes of data that currently reside in magnetic storage systems that, at least from a primary storage perspective, are starting to look like they may be more trouble than they’re worth.