X-IO is set to launch a new product in its Hyper ISE 7-series hybrid flash/HDD array line, the 740, which will double existing SSD capacity from 1.6TB to 3.2TB.
The new product, revealed to Computer Weekly at SNW Europe, aims to fulfil use cases that call for greater amounts of rapid input/output (I/O) from flash than current products deliver.
At present, X-IO Hyper ISE 7-series arrays contain two X-IO DataPacs totaling 40 drives, of which 10 are 200GB eMLC SSDs providing 1.6TB of flash. The 740 will double the capacity of flash drives to 400GB for a total of 3.2TB, made up of SMART Optimus 2.5” eMLC flash.
As with other 7-series arrays 2.5” SAS HDD capacities will be 300GB, 600GB or 900GB for a total array capacity of 21.6TB before RAID formatting, with eight 8 Gbps Fibre Channel ports.
The Hyper ISE 740 – that will ship in early 2013 – will not deliver a higher overall input/output per second (IOPS) figure than other 7-series devices (a quoted maximum of 300,000IOPS) but will allow more operations to benefit from higher I/O performance by shifting I/O to flash with its automated storage tiering software, CADP (Continuous Adaptive Data Placement).
It is aimed at virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), OLTP and business intelligence (BI) use cases.
X-IO solutions development director, Gavin McLaughlin said: “We are boosting SSD to HHD capacity ratios from 8% to 15% to cater for such instances as in VDI where large boot storms hit and the array needs to deal with a lot of reads at once. CADP sees hot spots on the SAS drives and balances that data over to flash to deal with those reads.”
X-IO sells storage arrays with its proprietary sealed drive DataPacs, which are in part a legacy of IP acquired when it bought Seagate’s Advanced Storage Architecture group in 2007.
A key selling point is that its DataPacs bring reliability and utilisation beyond that possible from other storage suppliers that use commodity drives, by incorporating low vibration, self-healing and granular failure repair characteristics, such as the ability to lock off a single platter surface rather than fail a whole drive.
