LSI Releases Nytro PCIe Application Acceleration Architecture Family

LSI announced today the launching of the LSI Nytro Application Acceleration Architecture, an entire family of PCIe based devices and software.

Currently there are a multitude of solutions available from many different vendors of enterprise-class Solid State Storage and PCIe solutions. Many of these solutions are for niche users, and not easily integrated into the wider enterprise space. LSI is aiming to address this issue with an entire family of products for every level of need in the enterprise space.

THE EVOLUTION OF ENTERPRISE FLASH STORAGE

The key to the evolution of Enterprise Flash Solutions truly resides in devices that are designed for their specific application, with easy integration also being a key ingredient. Many of the devices that are available today are only for the upper echelon of the enterprise space. This “tip of the pyramid” is a very large market with an estimated $500 Million at stake each year. This type of usage usually centers on trading houses and the financial sector, where microsecond transactions are of utmost importance.

These users deploy pure flash solutions that are premium tiers of data storage. Usually this sector consists of the early adopters who pave the way for others, ushering in the innovations that spread to the lower tiers. Cost is usually not a limiting factor, as these customers are willing to make massive investments in the absolute top performance available.

The middle of the pyramid consists of users who are utilizing caching and acceleration with their PCIe devices. Utilizing software that dynamically caches hot data to the premium PCIe tier of storage, the effect of the flash acceleration can be spread across larger arrays and networks. This tier is much larger, accounting for $1.4 Billion in sales each year. This area is rapidly growing, and there are several key players vying for this market as well. Currently in the enterprise space this is where the vast majority of flash is residing.

The lower tier is comprised of users that are looking for simple flash acceleration of specific SAS attached volumes and DAS. Utilizing NAND in eMLC and MLC flavors for affordability, this is by far the largest market segment. This region is largely untapped, as many vendors have yet to address this market. This is where the fruits of flash acceleration trickle down to less mission-critical applications, but here affordability and easy integration are an absolute must.

THE LSI NYTRO FAMILY

LSI has come forward with an entire family of devices to address each segment of the enterprise flash market. With this tiered approach LSI plans to be able to tailor their products for any environment.

With three different products and a variety of capacities and different types of NAND that can be utilized, from SLC, eMLC and also standard MLC, being able to give customers the best suited device for their particular application is a major consideration of the product portfolio.

Many times this will involve bringing in ‘The PHDs”, highly trained individuals who will study the usage patterns of the customer, and then make recommendations for acceleration options for the end user.

LSI NYTRO PREDICTOR SOFTWARE TOOL

LSI has decided to address this need for consultation with an automated program that can be installed by their customers. The Nytro Predictor identifies and analyzes application hot spots of frequently-used data to help IT managers and database administrators determine which applications can be accelerated.

By understanding the workload and assigning characteristics the software can make recommendations on which LSI Nytro product will provide the most optimized benefits. These will consist of one of the three products, in a variety of configurations, which we cover more on the next page.