More data protection press releases? I’ve got you covered. Zerto released one recently about cloud data protection. Turns out folks like cloud when it comes to data protection. But I don’t know that everyone has realised that there’s some work still to do in that space.
This article on some of the peculiarities associated with mainframe deployments in the old days by Anthony Vanderwerdt was the most entertaining thing I’ve read in a while.
Alastair has been pumping out a series of articles around AWS principles, and this one on understanding your single points of failure is spot on.
Get excited! VMware Cloud Director 10.2.2 is out now. Read more about that here.
A lot of people seem to think it’s no big thing to stretch Layer 2 networks. I don’t like it, and this article from Ethan Banks covers a good number of reasons why you should think again if you’re that way inclined.
Violin Systems recently announced their new XVS 8 platform. I had the opportunity to speak to Gary Lyng (Chief Marketing Officer) and thought I’d share some thoughts here.
Background
A few things have changed for Violin since they folded as Violin Memory and were acquired by Soros in 2017. Firstly, they’re now 100% channel focused. And secondly, according to Lyng, they’re “all about microseconds”.
What Really Matters?
Violin are focused on extreme performance, specifically:
Low latency;
Consistent performance (24x7x365); and
Enterprise data services.
The key use cases they’re addressing are:
Tier 0;
Realtime insight;
OLTP, DB, VDI;
AI / ML;
Commercial IoT; and
Trading, supply chain.
The Announcement
The crux of the announcement is the Violin XVS 8.
[image courtesy of Violin Systems]
Specifications
Performance
Latency as low 50µs to 800µs
Dedupe LUN performance improved by >40%
Capacity
Usable – 44.3TB – 88.7TB
Effective – 256TB – 512TB
Enterprise Data Services
Efficiency
Dedupe + compression reduction Ratio 6:1
Low impact Snapshots, Thin Provisioning, Thin and Thick Clones
Lower CPU usage and enable cost savings through compute and software consolidation
Optimised for transporting data from solid state storage to numerous processors
Everyone Has An App Now
All the cool storage vendors have an app. You can walk into your DC and (assuming you have the right credentials) scan a code on the front of the box. This will get you access to cloud-based analytics to see just how your system is performing.
[image courtesy of Violin Systems]
Thoughts
Violin Memory were quite the pioneers in the all-flash storage market many years ago. The pundits lamented the issues that Violin had with keeping pace with some of the smaller start-ups and big box sellers in recent times. The decision to focus on the “extreme performance” space is an interesting one. Violin certainly have some decent pedigree when it comes to the enterprise data services that these types of high-end customers would be looking for. And it’s not just about speed, it’s also about resilience and reliability. I asked about the decision to pursue NVMe over FC, and Lyng said that the feeling was that technologies such as RocE weren’t quite there yet.
I’m curious to see whether Violin can continue to have an impact on the market. This isn’t their first rodeo, and if the box can deliver the numbers that have been touted, it will make for a reasonably compelling offering. Particularly in the financial services / transactional space where time is money.
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