Adaptec has announced the release of MaxIQ SSD Cache Performance Kit, which it claims can improve disk read performance by as much as five times.
MaxIQ is designed to help manage High-Performance Hybrid Arrays (HPHAs), storage arrays that use both solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard disk drives (HDDs), and can automatically cache the most commonly-accessed data for faster retrieval in the future.
It uses a modified 32GB Intel X25-E Extreme SATA SSD, which is tacked onto to I/O path, and can work with Adaptec’s Series 5 or Series 2 controller cards.
As well as increasing the read speed of servers, the reduction in hardware needs can save a company 50% of the costs associated with similar set ups. It also takes up less space and requires less power to drive it.
Sundi Sundaresh, President and CEO of Adaptec, told CBR that the platform can improve performance in applications that involve a lot of random reads. These applications can include web servers and databases.
Jurgen Frick, EMEA marketing manager at the firm, added that one of the key aspects of the new product is that it narrows the I/O gap, which has grown dramatically over the last few years. “Compute performance of the CPU has really developed over the last 10 years,” he said. “It has increased by around 175 times, while HDD performance has increased by just 30 times. MaxIQ can help make this gap smaller.”
The product brings together capacity and low cost, Frick added.
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The company also highlighted the benefits the product can bring to cloud computing vendors. “We’re able to offer data centre managers, particularly those running massive on-demand cloud computing data centres, a non-disruptive, scalable approach to managing storage with maximum application performance and reduced capital and operating costs,” said Sundaresh.
“In a cloud environment there are two non-technology constraints that are holding companies back: space and power,” he told CBR. “With space, a facility can only hold so many servers so you need each and every server to do more and be able to support more users. Instead of requiring two or three servers to do tasks, you can do it with one with MaxIQ. Power is a similar thing – the grid can only deliver so much power to the data centre.”
Although it is available now, the MaxIQ SSD Cache Performance Kit is in testing at beta level with a number of clients which will continue for the next two weeks or so. Prices start from $1,295 and will be available through Adaptec’s channel.
