DataDirect Networks Offers Series of Intelligent Storage Solutions

In addition to high performance configuration, the SFA12K series of systems features a number of advancements from DDN.

DataDirect Networks, an information storage company, unveiled the SFA12K series of Big Data appliances, a suite of products designed to accelerate data-intensive applications and consolidate infrastructure to minimize total cost of data storage ownership for Big Data, high performance computing, cloud and content-intensive environments. With this release, DDN is introducing three new models of its Storage Fusion Architecture.

The SFA12K-40 delivers the industry's highest single-platform performance, at over 40GB/s and 1.4 million flash IOPS. With InfiniBand and Fibre Channel connectivity, the system is designed to scale file storage systems to 1TB/s and beyond with as little as 25 arrays.

Featuring highly optimized virtualization and x86 co-processing, the SFA12K-20E extends DDN's In-Storage Processing offering, first announced in 2009, to host the company's ExaScaler and GridScaler parallel file systems and/or customer applications natively within the storage array.  With 40Gb Ethernet and InfiniBand connectivity, each SFA12K-20E delivers 20GB/s of bandwidth and 700K flash IOPS while also driving down data access latency and reducing the cost of external computing and storage networking for virtualized Windows and Linux applications.

Finally, the SFA12K-20 delivers more than 20GB/s and 700K flash IOPS from a single system.

Each of these models is powered by DDN's StorageScaler 8460 (SS8460) high-density storage enclosure. Capable of housing up to 84 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch SATA, SAS and SSD devices in only 4U of rack space, this offering is designed to reduce data center sprawl by up to 40 percent.

"The democratization of Big Data is challenging each and every enterprise's ability to capture data and extract value by processing this data into actionable information, efficiently and in real time," said Alex Bouzari, CEO and co-founder of DDN. "The SFA12K series maximizes the value of our customers' information by delivering world-record performance and density, superior system efficiency and unrivaled data center packaging. DDN is driving forward innovative features such as In-Storage Processing, our Storage Fusion Fabric, quality of service and SATAssure to ensure the best possible application experience without performance or data integrity compromise to ensure the best possible total systems value to our worldwide user community."

In addition to high performance configuration, the SFA12K series of systems features a number of advancements from DDN, including Storage Fusion Fabric, which supports up to 160 dedicated 6Gb SAS lanes to aggregate and maximize the performance of performance-intensive SSD devices. With new versions of DDN's SFAOS, the company will deliver real-time quality of service and predictable latency for read-intensive applications requiring sustained data access even during system component failure events.

DDN's SATAssure+ capability enables the system to autonomously heal itself from errant SATA drive failures through intelligent fault and power management to reduce instances of SATA drive replacement by up to 80 percent, according to the company. The SFA12K will feature several new serviceability and usability features, including a scriptable API for simplified systems administration and monitoring.

"With features such as In-Storage Processing, Real-Time I/O and the Storage Fusion Fabric, DDN is sending a very clear signal that customers should not hesitate to question the status quo," said Dave Vellante, President and CEO of Wikibon. "This announcement sets the table for DDN's broader information systems agenda by blowing the doors off of its competition and establishing a baseline platform that can be leveraged for scalable, responsive and efficient Big Data storage and processing."