The invention of flash storage changed the way businesses and consumers store data. While traditional hard disk drives (HDD) use physical read/write heads to access data from magnetic platters spinning at high speed, flash storage systems are based on solid-state circuits with no moving parts. Depending on implementation, the latter offers highly consistent latency, superior read/write performance, and better resilience against physical abuse.
However, as with every new technology, some IT managers and businesses have been reluctant to switch to flash storage, due to its newness and higher cost. While understandable, it's worth noting that flash technology has progressed at breakneck speed, including breakthroughs in the performance and density of flash storage. As it is, many of the technological considerations of the past are no longer valid, and exploring flash storage from a cost-per-megabyte perspective ignores the lower total cost of ownership flash can bring to a business.
To understand if your organization should switch to flash storage, it's important to consider both aspects of the equation.
Debunking outdated arguments against flash
The unproven track record of yesteryear's flash storage products concerned many savvy IT managers and system administrators, making them hesitant to adopt this new storage solution. Bigger businesses were perceived as having adequate resources to dabble with flash, while many small and midsize businesses (SMBs) didn't have the luxury for experimentation due to the impact of a potential failure.
However, flash storage systems have significantly progressed since the first generation of such drives.
Now, they are considered part and parcel of IT in organizations of all sizes. According to Business Spectator, flash storage and the performance and speed it delivers can help e-commerce companies improve conversion rates, enable financial services providers to build complex analytical models faster, and make manufacturers more productive, enabling advance yield analytics and real-time supplier integration. Just as few would question the wisdom of running one's IT infrastructure on x86 virtual machine technology today, flash technology is considered mature and should be deployed whenever businesses can benefit from it.
Another initial consideration of deploying flash was the risk of incompatibility with existing consumer or server operating systems. This is critical, because NAND flash has a finite life-span in terms of the write cycles each memory cell can endure, requiring data to be deleted in large chunks. Using flash storage with operating systems that aren't SSD-aware could inadvertently reduce its life-span or deliver subpar performance.
Fortunately, this is no longer an issue, because mainstream consumer and server operating systems have been adjusted to recognize SSDs and will adapt their operation to ensure optimal long-term flash storage performance. With these developments, your data is just as safe on a flash drive as on an HDD.
Making a difference with flash storage
On the cost front, the price of flash is continually declining. According to The Memory Guy, the price is about half of what it was two years ago, and is now at a level where the majority of businesses no longer have to think twice about it. A workstation or laptop equipped with a flash storage drive will deliver a far snappier experience than an equivalent amount spent upgrading its microprocessor or random-access memory (RAM). A speedier device also translates into fewer and shorter wait times and reduced frustration. This can help drive productivity and, in turn, help organizations save money in the long run by reducing the required manpower, one of the largest components of business cost.
These advantages are extended to database and application servers, too. SMBs tend to run their database management systems (DBMS) on systems sporting conventional HDDs.
A simple upgrade to flash storage can offer a significant boost in the performance of storage subsystem dependent systems, allowing businesses to easily upgrade or extend the life-span of existing DBMS without impacting their business operations. In addition, the superior input/output operations per second also makes flash storage highly capable of dealing with the needs of application servers.
Even businesses with a lesser need for large, all-flash storage arrays can benefit from tiering their storage, so frequently accessed data is stored on flash, while older and archived data is placed on traditional HDDs. This allows for a huge performance boost with minimal capital outlay, without overhauling IT resources.
Ultimately, flash storage is now an indispensable aspect of a modern IT deployment, and it's well worth considering whether switching to flash storage can benefit your business.
No comments:
Post a Comment