SolidFire: The Perfect Addition to NetApp’s Flash Portfolio

SolidFire’s all-flash array is radically different from the EF-Series or AFF (All Flash FAS).

SolidFire clusters allow cloud-like scalability and simplicity. A cluster can have up to one-hundred nodes, each of which is a standard x86 system (1U rackmount with 10 internal SSDs). The entire cluster is a single pool of performance and capacity. SolidFire automatically handles all data placement, data protection, and performance. To provision a LUN, just specify the size and performance requirement (QOS). Writing 20 blocks may spray data onto 40 nodes. (SolidFire stores each block twice.) Need more space or speed? Throw in another node (or five or ten). In a few minutes, SolidFire automatically rebalances the data in your existing LUNs across the new nodes. If you have too much capacity or performance, it’s just as easy to pull nodes out. SolidFire is ideal for cloud service providers or for people building cloud-like infrastructure internally.

SolidFire’s architectural choices are elegant and made for a reason.

It’s not that there’s zero overlap between the products. All three can run Oracle databases wonderfully. But they have very different design centers: bare-metal speed, simple cloud-like scale, and powerful data services. Over time, flash is predicted to replace disk for primary storage. No single all-flash array can meet every requirement, but with this combination of products, organisations can adopt flash for almost any use-case. Adding SolidFire to EF and AFF gives NetApp the best and broadest flash portfolio in the industry.