PRO+ Premium Content/Storage
Access your Pro+ Content below.
Beat the software bottleneck by improving storage performance
This article is part of the Storage issue of May 2020, Vol. 18, No. 2
Storage systems no longer live up to their full potential. Proving this statement requires a little math. If you add up the raw performance of each drive in an all-flash array and compare it to the stated performance of that array, you will find a significant difference. The math suggests the all-flash system should be able to generate millions of IOPS, yet most can't create more than a few hundred thousand. Understanding the reason for the performance gap requires understanding storage systems architecture. Most storage systems today consist of an ecosystem of CPUs, memory, internal and external networking, storage media and storage software. The storage software is what data storage managers interact with as they provision and protect the data stored on the media. Except for the software, each component in the storage ecosystem has become faster and less latent. For example, CPUs now have more cores, storage media is flash instead of hard disk-based and networks have more bandwidth. The rise in the number of vendors within the...
Features in this issue
-
How to mold HCI appliances to workload requirements
Ensure the hyper-converged infrastructure appliance you choose matches your workload requirements -- and not the other way around -- to maximize the benefits of hyper-convergence.
-
Top infrastructure modernization strategy challenges
Increase the odds of IT modernization success by learning about the challenges and obstacles others have faced when attempting to modernize their infrastructure for their business.
News in this issue
-
SMR, HAMR and other HDD technologies you can build on
Hard disk drives could make a comeback in 2020, as new technologies such as SMR, HAMR, MAMR and dual actuators provide more capacity and speed for secondary storage.
Columns in this issue
-
Add tape backup in 2020 to boost a data protection strategy
Tape has never really gone away. But it can be useful beyond long-term archiving. Learn why IT professionals may want to consider reintroducing tape backup into their data centers.
-
Hybrid cloud ecosystem enables digital transformation
The digital economy has led to a dramatic increase in not just cloud adoption but on-premises data and workloads. Hybrid clouds seamlessly move applications and data between them.