DVX Server Powered Storage System and NetShelf From Datrium

Datrium, Inc. announced the availability of DVX.

The DVX is an storage system to split server-powered speed from appliance-based durable capacity, simplifying storage performance management. A 32-host DVX with the NetShelf can reach up to one million IO/s, using data-reduced commodity server flash capacity, at a lower price than array flash

NetShelf system

Unlike other storage systems on the market today, the DVX is server-powered, not appliance – or server-only. Performance for IO and data services uses VM host cores, and data is kept on server-local SSDs for fast, off-network reads. But writes go synchronously to a network attached Datrium storage appliance, the NetShelf, where data is kept durable, allowing servers to be stateless for easier host administration. As a result, actions are isolated and localized, for simpler troubleshooting and performance scaling. All administration is VM-centric and end-to-end, reducing storage management headaches and cost.

“Enterprise IT is becoming too dynamic for the rigidity and expense of storage arrays,” said Brian Biles, CEO, Datrium. “With the DVX, Datrium is proving that storage can be as agile and simple to operate as VMs themselves and also provide phenomenal improvements in price/performance.“

Performance scaling
DVX Hyperdriver software leverages VM servers with SSDs for performance. Total bandwidth can be up to 30,000 IO/s per host using current Haswell two-socket servers. Performance achieved depends on the specific server CPU and SSDs selected by the administrator. In the current release, the DVX supports up to 32 hosts, for an aggregate one million IO/s. NetShelf D12X4 write bandwidth across a 10Gb link is up to 800MB/s, similar to a 12Gb SAS-attached drive shelf.

DVX data service functions also run on DVX hosts, so compute can scale for current features like always-on deduplication and compression, VM clone offloads and NetShelf RAID6.

Dynamic storage for Vmware
With a DVX system, enterprises can manage storage the way they manage VMs. Each VM and virtual disk can be managed discretely; there are no SAN artifacts to deal with, such as LUNs or zones, host reads are local and writes do not interrupt other hosts. If performance SLAs decay for any reason on any host, simply use standard vMotion to move a workload to a host with more resource headroom, just as one would for CPU or RAM. To upgrade the system’s performance, there is no need to upgrade the NetShelf; just upgrade servers and SSDs from your favorite server vendor. The DVX supports vSphere 5.5 and 6.0. It is on the VMware VCGfor NAS.

“What we really like about Datrium DVX is that the performance is offloaded to the host, can be isolated to the host, and can scale with the host,” said Viktor Tadijanovic, CTO, Abacus Group LLC. “The amount of I/O’s we get out of the Datrium system is just incredible. This kind of speed would allow us to run VDI and offer it for our clients, which is something we don’t offer today because we currently have multi-purpose storage.“

DVX is available in the US from company’s resellers. International sales will begin in the second half of 2016.

The DVX list price is $125,000. This includes a NetShelf D12X4 appliance and unlimited licenses for DVX Hyperdriver software on vSphere hosts. The NetShelf D12X4 appliance comes with 48TB raw, or 60, 180TB effective capacity at common deduplication and compression rates for enterprise data (2x-6x). Servers and SSDs must be purchased and supported independently.