HPE Alletra Storage Server 4110 Shatters SPECstorage 2020 Records

By Andrea Fabrizi, principal product manager, storage for AI solutions, HPE

HPE Alletra Storage Server 4110 set 5 new world records in the SPECStorage 2020 benchmarks, delivering industry-leading performance for data-driven initiatives with WEKA’s ultra-fast data platform. Check out the benchmark results.

Kudos to world’s leading data storage server for performance-intensive workloads
When it comes to performance-intensive data workloads, storage isn’t just an afterthought – it’s the backbone of efficiency. Organizations need advanced storage solutions that can seamlessly handle massive datasets, power ML models, drive heavy data AI insights, and support mission-critical applications.

Enter the HPE Alletra Storage 1U Server 4110. Powered by Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, NVIDIA ConnectX-7 network adapters and high-performance PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSDs, the Alletra Storage Server 4110 delivers unmatched speed, capacity, and reliability. This purpose-built solution has rewritten the record books, setting new world records across all 5 SPECstorage Solution 2020 benchmarks in conjunction with the AI-native WEKA Data Platform. Unlike traditional solutions, the results were achieved across the wide variety of tests using a single, consistent configuration that eliminated the need for workload-specific tuning.

Redefining performance with unmatched latency reduction
One of the most significant achievements in these benchmark results is the dramatic reduction in latency, surpassing previous records. Lower latency directly translates into faster data access, reducing delays in AI training, software builds, genomic sequencing, and semiconductor simulations.

World record-breaking benchmark results
Together, the Alletra Storage Server 4110 and WEKA Data Platform have outperformed all previous SPECstorage Solution 2020 records, delivering exceptional scalability, throughput, and latency improvements across multiple workload categories:

AI image Processing: 2.1x scalability, 2x throughput
Genomics Processing: 2.5x scalability, 2.45x throughput
Electronic Design Automation (EDA): 2.1x scalability, 2.45x throughput, 6.5x lower latency
Software Build: 1.8x lower latency
Video Analytics (VDA):1.2x scalability, 1.2x throughput, 2.4x lower latency

The results underscore the Alletra Storage Server 4110’s unmatched ability to handle the most demanding, data-intensive workloads. As the ideal platform for performance-sensitive, ultra-fast, software-defined file storage solutions like WEKA Data Platform, it transforms massive datasets into breakthrough discoveries faster than ever before.

How SPECStorage 2020 helps businesses evaluate storage performance
The SPECstorage Solution 2020 benchmark is an industry gold standard for evaluating storage system performance under intensive, real-world conditions, providing insights into how well they handle specific data types and operations. Developed by the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC), it simulates the most storage-demanding workloads and applications across industries, providing organizations with a reliable metric for comparing storage solutions.

SPECStorage workloads simulated

AI_IMAGE: AI TensorFlow image processing environments using traces from systems running COCO, ResNet50, and CityScape processing
EDA_BLENDED: Electronic design automation (EDA) environments used in the design and verification of electronic systems
GENOMICS: Full genomic data workflow simulation
SWBUILD: Software development environments, focusing on compiling and building software projects
VDA: Video data acquisition (e.g. CCTV, real-time video analytics), sustaining as many parallel streams as possible

By breaking records in these benchmarks, the Alletra Storage Server 4110 has proven its ability to handle the most data-intensive workloads, offering organizations confidence in scalability, efficiency, and ultra-fast file performance.

Alletra Storage Server 4110: The engine powering the benchmark results

Purposefully engineered for the most performance-demanding, data storage-intensive workloads, the Alletra Storage Server 4110 provides the power and efficiency customers need at ideal economics, without the expensive trade-offs of traditional storage appliances and general-purpose servers. Key features and benefits include:

Balanced Compute Performance: Dual 5^th Gen Xeon Scalable Processors with up to 3TB of DDR5 memory and Intel NUMA optimization
Ultra-fast Throughput: Up to 100 GB/s (800Gb) front-end network bandwidth, 80GT/s for data in flight across the symmetric architecture, and up to 315GB/s back-end bandwidth to storage media.
All-NVMe Storage: Up to 20 PCIe Gen5 NVMe E3.S SSDs in just 1U of rack space.
Future-ready Expansion: 4xPCIe Gen5 x16 slots of which 2 are OCP 3 and 2 are FHHL with support for GPU and FPGA accelerators
Secured End-to-End by Design: Physical bezel lock, logical Configuration Lock, Secure Boot, FIPS 140-2 Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs), and Secure Erase
Cloud Operating Experience: Consume as-a-service with HPE GreenLake Flex solutions. Simplify and automate lifecycle management with HPE Compute Ops Management reducing downtime and enabling IT to do more with less effort.

With a shared-nothing design, the Alletra Storage Server 4110 delivers the optimal balance of superior data capacity, throughput, and processing for data storage-centric workloads in an ultra-dense 1U form factor.

WEKA Data Platform: The software supercharging record-breaking performance
The WEKA Data Platform is purpose-built to handle the most demanding AI and high-performance computing workloads. Unlike traditional storage solutions, WEKA’s AI-native, parallel architecture removes performance bottlenecks, allowing applications to process massive datasets at unprecedented speeds. Its zero-tuning approach and ability to efficiently handle small and large files simultaneously with both mixed random and sequential I/O patterns ensures that organizations maximize GPU performance for faster job runtimes, improved resource efficiency, and reduced operational complexity.

With zero-tuning management eliminating the need for manual optimization, WEKA delivers high-speed, low-latency performance straight out of the box – no storage specialist required. Compatible with Intel and AMD-based HPE data storage servers, PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSDs, and leading hyperscale clouds, this software solution ensures seamless data portability and flexible deployment.

SPECstorage Solution 2020 results at a glance: Sweeping previous records

HPE Alletra Storage Server 4110 paired with WEKA, breaks all five SPECstorage Solution 2020 world records. Source: SPECstorage Solution 2020 Results as of January 28, 2025.
Note: Overall Response Time (ORT) is an indicator of how quickly the system under test responds to operations over the entire range of the tested load measuring average latency. Gains were calculated by comparing with the best previous result at time of writing.

What this means for your business
The Alletra Storage Server 4110 is built to handle even the most data-intensive applications, empowering businesses across industries to achieve faster insights, better decisions, and transformative innovation.

Here are some sample use cases:

Healthcare and Life Sciences: Accelerate critical drug discovery and genome sequencing breakthroughs by processing large datasets at record speeds, reducing time-to-market for life-saving solutions.
Financial Services: Improve fraud detection and streamline high-frequency trading processes with minimal latency, ensuring timely and precise decisions.
Autonomous Vehicles: Speed up AI model training for self-driving technology, pushing advancements toward safer and more efficient intelligent transportation.
AI Research and Development: Enable faster iteration cycles for AI model training and testing, pushing the boundaries of innovation.

With record-breaking performance and future-ready architecture, best-in-class security, and a cloud-like experience, the Alletra Storage Server 4110 is the ultimate choice for data-intensive use cases that demand uncompromising speed.

Resources:
HPE Alletra Storage Server 4110
SPECStorage Solution 2020 Results
WEKA Data Platform