Coraid Etherflash Cache

Coraid Inc., developer of Ethernet SAN solutions with more than 1,500 customers worldwide, unveiled Etherflash Cache, a programmable cache that uses SSDs to accelerate read performance for demanding server virtualisation, web, database and email applications.

Users can provision and then rapidly re-assign application priorities in the cache to provide a performance boost to the applications that need it most.
 
"The explosive growth of dynamic virtualised and cloud architectures has made ensuring application service levels ever more challenging," said Doug Dooley, VP, product management, at Coraid. "Software-defined storage platforms combine smart software and scale-out commodity hardware like SSDs to get the right resources to the right application at the right time. Etherflash Cache allows operators of cloud infrastructures to dynamically apply policies and priorities to applications."
 
Customisable Storage Ensures Application Service Levels
Traditional storage solutions provide performance flexibility during initial configuration, but once an application has been fielded, reconfiguration for greater performance is complex and cumbersome. As a result, many customers are forced to perform expensive ‘forklift upgrades’ of their storage systems to meet application requirements.
 
Etherflash Cache uses a real-time caching algorithm to ensure that the most frequently read data is served from high-performance flash SSDs. The solution is flexible enough that customers can customise the cache to meet particular SLAs. Priorities can be set per storage volume, enabling an efficient process for configuring cache policies. Customers can add multiple SSDs to scale out cache capacity over time.
 
For example, if an application requires excess processing capacity at the end of each month, the user can customise Etherflash Cache to allocate more cache resources to this application just for the period of time required. This way, SLA requirements can be met without over- provisioning storage and increasing costs.
 
"We continue to be impressed with the raw performance and ease-of-use of Coraid’s EtherDrive SRX platform," said ShaColby Jackson, director of network operations at Blue Jeans Networkhttp://bluejeans.com. "A customisable flash cache in the EtherDrive SRX will help us meet the stringent performance requirements of our cloud-based video conferencing service while staying within budget."
 
Coraid Etherflash Cache will be available autumn 2012.