Samsung SSD AutoCache V3.0 Software Supports vSphere APIs for IO Filtering

Samsung Electronics, Co. Ltd. announced at VMworld 2015 its first enterprise caching software solution, the AutoCache v3.0.

As part of company’s partnership with VMware, Inc., the caching software is scheduled to be one of the first caching solutions used with the vSphere APIs for IO Filtering, supporting write-back caching in virtualized environments.

AutoCache v3.0 relieves I/O bottlenecks associated with disk drives used in data centers by transparently moving copies of frequently accessed data to SSDs, where it may be accessed quicker. It implements write-back caching, where data is first written to SSDs and then copied to disk drives. This enables the system to handle bursts of high-write requests at SSD speeds instead of disk speeds. The technology supports all types of SSDs including NVMe, SATA or SAS SSDs.

“AutoCache v3.0 provides a highly efficient way for IT managers to double, or even triple, the effective number of VMs supported per server,” said Thomas Bolt, VP, software development, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. “By improving server caching capabilities we are delivering superior storage performance for all enterprise SSDs, by simply moving the task of accessing stored data in VMs to the solid state drive itself.“

By removing the traditional I/O bottlenecks in virtual environments associated with multiple VMs accessing the storage resources, company’s AutoCache v3.0 enables a disk I/O performance increase in each VM of up to 400% or more. AutoCache v3.0 can be used to accelerate a variety of workloads and databases including OLTP, real-time big data analytics, data warehousing, business intelligence applications, VDI, public and private cloud environments and general virtualized workloads.

Providing vertical integration from storage device to host, AutoCache v3.0 streamlines the work of VMs servers, while reducing overall storage and caching costs in virtualized data centers. The technology is thoroughly transparent, enabling a smooth integration, without disrupting data center operations.

Optimized for use with Samsung SSDs, AutoCache v3.0 features DRAM caching, permitting caching to DRAM and solid state storage within the same server. In addition, a SSD clustering feature provides a caching device at each node, each of which will support a maximum of eight SSDs in a single server.

This software provides adaptive caching, whereby the AutoCache software analyzes I/O patterns to determine which I/Os will benefit from caching and automatically cache only those.

It features role-based administration, which permits IT managers to set individual access and permission policies to their IT staff.