NetApp has announced updates to its All Flash FAS (AFF) array series that drive down the cost of flash for mainstream data center applications and reduce capacity requirements by as much as 30:1.

New software efficiency technology and higher capacity drives now make it possible for NetApp customers to get the performance of flash at the price of disk. NetApp also extended its 3X Performance Guarantee, first announced in the United States, to customers in more than 20 Asia Pacific and European countries. The company added select All Flash FlexPod models to the guarantee program as well.

“The flash market is developing quickly,” said Tim Stammers, lead storage analyst at 451 Research. “Performance of flash has always been dramatic versus disk, but enterprise management and lower prices are critical to take flash into mainstream applications.”

The NetApp AFF series delivers enterprise-grade benefits that make all-flash systems ready for broad deployment.  It is the only all-flash system to support seamless data management across flash, disk and cloud resources. This capability makes AFF arrays ideal for customers who want to boost performance in their traditional data centers while mapping out their move to a hybrid cloud model.  

“VMware and NetApp continue to empower organisations to realise great speed, flexibility and reliability in their virtual environments,” said Mark Lohmeyer, vice president, Product Management and Marketing, Cloud Platform Business Unit, VMware. “NetApp All Flash FAS with VMware vCenter Server enables organisations to quickly automate and centralise control of their virtual infrastructure. Additionally, NetApp flash paired with VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes enables customers to streamline storage operation, while VMware vSphere API for Storage Awareness provides a single unified control plane for VMware vSphere storage.” 

Customers can order AFF systems in standalone configurations and in FlexPod converged infrastructure validated designs. AFF offers NetApp channel partners an easy way to help customers transition to hybrid cloud at their own pace, without the risk of investing in unproven flash platforms.

Announcement highlights include:

• Flash for the price of disk. AFF systems now support 3.8 terabyte solid state drives, making NetApp one of the early adopters of this new form factor.  When combined with NetApp’s storage efficiency technologies, customers realise a lower $/GB cost, essentially giving them the performance of flash for the price of disk.
• New release of NetApp clustered Data ONTAP software, the only storage operating system that supports seamless data movement across flash, disk and cloud resources.  This version offers customers:

• Inline dedupe. NetApp now offers new inline deduplication capabilities for AFF, which complement existing inline compression, post processing deduplication, and other storage efficiency technologies. These provide more effective use and extend the life of flash media, especially for customers with VDI workloads. In storage test scenarios, NetApp has demonstrated the ability to reduce capacity requirements by as much as 30:1, enabling customers to transition to flash using less storage and driving down overall cost.
• Copy-free transition. This capability allows customers to shift to clustered Data ONTAP with in-place data conversion. Doing so enables an easy transition to the onramp for Data Fabric and NetApp’s advanced data protection solutions for hybrid cloud. (See related data protection news also announced today: http://www.netapp.com/us/company/news/press-releases/news-rel-20151119-338859.aspx.)  

• Extension of 3X Performance Guarantee. NetApp has extended to additional countries its guarantee of 3X increase in enterprise database performance, compared to that of traditional, non-flash disk-based. Selected All Flash FlexPod systems are also now included in the program, which is available in  the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Israel, Sweden, Japan, Australia, India, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. For more information, go to http://nt-ap.com/1POfIIE.

In addition, customers and NetApp partners can take advantage of the extended support, no-risk try-and buy, and free controller upgrade programs introduced earlier this year. Professional services, delivered by NetApp or its partners, help users identify workloads that are best served by all-flash systems, as well as identify bottlenecks in users’ existing environments.

“New efficiency innovations in our All Flash FAS line help customers realise a high return on their flash investments, making it an ideal time to increase use of flash in the core data center,” said Lee Caswell, vice president, Product, Solutions and Services Marketing, NetApp. “Customers can count on NetApp for affordable, enterprise-grade all-flash systems that are ready for broad deployment, with world-class performance and the industry’s best data management capabilities in a single solution.”

Additional resources

• Read more about customer DWD’s use of NetApp flash: http://www.netapp.com/us/media/cs-dwd.pdf.
• Register for the NetApp “Need for Speed” webcast series: http://nt-ap.com/1POgbum.
• Learn about NetApp all-flash systems: http://www.netapp.com/us/products/storage-systems/all-flash-fas/index.aspx.
• Follow NetApp at https://twitter.com/netapp.