Fusion-io Flash-Aware Compression Boosts Capacity for MySQL

The new flash aware NVM Compression Interface from Fusion-io (FIO) doubles the capacity of ioMemory flash and boosts performance for Percona Server and Oracle's MySQL and MariaDB databases.

Collaboration to double usable capacity for MySQL

Fusion-io announced a collaboration with Oracle (ORCL) on the development of flash-aware interfaces for MySQL. These interfaces include NVM Compression, a flash-aware interface that can double the usable capacity of Fusion ioMemory flash while eliminating the performance impact associated with disk-era compression and Atomic Writes, an interface that enables more efficient database commits when running on flash memory. Together, these flash-aware interfaces allow MySQL to deliver up to 4x more flash endurance by streamlining commands to help optimize databases for persistent flash memory architectures.

“Flash-aware interfaces like NVM Compression and Atomic Writes underline the significant divide between flash as a memory and flash SSDs,” said Fusion-io Chief Technology Officer Pankaj Mehra. “The value of enterprise flash memory is maximized as a memory tier that enables unique optimizations for cloud computing, big data, in-memory databases and high volume transactions. Fusion-io is pleased to collaborate with Oracle to make these interfaces available to the businesses that use MySQL database every day.”

The NVM Compression and Atomic Writes interfaces are now available in the MySQL 5.7.4 Development Milestone Release. usion ioMemory platforms for MySQL database acceleration are available from server vendors including HP, Cisco, Dell, IBM, and Supermicro.

“Oracle continues to lead MySQL innovation and is working with Fusion-io to deliver flash-aware application performance,” said Tomas Ulin, vice president of MySQL Engineering, Oracle. “The flash aware interfaces introduced by Fusion-io update disk-era commands with code streamlined for flash memory operations, significantly reducing latency and accelerating performance for modern web, cloud and embedded applications. Solutions like the flash-aware NVM Compression and Atomic Writes interfaces continue to push the boundaries of performance and efficiency for MySQL deployments around the world.”

Double capacity for Percona and MariaDB

Fusion-io also announced that testing conducted by MariaDB database developer SkySQL showed that using the NVM Compression interface with the Fusion-io nonvolatile memory file system (NVMFS) doubled the useable capacity of the ioMemory server flash available to the database without affecting performance. In addition, the well-defined interface of NVM Compression allows developers to quickly introduce flash-aware compression to their applications using versatile workload-optimized compression algorithms.

Once integrated into an application, NVM Compression enables developers to help enterprises scale their IT infrastructure to meet increasing data demands by effectively balancing storage efficiency with customer workload performance requirements. The NVM Compression and Atomic Writes interfaces are now in early access testing in MariaDB 10 and Percona 5.6.

“Database compression provides the valuable ability to store more information in a limited storage capacity and reduces TCO of database management systems," said Peter Zaitsev, Percona CEO and Co-founder. "We recognize Fusion-io’s continued leadership in providing hardware level storage optimization for databases and leverage that expertise when possible. We integrated both the flash-aware NVM Compression interface and Atomic Writes into Percona Server to ensure maximum capacity as well as maximum performance when used with Fusion-io flash memory products. We see this as enabling Percona Server users to enjoy lower total ownership costs and enhanced performance."

“Solutions like the flash-aware NVM Compression and Atomic Writes interfaces integrate powerful software-defined features that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of modern IT architectures, making flash an even more essential addition to the data center,” said Eric Burgener, Research Director for IDC's Storage Practice. “While much of the rest of the industry is looking at flash as a replacement for disk, these flash aware interfaces emphasize how Fusion-io is architecting flash as a replacement for memory.”