Fusion-io Accelerates Virtual Desktops with ioVDI Software

At the VMworld 2013 event in San Francisco this week, Fusion-io (FIO) announced Fusion ioVDI software for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) acceleration. Based on the Fusion ioTurbine virtualization acceleration software, ioVDI expands the Fusion-io software portfolio with a virtual desktop solution optimized for flash memory.

Fusion-io seeks to deliver data faster, with hardware and software capabilities. According to the company, ioVDI delivers inline file deduplication to accelerate VDI responsiveness by reducing virtual machine disk reads over 95 percent; Transparent File Sharing significantly reduces boot times by 5x or more, enabling a fully loaded server with 200 running VMs to reboot in 8-12 seconds; and using a unique Write Vectoring feature, ioVDI eliminates latency and prolongs the life of shared storage resources by storing non-critical transient data on server-side flash rather than on shared storage.

“With ioVDI software, enterprises can finally deliver a virtual desktop experience that is just as responsive as physical hardware,” said Vikram Joshi, Fusion-io Chief Technologist and Vice President. “Writing data creates a storage bottleneck in virtual desktop infrastructure that is uniquely solved by ioVDI software. Using highly optimized algorithms, ioVDI fetches data from server-side flash, intelligently offloading most reads and up to 80 percent of the writes from primary storage to ensure ample storage resources for applications delivered virtually. Making efficient use of CPU and I/O resources with ioVDI allows for hundreds of desktops to be hosted on a single server without compromising end-user experience, which is absolutely critical to the success of VDI.”

Fusion ioVDI features flash-optimized VDI performance, transparent file sharing, write vectoring, dynamic flash allocation and flash-aware HA and VMware integration. Using servers from Cisco, Dell, HP or IBM ioVDI can be deployed and integrated with existing VAAI-compliant shared storage. It supports multiple guest operating systems, including Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8 running on vSphere 5.0 and 5.1 Virtual desktops are managed using VMware Horizon View and VMware vCenter Server, with event monitoring and customizable email alerts provided through vCenter.

“Consumer adoption of tablets and smartphones as windows to the cloud is driving wider acceptance of virtual desktops (VDI) in the workplace – but only when those virtual desktops match the performance and deliver the same experience as the physical desktops they replace,” said Tim Stammers, 451 Research Senior Analyst. “Fusion ioVDI is designed to combine the performance of server-side flash with the capacity and data protection provided by conventional back-end shared storage, using features that streamline the stack for intelligent, flash-optimized performance.”

Support for VMware Virtual SAN

Fusion-io also announced that Fusion ioMemory products are supported by and compatible withVMware Virtual SAN, which was announced at VMworld 2013. Fusion-io offers a reliable flash tier with a unique architecture that VMware Virtual SAN customers can leverage to maximize the performance of their VMware Virtual SAN deployments.

“As virtualization and cloud solutions continue to help enterprises deliver on business objectives, storage performance is an increasingly critical factor for meeting user expectations in virtualized infrastructure,” said Jeffrey Treuhaft, Fusion-io Executive Vice President of Products. “VMware Virtual SAN is a unique software-defined storage solution based on a resilient, highly available scale out architecture that intelligently eliminates performance bottlenecks with caching. By leveraging Fusion ioMemory in their VMware Virtual SAN deployments, customers can achieve superior VMware Virtual SAN peak performance using the server infrastructure of their choice.”