Fusion-io Marries SSD, SDN With ION Accelerator

Fusion-io (FIO) announced its new ION Data Accelerator software that boosts the performance of applications that need access to shared data while enhancing existing enterprise storage infrastructure.  From a 1U server, Fusion ION software delivers over a million I/Os per second with up to 6 GB/s throughput and under 0.06 millisecond latency.

ION delivers improved performance over Fibre Channel, InfiniBand and iSCSI using standard protocols. The Fusion ioMemory architecture enables ION performance to scale even further over time as server and networking solutions speed up through new technology developments. Fusion-io said ION can enhance storage area networks (SANs) by addressing "hot spots" and bottlenecks created by demanding applications, which can slow down shared storage systems.  By moving these hot spots to ION, the storage array can provide faster, more predictable performance, allowing the storage array to focus on managing large capacities of enterprise data.

“When I first started working with Fusion-io, I was impressed how our engineers were so focused on using software to advance modern computer systems,” said Fusion-io Chief Scientist Steve Wozniak. “Powerful software can be the foundation for incredible innovation, especially when it’s also an open system that shares resources. I am excited that our new ION software shares ioMemory acceleration across the datacenter to help customers keep meeting the data demands they face on the application side of the Internet.”

As a way to combine Fusion ioMemory products the ION software and and high performance servers create an open platform appliance for shared data acceleration. ION includes features such as the creation of RAID sets, LUN creation and management, SNMP, performance monitoring, and more. It provides 1,000,592 4K random IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) with up to 6 GB per second throughput and 56 microsecond latency in a 1U server. The Fusion ION Power Cut Safety feature ensures data is not at risk in case of an unexpected power outage or server failure.

'At the Forefront" of SDN Movement

“Software defined solutions are rapidly replacing specialized hardware throughout the data center, and Fusion-io has been at the forefront of this transition since our founding,” said David Flynn, Fusion-io CEO and Chairman. “ION software combines customers’ preferred server platforms and ioMemory to deliver greater performance than even dedicated flash appliances, while also improving the efficiency of high performance storage arrays. With ION, Fusion-io is offering a comprehensive portfolio of software defined data acceleration solutions, including server acceleration, caching acceleration, and now shared storage acceleration, giving customers maximum choice over how they architect ioMemory into their software defined datacenter.”

One of the first resellers to offer integrated ION solutions is Hyve Solutions, a division of SYNNEX.  Hyve has worked with Facebook on its custom servers, and became the first company to achieve Open Compute Project (OCP) Solutions Provider status.

“Fusion-io offers unmatched performance within the server," said Steve Ichinaga, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Hyve Solutions. "In some cases, an appliance solution may be desired to provide high performance shared storage. We are excited about combining our expertise in custom server design and integration with Fusion-io technologies to bring this new high performance storage solution to the market.”