Pure Storage Launches Next Generation All-Flash Storage Array

Author: Blake Dukes
Published: June 11, 2012 at 4:11 pm

Pure Storage, a company specializing in enterprise data center technologies, stands out from the crowd by focusing on flash for their storage technology. They've recently released the FA-300, the second generation of their storage arrays that use nothing but solid state hard drives. A storage array contains many different hard drives to service your storage needs.

Advantages of Flash Storage

One of the biggest advantages of flash storage is the speed. You get some of the fastest hard drive speeds from a flash drive. You also have a higher reliability factor due to the lack of moving parts. You don't have to use caching technology as a way to get more longevity from the drives, preventing even more sources of lag and slowdown.

Features of Pure Storage Second Generation Flash Arrays

The second generation Flash Array has made several improvements over its predecessor. One of the main features that they're focusing on is the availability and redundancy of your drives. One of the most crippling problems to an enterprise is hard drive failure if you don't have a good system to mitigate the problem. These storage arrays are hot swappable, have mirror NV-RAM and controllers that can also be hot swapped in the event of failure.

One argument often made against flash-based storage is the fact that it has a limited number of write cycles. Pure Storage uses FlashCare, which serves a double purpose. It acts to extend the life of the individual flash drives used in the storage array. It also reduces the latency used to retrieve data off of these drives. They estimate that the drives will last five years, and provide a warranty covering failure in that time span.

The Data Integrity Fabric used in the drives is another way Pure Storage fights the problems commonly associated with flash storage. This augments the error correction code inherent in the SSD with several other ways to keep your data intact. They have also made the storage array VMWare ready.

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