Today, collecting and storing data for analytics processing is not a problem. The challenge is rapidly and cost-effectively analyzing that data. As a result, most organizations only examine a small portion of their data. IT needs to speed up analytics, lower storage costs, and simplify management, so that all available data can be quickly analyzed and cost-effectively stored. The result should lead to a more agile enterprise that makes better decisions.
In our on-demand webinar, StorONE and SQream partnered to explain to IT professionals how they can achieve the goal of speeding up data analytics while driving down storage costs. Our customer and partner, SQream, explained how their amazing GPU-powered software, SQream DB, enables customers to analyze massive amounts of data rapidly. They also explained how StorONE helps deliver a storage infrastructure that helps them meet their need for high-performance storage infrastructure. You can watch that webinar here.
Storage Software Can Speed Up Data Analytics
Storage solutions that specialize in the data analytics use case and data warehousing overpopulate the category. These vendors see these customers as someone that will pay anything to get the result they desire. These solutions tend to be very expensive and equally complicated.
Efficient Performance is Better Than High-Performance
The problem is, like storage systems for other use cases, these systems are very inefficient. They don’t optimally use storage media, CPU, and memory within their storage system. In most cases, they are only delivering a small percentage of the raw capabilities of the underlying hardware. As a result, these storage solutions overcompensate with new networking technologies like NVMe-oF, custom ASICs or FPGAs. They also, frequently, eliminate essential storage features like protection from media failure, snapshots, and replication.
StorONE’s S1 Enterprise Storage Platform is storage software reimagined. We started with a clean slate, and our development team focuses on delivering results to our customers. A results-first approach means fully utilizing the capabilities of commodity storage hardware. Our results-oriented approach has many benefits. One is our ability to provide 80% of the published raw performance of the storage media within the storage infrastructure.
In an SSD environment, our efficiency means we can deliver more performance per drive. We deliver this optimal performance without sacrificing essential features like protection from media failure, snapshots, or replication. StorONE, in conjunction with software like SQream DB, can deliver the performance data scientists require. Armed with this performance they can rapidly analyze large quantities of data, delivering better results to the organization.
Storage Software is Critical to Lower Storage Costs
There is another challenge organizations face as they try to speed up data analytics. How to drive down the storage costs of these environments? Providing rapid access to large quantities of old data is critical for these environments. In most cases, the larger the data set, the better the results. The problem is many organizations can’t afford to store all of their data because the storage systems are too expensive. These vendor’s storage software is too slow at processing the data. The requirement of using the latest CPUs, next-generation networks, and the fastest storage, leads to an incredibly high cost.
Efficient Resource Utilization is Better than the “Next Generation”
StorONE provides the best of both worlds. First, our S1 Enterprise Storage Platform efficiently uses and taps into the full potential of commodity hardware. Although it can fully exploit the next generation of hardware, our software delivers millions of IOPS from the current generation. Current generation hardware is also the most affordable. If you can meet your current and future with today’s technology, why pay a premium price for more expensive technology?
The ability to scale storage infrastructure is also essential. A single instance of the S1 platform can grow to over 15PB and do so cost-effectively. For example, a data analytics customer could use our, multi-tier capable, S1:Tier feature to lower costs. They could set S1 to automatically store the most actively analyzed data on high-performance MLC/TLC SSDs. They could then automatically place more read-only portions of the data set on QLC SSDs. S1 will automatically and intelligently move data between those tiers. The result is almost no performance impact but a massive cost saving.
Simplifying Data Analytics Management can Lower Storage Costs
A final challenge, as we discussed in the webinar, is that most storage solutions designed for high-speed data analytics focus only on that use case. The problem is that these solutions can typically ONLY support the data analytics use case. For the data center, these workload-specific approach means yet another storage system in the data center.
Efficient Use Case Consolidation is Better Than Point Solutions
StorONE’s S1 Enterprise Storage Platform can deliver the performance that a high-speed data analytics environment requires. At the same time, it can serve the needs of mainstream applications like Oracle, MS-SQL, and VMware. Also, it can provide file services to users to help them with collaboration. As a result, the organization can speed up data analytics while driving down storage costs. In parallel, they can also improve the performance of other workloads while driving down the storage cost for those workloads. The payback and operational efficiencies quickly become exponential as you consolidate across workloads.
It’s a Must – Speed up Analytics, Lower Storage Costs
Developing insight into business data is critical in tight economic times. That insight can help you make better decisions the first time. The right decision the first time is critical in an era when the margin for error is small. The speed at which you analyze that data to make those decisions is also critical. The problem is, in tight economic times, how to afford the storage infrastructure that supports these efforts. StorONE not only speeds up data analytics while driving down storage costs, but it also enables an organization to consolidate all workloads and benefit exponentially in terms of performance, value, and data protection.
To learn how to speed up analytics while driving down storage costs watch our on-demand webinar below:
