3PAR aims to cut up to 30% off the cost of using Fibre Channel storage devices with software that automatically switches data between storage media as requirements change.
The 3PAR Adaptive Optimisation software enables company to mix-and-match their storage requirements using a combination high performance but very expensive Solid State Drives (SSDs), mid-cost Fibre Channel and low-cost enterprise SATA drives.
“We aim to reduce the total cost of ownership of storage by using very small amounts of SSD for the parts that need it. To do that you need a new kind of autonomic storage software,” said Craig Nunes, vice president of marketing at 3PAR. “What we do is create a profile for applications or data and you can define where you want the data to live: SSD, Fibre Channel or SATA.”
The data will be automatically shifted between these three storage tiers according to demand and usage, enabling enteprise and cloud data centres to use their storage media more efficiently and cost effectively. 3PAR is helping keep costs down by using a new class of power-efficient and lower cost SSD, the MACH 8 SSD.
Eventually, Nunes believes that SSD could spell the end of Fibre Channel. “A lot of IT organisations are very attached to Fibre Channel or SATA. Fibre Channel lives in between: it’s not the lowest cost and doesn’t have the highest performing capacity and Fibre Channel will find its place in the world diminishing. It won’t approach SSD in performance, but the overwhelming majority of data will be at home on SATA,” said Nunes.
