Enterprise Storage
Stack (ESS) is the only commercially
available software solution which lets
you build Enterprise class mass storage
with Commercial grade and read-intensive SSDs. We achieve
this cost-saving goal by reducing the
wear-amplification associated with SSDs,
as well as reducing data amplification
associated with Raid-structures and file
systems.
FTL Wear
Reduction. ESS writes clusters
of random writes, together with their
metadata, in a perfect linear stream.
ESS also supports trim and virtualized
empty blocks, creating free space to
optimize performance and wear.
Commercial grade SSDs normally have a
wear amplification ranging between 8:1
and 13:1 depending upon free space, the
same drives run with ESS typically
experience wear amplification of only
1.3:1, due to their patented, unique
methods of consolidating change and
amplifying free space.
Raid Wear
Reduction. ESS writes perfect
Raid-5 or Raid-6 stripes as a complete
chunk. This causes Raid-5 arrays to last
nearly twice as long, and Raid-6 array
to last nearly three times as long.
Compression
Wear Reduction. Compression,
like virtualization, reduces the number
of writes, and the amount of space
needed to store data. ESS compression is
very efficient and not only lets you
store more, it also wears the drives
less. ESS is particularily good at
reducing wear created by file system
control blocks and journals, which are
highly compressible.
Comparing
Results: ESS literally makes
flash last longer, much longer. When
looking at the complete stack, we see a
6x-10x improvement versus a stock
consumer SSD FTL, 2x-3x for RAID, and up
to 3x for file system induced writes. In
the end, a consumer SSD can last up to
30-45 times as long as the same SSD, in
the same array, with the same workload
using standard Linux disk management
utilities.
Lower Build
Cost, Extend Life, or Both: ESS
lets you use fewer, less expensive SSDs while
maintaining life. How long your array
will last still depends on your workload
and the array size, but ESS gives you
longer life from lower endurance media.
