The RamSan-500 is the first enterprise-class cached flash storage system and the fastest flash-based solid-state device currently available, according to Texas Memory Systems. Compared to a high-end hard-disk-based redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) system of similar capacity, the RamSam-500 can deliver more than 16 times the performance while using 50% less power. Available in 1- or 2-Tbyte capacities in a 4U rack-mount chassis, the RamSan-500 delivers 100,000 I/Os per second (IOPS) of sustained random read, 10,000 IOPS of sustained random write, and 2 Gbytes/s of sustained random read or write bandwidth, yet it consumes only 250 W.
The system can be SAN-attached (storage-area network) with up to eight 4-Gbit/s Fibre Channel ports. Multiple RamSan-500s can be combined to deliver additional high-performance capacity. The device is designed to look like a disk to the network or operating system. Therefore, it is highly interoperable and works in virtually any enterprise environment. It can be installed in numerous environments, including Apple OS X, AIX, Solaris, Linux, HP-UX, OpenVMS, and Windows. Hardware from Fibre Channel and InfiniBand vendors including Cisco, Emulex, Brocade, McData, Mellanox, QLogic, and LSI Logic easily interoperates with the RamSan.
Solid-state storage devices accelerate software applications such as those based on Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle databases. With solid-state disks, applications can accommodate more concurrent users and simultaneous transactions. Also, a solid-state disk can be more economical than adding monolithic RAID, servers, or RAM or performing constant application tuning.
Texas Memory Systems is now accepting orders for the RamSan-500 from existing customers. General availability is expected in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Texas Memory Systems