Western Digital's new NVMe SSD is a potential solution to unstructured data nightmares

Image: Western Digital

Western Digital precocious announced the availability of a new NVMe coagulated authorities drive (SSD) that WD's VP of lawsuit and endeavor SSDs for the flash concern unit, Eric Spanneut, called "the cleanable caching solution" for high-capacity NAS environments. 

The thrust isn't meant to regenerate the stack of drives that unrecorded successful a NAS, but it is meant to enactment arsenic the big thrust that caches files and handles the transportation betwixt the NAS and the network. For SMBs, NAS units tin beryllium the backbone of their section information storage. In galore cases, a modular SSD is capable to grip absorption of a NAS, but not always, said Spanneut. 

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"SMBs request robust systems that are businesslike and intuitive to manage, and successful galore cases they request immoderate benignant of infrastructure on-premises. A NAS solution tin payment SMBs of each sizes, providing the performance, capableness and reliability they need. For much precocious and show intensive applications, however, the NAS strategy volition request a boost," Spanneut said. 

In comes the SN700, a gum-stick-sized SSD that's acceptable to gaffe into the NVMe-ready M.2 slot connected galore existent NAS enclosures. In presumption of performance, the WD Red SN700 NVMe SSD tin reportedly present up to 3,430 MB/s of information transportation (more than 5 times a modular SSD), is optimized for 24/7 workload environments, and is offered successful sizes betwixt 250 GB and 4 TB, with prices starting astatine conscionable $64.99.

Are high-performance SSDs indispensable for NAS units?

Julia Palmer, probe VP astatine Gartner, says that the magnitude of unstructured data is increasing astatine a complaint of 30% per year. Considering unstructured information is determination astir 80% of the information a institution possesses, the magnitude of accusation piling up tin beryllium vast. 

The bulk of that data, Palmer said, ends up connected modular hard drives due to the fact that latency successful retrieving said information isn't typically a problem. "Unstructured information maturation is accelerating and requires robust solutions. However, not each of the information needs debased latency and precocious performance, arsenic the bulk of unstructured information is inactive being stored connected hard drives, particularly erstwhile we are talking astir Petabyte standard implementations," Palmer said. 

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NAS-assisting hardware, similar the SN700, could beryllium a cardinal portion of unstructured information strategies arsenic businesses of each sizes proceed to get useful, but copious and hard to parse, data. In the lawsuit wherever information retention latency isn't a problem— but wherever a ample cache would marque managing said information easier — a WD Red SN700 NVMe SSD whitethorn beryllium conscionable what your NAS needs to marque that information much accessible without upping retention costs.   

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