Page 6 - GCN, Jan/Feb 2016

DATA STORAGE TECHNOLOGY SPONSORED REPORT GAME CHANGING TECHNOLOGY TO MEET AGENCY MISSIONS
Secure Storage: Always Top of Mind
CWutting Edge Storage
As always, cybersecurity is the top strategic IT priority for state and local agencies, according to the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO). Agencies have made significant progress in locking down data by moving from a perimeter- to a data-focused defense. And the type of technology a data center uses can make a significant difference in the level of data security.
What is NVMe? Non-Volatile Memory Express is a communications interface and protocol built to support solid state storage devices. It’s the standardized interface for PCIe solid state drives.
Modern storage technologies are built from the ground up with security in mind. For example, some have the intelligence to determine how specific data sets should be secured. They can automatically implement retention and storage rules required by an agency. This helps IT staff determine security parameters and maintain greater control and visibility over data.
Is it available today? The first products began shipping last summer, and more vendors are jumping on board. More than 80 vendors belong to the NVM Express consortium, and most will be offering NVMe-enabled storage, servers and appliances.
hen it comes to storage,
performance bottlenecks can cause real problems. Enter NVMe. Here is what you need to know about NVMe:
How can it improve storage performance? NVMe was built from the ground up for solid state storage, so it eliminates the performance bottleneck problems of traditional storage. Benefits include reduced latency, lower power consumption and increased input/output operations per section (IOPS). It’s expected to help flash storage become more effective than it is today. It can also co-exist with existing SATA and
SAS devices, becoming part of a tiered storage strategy.
14
30
50 plus
52
60 plus
80
500
86,000
238,000
1 million
Flash storage also has built-in security features lacking in traditional storage, such as full encryption and key management, which manages and administers all tasks related to protecting, storing, organizing and backing up encryption keys. Flash storage arrays typically provide role- based access control, which governs exactly who is authorized to access specific data sets.
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of months it takes to recoup the cost of all-flash arrays
The percentage of organizations that currently use all-flash arrays
The percentage of organizations that use some form of flash storage
The percentage of organizations that plan to add flash to support database applications
The percentage of organizations that plan to use all flash arrays by 2017
The percentage of organizations citing the need to improve application speed/performance as a reason for actively seeking a different storage solution
The average latency of a solid state drive, such as a flash drive, in microseconds. A fast hard disk drive produces random access latencies of 5 to 10 microseconds.
The average amount saved on power and cooling by implementing all-flash arrays
The average amount saved on data center rack space costs by implementing all-flash arrays
All-flash arrays are capable of as many as 1 million IOPS for read operations and about 500,000 IOPS for writes or mixed reads and writes
Flash systems automatically generate audit trail information, which provides a clear trail of who is trying to access data, what data they are attempting to access, and when the attempts were made. Those responsible for monitoring the system can then be flagged by suspicious activity. These aspects of flash storage contribute to its improved security posture.
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