Demartek Presents Solid State Storage Dinner Seminars

January 2012

In a relatively short time, solid-state storage has become a viable alternative for enterprise storage applications. It offers far superior performance over magnetic media while using much less power and creating little heat. Solid-state storage is, however, still considerably more expensive than spinning disk, so a cost-effective approach to implementation is required. In this free, multi-city, dinner seminar, Dennis Martin, President of Demartek will cover the key solid-state technologies and the specs that users need to know, along with the various implementation alternatives.

In part one of the seminar, we will explore the different types of solid state technology that are used and discuss the use cases for each. We will delve into the physics of these technologies and compare them to spinning hard disk drives, and we’ll look at the performance and capacity characteristics of each. After examining the technology, we will explore data placement techniques, including caching and tiering, and how each of these work. The following topics will be addressed:

A brief definition of solid-state storage, including DRAM and NAND flash
The three types of NAND flash — SLC, MLC and eMLC — will be described including performance and endurance characteristics
Key ways solid state differs from conventional magnetic media
Data placement strategies including caching and auto-tiering to use solid-state storage cost effectively

In part two, Dennis will focus on the specific implementation alternatives for solid-state storage. Solid-state storage is available in a number of form factors including those appropriate for installation inside a server or computer, and other types that are best suited for external, shared-storage implementations. He’ll also cover the pros and cons of each approach, as well as their specific benefits. Some solid-state storage products include features such as compression and involve other methods to help squeeze the most efficiency from these technologies. Topics addressed will also include:

Array-based solid-state storage, in mixed configurations with hard disk drives
Server-based solid-state storage implementations using the PCIe interface
All-solid-state arrays
Solid-state-based Caching appliances
How built-in compression algorithms can lower the cost per GB ratio of solid-state storage

Some performance data from lab tests comparing solid state storage and hard disk drive storage will be included in the sessions. In addition, attendees will be provided printed excerpts from the Demartek SSD Deployment Guide 2012.

Cities and Dates for these 2012 Dinner Seminars

Tue. Mar. 6 — Los Angeles, CA
Thu. Mar. 8 — Minneapolis, MN
Thu. Apr. 5 — Toronto, ON
Tue. Apr. 17 — Denver, CO

Dennis Martin will share some of this same content at Storage Decisions New York 2012 on September 24th and 25th.

Registration

Click the link to get the complete agenda and registration information for these free, dinner TechTarget Solid State Storage Seminars. Stay current with the latest news for this seminar by following the Twitter hashtag #SSDseminar.