Infinidat is trialling a software-defined all-flash array to sit inside Infinibox.
The high-end array maker developed the software in response to the requirement of Epic Systems, a prominent US healthcare software provider, that its health records application must use all-flash arrays.
Infinidat said other unnamed software vendors also specify all-flash arrays for their applications. That rules out Infinidat, which uses disk-based architecture with memory caching in its Infinibox arrays.
But the company has developed a cunning plan to get itself considered for certification for Epic Systems and other AFA-only specifiers. In an Infinidat CrowdChat last week CTO Brian Carmody said: “We’re announcing a beta feature called ‘Epic Compatibility Mode’ for such apps. It creates a software-defined solid state array within InfiniBox.”
The Infinibox OS ensures Epic data is stored only on SSDs in the array and not on disk. This can be managed via policies for specific datasets.
It will be a memory-cached all-flash array and should still run faster than ordinary all-flash arrays. Neat.
Infinidat’s Stanley Zaffos, SVP for product marketing, said in the Crowdchat that big software vendors “often dictate that their software only run on the fastest arrays to put themselves in the best possible performance light. Oracle, for example, recommends hosting their databases on RAID1 protected storage.”
