HPE 3PAR StoreServ 9450

On May 24, Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced the upcoming launch of HPE 3PAR StoreServ 9450. This is an older model completely built on flash technology in the HPE middle-class array segment, with a performance of about 2 million I / O operations per second with a response time of less than one millisecond, with bandwidth up to 34 GB / s and scalability up to 18 petabytes of usable capacity (including deduplication and compression).

We tell in more detail about the novelty, as well as how the 3PAR arrays in the Gartner study of the critical characteristics of storage systems were evaluated.

The new arrays complement (rather than replace) the HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8000 family, which is designed for smaller organizations and provides the best total cost of ownership in the industry.

Before this announcement in the middle segment, the most powerful model of the 3PAR was the StoreServ 8450. If we compare the maximum characteristics of the arrays, we get the following table:

	8450	9450	Change
Number of controllers	2 - 4	2 - 4	-
The number of processors (cores)	2 - 4 (40)	4 - 8 (80)	100%
ASIC number	2 - 4	4 - 8	100%
Ports 16Gb Fiber Channel	4 - 24	0 - 80	230%
Ports 10Gb iSCSI Ports	0 - 8	0 - 40	400%
Ports 1Gb Ethernet IP Ports	0 - 16	0	-
Ports 10Gb Ethernet IP Ports	0 - 8	0 - 24	300%
Built-in ports for IP replication	2 - 4 (1GbE)	2 - 4 (10GbE)	-
Cache size per controller / system	192/384	448/896	130%
SSD number in array	6 - 480	6 - 576	20%
SSD number in base rack	480 SFF	384 SFF	-20%
Raw capacity	3351 TB	6000 TB	79%

Since February 2017, 3PAR storage systems have been using the all-inclusive licensing scheme , which allows customers to use the entire rich spectrum of controller software functionality at no additional cost.
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The HPE 3PAR StoreServ 9000 system is fully ready to use new types of memory and protocols. In December 2016, at the Discover conference, Hewlett Packard Enterprise demonstrated a working prototype of 3PAR, using Intel Optane SSD with NVMe protocol connection. The test results show a 50% reduction in access time and an 80% increase in I / O compared to the base model. Upgrading the HPE 3PAR StoreServ 9000 Storage Class Memory drives will not require any changes in the basic configuration.

The HPE 3PAR StoreServ architecture implements all the industry-known storage optimization techniques that reduce the cost of usable capacity on flash drives. HPE 3PAR Adaptive Data Reduction technology includes Zero Detect, online deduplication, compression, and compressed data packaging. A radical reduction in flash memory costs is possible without any compromise in performance or reliability, thanks to the hardware implementation of most algorithms in specialized 3PAR ASIC chips.

More details about the new product in the HPE 3PAR StoreServ family will be discussed at a webinar on June 28th . Register or look in the record.

Gartner: not only quadrants

In connection with the release of new arrays, it makes sense to recall the study of the critical characteristics of storage systems, conducted by Gartner . When it comes to Gartner, everyone usually recalls “magic quadrants.” Quadrants are simple and intuitive. The report “Critical Capabilities for General-Purpose, Midrange Storage Arrays” is somewhat more interesting because it reveals in more detail what exactly independent consultants think about storage systems from different manufacturers. The report “prepares” 8 characteristics of arrays:

• Manageability (manageability, automation, monitoring, reports, management console);
• RAS (reliability, availability, service);
• Performance (performance, number of I / O operations per second, throughput, response time);
• Scalability;
• Ecosystem (integration with business applications, backup software, support for hypervisors);
• Multitenancy & Security (support of heterogeneous workloads, their isolation, access level control and auditing);
• Storage Efficiency (raw / usable capacity ratio, TCO).

These characteristics are evaluated for each array with different weights in different usage scenarios:

• Consolidation (how the array will behave when consolidating various applications on the same platform);
• OLTP (array operation in the most critical business applications like ERP and DBMS);
• Server Virtualization & VDI (for server and desktop virtualization);
• Analytics (analytics and Big Data)
• Cloud (private, public hybrid clouds).

In this report, 3PAR ranks first in all use cases. Independent analysts at Gartner argue that 3PAR is the best array for any load profile (and they have not yet investigated 9450). We will not argue with this statement :)

Materials:

1. The Storage Industry's First Triple-Double: HPE 3PAR StoreServ 9450 (Matt Morrissey blog, HPE Storage)
2. 3PAR Receives Higher Product Scores in 5th Gainner Critical Capabilities Report. Again. (Jorge Maestre blog, HPE Storage)