4 things to consider before upgrading to all-flash storage systems

The technological world is always evolving. Newer, better, and faster technologies keep replacing the older ones. And the world of storage infrastructure is no different. Today, all-flash storage arrays are becoming the norm. If your enterprise is still using the HDDs and thinking of moving on to flash storage with an entry-level, cost-effective flash solution, then this blog can provide you with some key tips to aid your decision.

The biggest benefit that moving on to flash-based storage is the reduction of operational costs. All-flash arrays can deliver considerable capex and opex savings in terms of floor space, power, cooling, software licensing, and maintenance costs. Another benefit of flash storage is that it makes your enterprise future-ready because it is essential for the proper integration of next-gen technologies like artificial intelligence, automation, and data analysis.

There are a few crucial factors that you should keep in mind before choosing a flash system for your enterprise -

1. Capacity -

To avoid superfluous upfront costs and maintenance issues, fully understand and document your capacity requirements. Thin provisioning and in-built data reduction features, such as de-duplication, compression, and compaction will provide massive space savings without affecting performance, thus enabling you to purchase the smallest possible amount of storage capacity.

2. Performance -

A big advantage of moving from HDDs to flash is consistent high performance. Predictable performance is also crucial for next-gen data centers and small enterprises because it allows you to handle many workloads on a single system without compromising performance. SSDs deliver superior performance over HDDs in terms of all the three storage performance metrics – IOPS, Throughput, and Latency.

3. Security and availability -

Stored data needs to be managed and protected. Requirements include protection against device failure; protection against accidental data corruption; and the ability for disaster recovery. Enterprise flash drives have impressive reliability. Unlike HDDs, flash drives have no moving parts which increases their reliability.

4. Integration and adaptability -

The storage solution must integrate easily with your existing application environment. Out-of-the-box integration with enterprise applications, such as those from Citrix, Microsoft, Oracle, etc. is beneficial. Your flash solution should also be able to accommodate the future needs of your enterprise such as supporting different protocols and the ability to replicate data from flash storage to other media, either on-premises or in the cloud.

Migration to a new storage system is often the most challenging aspect of modernizing your enterprise. To reduce the risks associated with any major migration, choose a vendor who is competent and experienced. If you are looking to upgrade your storage infrastructure then feel free to consult us at – Ingram Micro. We have partnered with leading storage providers like NetApp to give our customers the best of storage solutions. A brand new storage system that meets all the above criteria is the NetApp? AFF C190. Powered by NetApp ONTAP? data management software, the AFF C190 offers a simple, smart, and secure enterprise-class flash system at an affordable price.