ACADEMIA

Fusion-io announced that load testing conducted by enterprise information protection provider Verdasys has delivered secure, scaled performance for Microsoft SQL Server. When equipped with Fusion ioMemory technology, Verdasys Digital Guardian Management Server scaled MS SQL Server from 250,000 to as many as two million users, offering a compelling data security platform for large enterprise and government organizations. In addition, the combined technologies offered as much as 720 percent performance improvements and data latency reductions when compared to systems configured with traditional storage area network (SAN) infrastructures.

"Today's governments and large enterprise organizations need to be sure that the critical data they're using is secure, no matter how many users they must scale to accommodate and regardless of how the data is being accessed," said Jim Ricotta, CEO, Verdasys. "This testing shows that when conventional SAN data storage solutions can no longer meet the scalability needs of high user counts and data volumes. Verdasys Digital Guardian running on Fusion ioMemory will deliver a solution that can ensure both security and scalability for the world's largest organizations."

The Verdasys Digital Guardian enterprise information protection platform allows businesses to put sensitive information to work while ensuring its usage is governed, controlled and audited. By enabling organizations to solve the information risk challenges that exist in today's highly collaborative and mobile business environment, Digital Guardian is trusted to provide policy driven, data-centric security.

The Fusion-io SureErase data sanitization tool is verified by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to meet Department of Defense sanitization standards, making Fusion ioMemory one of the most secure NAND flash-based technologies on the market. The recent testing of Digital Guardian servers equipped with Fusion ioDrives identified best practices in the operation of the Verdasys Digital Guardian Management Server, with the Fusion-deployed servers often performing better by several orders of magnitude.

Test findings include:

A 184% improvement between the tuned EMC/Clariion CX500 SAN configuration and the tuned Fusion-io configuration for the Bundle Processor.

The more complex the query, the better Fusion ioDrives perform compared with physical spindles on a SAN. In reporting, Fusion-io increased performance for all tests, ranging from a 44.74% to 328.57% improvement.

Fusion-io performance was between 712% and 720% better than the SAN for database restore.

For optimal performance under secure conditions, all SQL Server system databases should reside on Fusion ioDrives, not just user databases.

"In today's data driven world, organizations need to both rapidly analyze and protect data, and can't risk being slowed down by legacy technology," said Neil Carson, Fusion-io Chief Technology Officer. "The Verdasys Data Guardian solution combines sophisticated data centric security and proven Fusion-io performance to help organizations protect and power their information assets. This testing showcases the scalability of ioMemory to meet even the largest of security needs to protect high volumes of sensitive data."