Unique Implementation Leverages Solid State Drives to Accelerate Performance while Minimizing Costs, Driving Increased Operational Efficiency

Isilon Systems today announced it has integrated Solid State Drives (SSDs) into its S-Series and X-Series product lines, delivering the first SSD implementation for scale-out NAS. Leveraging SSDs specifically for metadata in the new 5000S-SSD, 10000X-SSD and 32000X-SSD, Isilon brings to market a unique balance of performance and cost that accelerates metadata-intensive namespace operations such as those found in server virtualization, electronic design automation (EDA) and financial quantitative analysis, as well as traditional NAS applications such as home directories. With Isilon's new products combining SSDs and either Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or Serial ATA (SATA) disk drives, enterprise customers can speed namespace operations without the prohibitive cost implications of SSD-only systems, increasing productivity with minimal capital investment.

"As the next-generation data center becomes a reality, SSDs are already playing a critical role in transforming enterprise data storage" said Sam Grocott, VP of Marketing, Isilon Systems. "However, the majority of today's enterprise data centers are not yet fully equipped with the technology ecosystem or the budget to adopt all-SSD systems. By leveraging SSDs in combination with SAS or SATA drives, we are delivering products that address the core needs of the mainstream enterprise, while simultaneously minimizing costs."

Isilon also today announced that ARM, a leading designer of semiconductors and microprocessors, has deployed the Isilon IQ 10000X-SSD to accelerate replication of hundreds of millions of files.

"Our business never stops - 'round the clock' doesn't begin to describe the rate at which we design, manufacture and bring to market the technology companies around the world use to power digital devices and networks," said Mark Burrows, IT operations manager, ARM. "As such, data loss is simply not an option. We need to replicate our chip design data at the speed of our business and with Isilon's unique implementation of SSDs we can do exactly that, and at much less cost than was previously possible."

Isilon's new 5000S-SSD, 10000X-SSD and 32000X-SSD leverage STEC SSDs in combination with Isilon's OneFS operating system to deliver a unique blend of scalability, performance and flexibility, increasing productivity for a wide range of core enterprise applications. The key benefits of these new products include:

• Faster Namespace Operations - Leveraging SSDs specifically for metadata, while using either SAS or SATA drives for all other data, Isilon's new products significantly accelerate the namespace operations critical to many core enterprise applications. The Isilon 5000S-SSD, 10000X-SSD and 32000X-SSD deliver an 8X improvement in latency and twice the IOPS performance over Isilon's non-SSD products, increasing workflow performance and business productivity.
• Cost-effective Scalability - By combining SSDs with either SAS or SATA drives, Isilon's new products deliver increased performance for namespace operations without significant cost implications. As with all Isilon IQ systems, Isilon's new SSD products leverage OneFS to deliver 'pay as you grow' scalability that minimizes capital costs and enables enterprise businesses to scale their storage in-line with data growth.
• Diverse Workload Support - By significantly accelerating namespace operations, Isilon's 5000S-SSD, 10000X-SSD and 32000X-SSD deliver lower latency and increased IOPS for a wide range of core enterprise applications, including server virtualization, EDA and financial quantitative analysis, as well as traditional NAS applications such as home directories and data replication. With Isilon's new SSD products, enterprises can speed core application performance at minimal cost, increasing operational efficiency for a diverse group of business processes.

"SSDs are changing the storage industry, enabling new levels of performance that both speeds mission-critical applications and reduces the risk of data loss or corruption," said Scott Stetzer, vice president of technical marketing, STEC. "Isilon's use of STEC SSDs enables enterprise businesses to get more done, faster, and maximize operating leverage."

Pricing and Availability

The Isilon IQ 5000S, 10000X-SSD and 32000X-SSD are immediately available. The 5000S-SSD has a list price of $59,000 per node. The 10000X-SSD has a list price of $65,000 per node. The 32000X-SSD has a list price of $125,000 per node.