OCZ Storage Solutions Launches New ZD-XL SQL Accelerator
Toshiba's OCZ Storage Solutions on Monday introduced its next generation SQL Server acceleration solution, the ZD-XL SQL Accelerator 1.5 supports. The PCI-E drive supports Microsoft SQL Server 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2 versions. It provides optimized flash acceleration for SQL Server through integration with the application and has been enriched over the previous ZD-XL 1.0 version to enable database administrators (DBAs) to unleash the full power of SQL Server 2014 features, such as flash Buffer Pool Extension (BPE) support, so that database pages can be accessed faster by loading them directly from flash.
A tight integration with SQL Server management enables acceleration at a per database level versus having to accelerate all of the databases files on disk. This provides fine granularity for selecting only those database files that need to be accelerated.
The drive's support for running SQL in a virtualized environment via VMware ESXi and Microsoft Hyper-V enables the flash resources to support multiple virtual machines (VMs) running SQL Server workloads concurrently. High Availability (HA) through the Microsoft AlwaysOn Availability Group is supported as well.
Remote flash services enable SQL Server to run on blade servers so they can benefit from the high-performance and high density of PCIe flash storage. This feature enables a remote connection over the network between SQL Server and the PCIe flash resource to deliver remote flash caching via OCZ's proprietary Direct Pass Caching Technology.
The performance increases delivered by ZD-XL SQL Accelerator 1.5 are beneficial to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as well as larger enterprises/data centers and based on database transactions per minute (TPM). Internal testing performed by OCZ delivered over one million TPMs for a sample of 50 virtual users when ZD-XL SQL Accelerator 1.5 was located in the same server as the SQL application. This represented a TPM increase ranging from 18x to 22x for a local HDD-based configuration.
For larger enterprises/data centers that use ZD-XL SQL Accelerator 1.5 in a traditional SAN storage environment, the embedded software can cache large database files from the SAN onto server-side flash either locally or remotely. As a result, ZD-XL SQL Accelerator 1.5 achieved accelerated TPM performance up to 5x dependent on the performance of the SAN and the number of virtual users supported. Though performance gains may not be as high as an SMB using a local HDD configuration, performance is improved over a SAN while keeping the data highly available.
The new ZD-XL SQL Accelerator 1.5 is available in three Multi-Level Cell (MLC) configurations supporting 800 GB, 1.6 TB and 3.2 TB storage capacities in a Full-Height/Half-Length form factor.
Specs
| PHYSICAL | |
|---|---|
| Usable Capacities (IDEMA) | 800GB / 1600GB / 3200GB |
| NAND Components | Multi-Level Cell (MLC) |
| Interface | PCI Express Gen. 2 x8 |
| Form Factor | Full-Height/Half-Length (FH/HL) |
| Storage Controller | VCA 2.0 (Virtualized Controller Architecture?) |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 126.3mm x 180.9mm x 21.6mm |
| Weight | 350g |
| SUSTAINED PERFORMANCE (based on ZD4RPFC8MT320-3200 model) | |
| Max Read | Up to 2,900 MB/s |
| Max Write | Up to 2,200 MB/s |
| Sustained Random 4K Reads | Up to 252,000 IOPS |
| Sustained Random 4K Writes | Up to 76,000 IOPS |
| Sustained Random 8K Reads | Up to 155,000 IOPS |
| Sustained Random 8K Writes | Up to 31,000 IOPS |
| ENVIRONMENTAL | |
| Power Consumption | 800GB: 18.4W Idle, 20.8W Active 1600GB: 20.3W Idle, 23.1W Active 3200GB: 20W Idle, 22.8W Active |
| Operating Temperature | 0°C ~ 55°C |
| Non-Operating Temperature | -45°C ~ 85°C |
| Airflow Requirement | 300LFM (Linear Feet per Minute) at 25°C 550LFM (Linear Feet per Minute) at 40°C |
| Certifications | RoHS, FCC , CE, BSMI, C-TICK, VCCI, KCC, UL |
| RELIABILITY/SECURITY | |
| Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) | 2 million hours |
| Endurance Rating | Minimum of 0.68PB (800GB), 1.3PB (1600GB), 2.5PB (3200GB) |
| Power Fail Protection | Full in-flight data protection for unexpected system power loss |
| Data Path Protection | End-to-end data path protection at every data juncture |
| Data Reliability | Read Unrecoverable Bit Error Rate (UBER) 10-17 |
| Data Encryption | Data compression, Data de-duplication, and AES 128bit encryption |
| Product Health Monitoring | Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) support with enteprise attributes |
| Data Recovery | In case of block failures, RAID mechanisms are used to recover data |
| COMPATIBILITY | |
| PCI Express | PCI Express x8 or x16 slot; Fully compliant with the PCI Express Electromechanical Specification Rev. 2.0, and PCI Express Base Specification Rev. 2.0 |
| Serial ATA (SATA) | SATA Rev. 2.6 compliant ATA feature set; ATA-8 compliant |
| Operating Systems | Microsoft Hyper-V Server: 2012 R2, 2012, 2008 R2 VMware vSphere ESXi: 5.5, 5.1, 5.0, 4.1 Microsoft SQL Server: 2014, 2012 R2, 2012, 2008 R2 Windows Server (64-bit): 2012 R2, 2012, 2008 R2 |
| Power Management | Supports ATA Power Management Specification |
| Power Requirement | PCIe 12V & 3.3V |
| ADDITIONAL FEATURES | |
| Performance Optimization | TRIM (requires OS support) |
| Proprietary Virtualized Controller Architecture (VCA) 2.0 | Virtualizes SSD devices into a massively parallel array of memory Consolidated SMART support |
| Upgradable Firmware | Field-upgradable firmware |
| Services & Support | 5-year warranty; Dedicated FAE support |
