IT managers struggling to see through all-flash storage myths

A RECENT SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED, to illustrate this confusion. It was completed by a nationally representative sample of 100 IT managers from key industry sectors such as financial services, manufacturing, retail, distribution and transport and the commercial sector from across the United Kingdom.* It found thatclose to three-quarters (74%) of IT managers have a rose-tinted view of all-flash storage, despite misgivings about the cost, risk and general lack of need for all-flash arrays. The survey, conducted in February 2013 ensured that the identity of the 100 respondents remained confidential and The X-IO name was not revealed during the interview to ensure the data remained unbiased.

As many as 76% believed the myth that all-flash arrays are faster than hybrid (mixed flash and hard disk drive) arrays. But while flash can undoubtedly assist with lowering latency for random reads, it can often be the same or even slower than well designed hard disk arrays under some workloads, particularly sequential writes.

A similar number accepted that all-flash solutions used less power and cooling compared to hybrid storage. But real-life testing by numerous users has found hybrid arrays to be much more energy efficient than all-flash arrays in like-for-like evaluations. Flash modules/SSDs usually draw less power as raw components than HDD, but enterprise storage arrays are not just raw storage. They use powerful processors and cache memory is also needed in some designs, both of which require both power and cooling. On average, all-flash arrays draw double the amount of power and require more cooling than true hybrid arrays.

Two in five (40%) respondents believed all-flash arrays provided a higher degree of reliability than hybrid arrays based on marketing messages from all-flash vendors that HDDs are unreliable. But this is not the case. Some enterprise storage vendors have been guilty of using the wrong tool for the job by relying on consumer grade SATA drives to cut supply chain costs, causing hard disk drives to be seen as problematic. When issues with flash media are taken into account, particularly with cell failure on NAND silicon, flash arrays usually have shorter duty cycles than hybrid storage.
It’s clear IT managers are unaware of the truth behind these all-flash myths. Many vendors are trying to convince customers and resellers that hard disks are outdated technology and flash is the most appropriate media for all use cases. The truth is that hybrid storage is the practical option that offers the best of both worlds by combining the advantages of flash with the established benefits of hard drives.

The good news is that despite the relentless marketing bombardment from all-flash supporters, IT managers are still very much aware of the practical realities associated with adopting their products. Three-quarters of them identified the high cost associated with all-flash arrays as the single biggest barrier to deployment, should they consider it in the first place.

Over half of them (56%) had concerns about all-flash arrays being new and unproven and many were concerned about the use of consumer-grade flash in enterprise products. A whopping 99% were adamant they would not permit an all-flash array using consumer-grade flash in their organisation.
Many remained to be convinced of the requirement for all-flash arrays. Nine out of ten believed their organisation did not need the levels of performance promised by all-flash array vendors to justify the investment. In fact, the survey found the average most-intensive application peak was 54,000 IOPS, with just 10% of businesses peaking above 100,000 IOPS.

A very large majority (73%) said they would still select a traditional hard disk drive (HDD) with SSD cache or hybrid (flash and HDD) storage solutions over a flash-only array. Only 15% of those surveyed believed an all-flash array was ideal for their business needs today, suggesting hybrid and HDD with cache arrays were almost five times more popular than all-flash.

IT budgets are currently under tight restrictions, IT managers need to implement a storage solution which provides the right amount of performance required whilst remaining cost effective. In time, storage architects and buyers will realise flash is a tool rather than a solution. But in the meantime, it won’t stop some users getting their fingers burnt in the world of storage sales, a place where people push hard to close deals that often fail to offer the best solution for a customer’s needs. It is up to the storage industry to help customers and resellers understand the strengths and weaknesses of each type of storage, helping people cut through the hype.

*The survey data was collected via an online survey completed by a nationally representative sample of 100 IT managers from key industry sectors such as financial services, manufacturing, retail, distribution and transport and the commercial sector from across the United Kingdom. The survey was prepared on behalf of Vanson Bourne and conducted in February 2013. The identity of the 100 respondents will remain confidential, in accordance with the Vanson Bourne Code of Conduct. The X-IO name was not revealed during the interview to ensure the data remained unbiased.