The HP StorageWorks IO Accelerator is a type of
solid-state drive
A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It i ...
in a
mezzanine card form factor for HP's
BladeSystem c-Class servers. This product was announced by HP on March 2, 2009.
The follow-on product, the HP StorageWorks PCIe IO Accelerator for Proliant Servers is a standard PCIe form factor, and is supported in a variety of Proliant DL and ML servers.
Specifications
The mezzanine adapter connects to the blade server using a
PCI Express
PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe or PCI-e, is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard, designed to replace the older PCI, PCI-X and AGP bus standards. It is the common m ...
×4 link, uses less than 9 watts, has bandwidth up to 800 MB/s and latency as low as 50 microseconds.
The PCIe adapter connects to the server using a
PCI Express
PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe or PCI-e, is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard, designed to replace the older PCI, PCI-X and AGP bus standards. It is the common m ...
version 1.0 ×4 link, ×8 link, or version 2.0 ×4 link, depending on model.
The IO Accelerator was initially offered in capacities of 80 GB, 160 GB, and 320 GB. The 320 GB model uses MLC NAND, whereas the other two models used SLC NAND. The 80 GB and 160 GB are now discontinued, and a new 640 GB model has been introduced. Newer models use MLC NAND.
The PCIe IO Accelerator is offered in 160 GB, 320 GB, 640 GB, and 1.28 TB capacities. It comes in two form factors: ioDrive or ioDrive Duo (two ioDrives on one PCIe card). The 160 GB is available in SLC NAND only, the 320 GB is available as either SLC Duo or MLC, and the 640 GB and 1.28 TB are both MLC Duo models.
Since the IO Accelerator is a Type-1 mezzanine card, the user can install up to 2 in a half-height blade server such as the BL460c, and up to 3 can be installed in a full-height blade server like the BL685c.
Architecture
The IO Accelerators contain technology obtained from the company
Fusion-io
Fusion-io, Inc. was a computer hardware and software systems company (acquired by SanDisk Corporation in 2014) based in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, that designed and manufactured products using flash memory technology. The Fusion was marketed ...
.
The adapter combines
NAND flash
Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
memory (either SLC or MLC) with a custom controller (beneath the heat sink) that interfaces directly to the PCI Express fabric of the server. The card has 25 channels of NAND Flash that are accessed in parallel.
Medusa Labs performance testing was performed on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 using the
IOzone benchmark tool.
Limitations
The IO Accelerator cannot be used as
boot media. Drivers are only available for Linux and Windows. Only 64-bit kernels (x86-64) are supported.
See also
*
Solid-state drive
A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It i ...
*
BladeSystem
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Io Accelerator
Computer-related introductions in 2009
Solid-state computer storage media