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Solution Brief
HGST Ultrastar™ enterprise-class
solid state drives (SSDs) connected
to LSI® MegaRAID® 6Gb/s SAS+SATA
RAID controller cards deliver un-
compromised acceleration to low
latency solutions, and help drive
down operating costs and capital
expenditures.
It can be a daunting challenge to provide access to high-performance storage for continuously
growing volumes of data. While CPU performance has continued to increase, improvements to
hard disk drive (HDD) speed have not kept pace resulting in an “I/O bottleneck”. Modern data
centers need storage solutions that can provide applications such as databases and on-line
transaction processing (OLTP) with the high-performance data access that they require while
managing costs and return on investment (ROI).
Historically, the way to increase the overall IOPS performance and capacity of a storage array
is to increase the number of disks in the array. Each drive in the array is capable of reading and
writing a given amount of data per second. The more drives that are in the overall array, the
more aggregate data that can be written to or read from the array. However, the problems
with this solution are significant. First, even though more drives offer better performance and
greater capacity, more drives also mean more complexity and increased management costs.
Second, the potential for failure increases, as additional system components are added.
Short stroking is a method that has been used in HDDs to achieve higher performance in
high I/O and random access environments. HDDs have lower performance in random access
environments because of the time required to physically re-position the read/write heads
during use. Short stroking is a method by which data is only stored on one area of the platter
to limit the distance the head must move. While this can certainly improve random I/O
performance it also significantly reduces the available capacity of the drive. Capacity loss of 90
percent is not uncommon in short-stroke environments.
It turns out a better way to increase performance in the enterprise is not to add more HDDs or
to short stroke the ones that are there. A good solution is to add SSDs.
SSDs offer significant improvements over traditional HDDs in terms of potential per-disk
throughput, power consumption and IOPS. A single SSD can deliver the performance of
multiple HDDs and can reduce power consumption by up to 90 percent on a per drive basis.
SSDs can be used to create complete high-throughput arrays or they can be added as cache
to existing HDD-based arrays to increase overall performance. Still, as fast and efficient as SSDs
may be, deploying them successfully requires that the appropriate type of SSD be chosen and
used correctly in each operating environment.
Choosing the Right SSDs
There are a great number of SSDs available on the market today. These SSDs have been
engineered using different types of flash technology to provide a number of unique features
and benefits to each particular market segment. When choosing enterprise-class SSDs for
LSI and HGST accelerate database applications with Enterprise RAID and Solid State Drives
Solution Brief
HGST Solution Brief | 2
highly transactional applications, it is imperative to choose the right type of drive to meet
performance, endurance, and reliability expectations. Key features to look at when choosing
SSDs are write endurance and the type of cell technology used.
With SSDs, write endurance is used to identify the number of write operations that a specific
drive can support. Unlike rotating disk media, flash memory (NAND) has a set limit to the
number of writes that can be performed. Once that write limit has been met, information can
no longer be written to the flash NAND. It should be noted that although the flash NAND will
not accept new writes, information can still be read from it.
SSDs are built using a type of NAND flash technology known as single level cell (SLC) or multi-
level cell (MLC) technology. Technically, the difference between these two types of flash has to
do with the number of bits that can be written to a cell, which is the smallest unit of measure
for flash memory. SLC flash will allow for a single bit to be written to a given cell, while MLC
allows two or more bits to be written to a cell. While that may seem like a small difference, from
a practical standpoint, the differences between these two technologies are profound.
When compared to MLC, SLC-based flash allows for substantially higher write performance,
write endurance, and data retention. On average, SLC technology offers 30 percent higher
write performance than MLC. Write endurance for SLC can be 10x that of MLC with twice the
data retention time. In contrast, MLC can come with a cost that is half that of SLC and MLC can
offer as much as twice the capacity.
The result is that given the higher performance and greater cost, SLC technology, is used in
environments with high IOPS and write-intensive workloads. MLC is generally regarded as an
ideal solution for read-intensive applications.
The performance difference among SSDs can be significant. To be able to withstand
demanding enterprise applications and environments, SSDs must be designed to provide
consistent 24x7 performance over the life of the drive. When comparing the performance
specifications of SSDs, it is critical to ensure that the numbers quoted are using steady-state
figures. When SSDs are used for the first time, they exhibit extraordinarily high performance,
but only for a short time. This is known as Fresh-Out-of-the-Box (FOB) performance. After a
period of use, the drives will transition to their steady-state phase in which they will deliver
performance that is representative of what the device will offer for the life of the drive. All
HGST enterprise SSD performance figures are published using steady state figures.
Getting the most out of SSDs
Successfully using flash-based technology in a high-throughput, transactional environment
is not simply a matter of choosing the right SSDs and adding them to an array. To meet
performance and reliability demands of enterprise class applications, the right type of SSDs
not only need to be used, they must also be used in the correct fashion.
There are two effective ways to deploy SSDs. The first is to use SSDs to create a complete
storage array. Using SSDs for the storage array can offer extreme high-performance read and
write data access. Power and cooling requirements for this type of storage can be a fraction
of that required for traditional HDDs resulting in a green solution with significantly improved
ROI. The drawback to this type of solution is that a pure SSD array will offer significantly less
available capacity than a HDD-based array with a comparable number of drives at a given price
point.
Solution Brief
HGST Solution Brief | 3
The second option for adding SSDs to a storage environment is to use them as cache for a
traditional HDD array. This allows for the SSDs to be used for high performance access to
cached data, while still offering the higher capacity of traditional hard drives. Whichever option
is required, LSI has a solution to improve overall performance and reliability.
Fast Path Software
LSI MegaRAID FastPath software is designed to get the best possible performance from
a pure SSD array. This advanced software is a high-performance I/O accelerator for SSDs
connected to select 6Gb/s MegaRAID controllers . This software is an optimized version of
MegaRAID technology that can dramatically boost storage subsystem and overall application
per¬formance — particularly those that demonstrate high random read/write operation
workloads — when deployed with a 6Gb/s MegaRAID SATA+SAS controller.
Ideal for applications with small and random I/O patterns that require high transactional
throughput, such as OLTP, the Fast Path software significantly boosts server application
performance levels for real-world workloads. MegaRAID controllers with Fast Path software
disabled are limited to 80,000 IOPs, while application performance improves by up to 45
percent with Fast Path software enabled
CacheCade Pro 2.0 Software
A hybrid storage solution is not simply a matter of deploying both SSDs and HDDs. It requires
that the right data be stored on the right device, every time. This can be achieved by taking
advantage of the MegaRAID CacheCade® Pro 2.0 software. This advanced software allows IT
administrators to easily combine SSDs and HDDs, while avoiding manual storage management
and in-house application tuning costs for the best possible balance of performance and total
cost of storage ownership.
CacheCade Pro 2.0 is an advanced software option for select 6Gb/s MegaRAID SATA+SAS
controllers that intelligently and dynamically manages frequently-accessed data by migrating
it from HDD volumes to a higher performance layer of SSD cache. Directing the most
accessed data (‘hot spot’) to flash cache relieves the primary HDD array from time-consuming
transactions, which allows for more efficient hard disk operation, reduced latency, and
accelerated read and write speeds. This provides significant improvements to overall system
performance -- two to 12 times that of HDD-only configurations –for a wide variety of server
applications including web, file, online transaction processing (OLTP) database, data mining
and other transaction-intensive applications.
Application Acceleration Across Business Critical Workloads
CacheCade Pro 2.0 software is the industry’s first software solution that offers both read
and write controller-based caching on SSDs, dramati¬cally enhancing the performance
gains achieved by the previous generation CacheCade software. With the addition of write
caching support, read/write-intensive workloads such as Exchange server, high performance
computing (HPC) applications, Web 2.0 and other IO-intensive OLTP database system
workloads, experience dramatic performance improvements.
CacheCade Pro 2.0Cache Pool
Hot Data
Mirror
Cold Data
Solution Brief
HGST Solution Brief | 4
Key Components
LSI MegaRAID Fast Path Software
• Upto150,000I/Oreadspersecondforsmall,randomblock-sizeI/Oactivity
• UptotwotimesfasterthansolutionsnotusingMegaRAIDFastPathsoftware
• LSISSDGuard™preventativefailureprotectionforSSDs
LSI CacheCade Pro 2.0 Software
• OutstandingperformancebyusingSSDsfor“Hot”datainvariousapplications
• Reducedpowerandfootprintrequirementsindatacenters
• Dramaticimprovementinapplicationperformance,includingMicrosoftExchange,
transactional databases and web servers, and hypervisors
HGST Ultrastar SSD400S Solid State Drives
• HighestEndurance:Upto35PBofrandomwritesoverthelifeofthedrive,basedonSLC
NAND technology for demanding Tier 0 write-intensive workloads
• Extremeperformance:41K/21KIOPSRandomR/W,upto100timesfasterthanHDDs
• ConfigurationFlexibility:Choiceof4GbFCALorSAS6Gb/sforinvestmentprotection
• Capacitypointsof100G,200Gand400GSSDdrives
• BestIOPS/WatttoreduceTCOinSLCclassdrives
• AdvancedPower-lossDataManagementtechnology
• T10End-to-endDataProtection
HGST Ultrastar SSD400M Solid State Drives
• HighEndurance:Upto7.3PBofrandomwritesoverthelifeofthedrive,basedon
MLC NAND technology for a cost-effective alternative to SLC in Tier 0 server & storage
environments
• ExtremePerformance:56K/24KIOPSRandomR/W,upto100timesfasterthanHDDs
• OutstandingReliability:SAS6Gb/ssupportsdualportforenhancereliability
• BestIOPS/WattforreducedTCOinMLCclassdrives
• AdvancedPowerlossDataManagementtechnology
• T10End-to-endDataProtection
• SupportTCGself-encryptingmodelsdesignedtoEnterprisespecifications
Solution Brief
HGST Solution Brief | 5
Product Overview – LSI
As storage demands continue to grow, the cost, performance, security and energy efficiency
of your storage components are even more important. With every MegaRAID product, LSI
deliversvalueinourfourcornerstonesofleadership:FeaturesandUsability,DataProtection
and Availability, Performance, and Green.
LSI offers a complete selection of 3Gb/s and 6Gb/s SATA+SAS MegaRAID controllers for direct
attached storage (DAS) connectivity. The 6Gb/s SATA+SAS RAID controllers deliver significant
performance improvements for both 3Gb/s and 6Gb/s systems. The full MegaRAID product
line-up includes entry, value and feature products, ranging from 4 to 28 ports in a variety of
internal and external connector configurations. If you choose to go with the entry line first,
you can more easily migrate to the MegaRAID value or feature line with MegaRAID Storage
Manager™software.
The MegaRAID 9200 series of controllers featuring the LSISAS2108 6Gb/s SAS RAID-on-
Chip (ROC), double the data transfer rates of their 3Gb/s predecessors. The superior read/
write performance makes them well suited for a broad range of application workloads, from
data center applications such as email and database servers to more compute-intensive
applications such as streaming video, OLTP and data archival.
Product Overview – HGST
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST), now a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Digital
Corp., offers a full line of Ultrastar HDD and SSD Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Fibre Channel
(FC) storage solutions that support the enterprise ecosystem where HDDs and SSDs have to
integrate seamlessly, side-by-side in tiered storage environments.
Leveraging more than 50 years of design and qualification experience, HGST’s enterprise-class
HDDs and SSDs work together, providing simple, scalable and flexible solutions that ensure
system compatibility and ease of integration into new or existing enterprise storage systems
or designs. This synergistic relationship helps IT managers seamlessly build end-to-end
enterprise-class storage solutions that deliver the reliability, compatibility, capacity, cost and
performance needed to help reduce TCO in terms of overall time, resources and investment in
creating tiered storage solutions.
The Ultrastar MLC and SLC SSD family combines HGST’s proven enterprise HDD leadership with
Intel’s extensive capabilities developing high-endurance NAND flash memory and advanced
SSD technology. Through this collaboration, the HGST Ultrastar family brings together
enterprise-grade NAND flash, proprietary endurance firmware and power loss management
techniques to extend the reliability, endurance and sustained performance needed to meet
the most demanding Tier 0 enterprise applications.
HGST is consistently ranked as a leading storage supplier in product quality and reliability by
OEMs around the world, and customers can now benefit from one trusted vendor supplying
both enterprise-class HDDs and SSDs.
LSI, the LSI logo design, MegaRAID, CacheCade and MegaRAID Storage Manager are trademarks or registered trademarks of LSI Corporation. All other brand and product names may be trademarks of their respective companies. Ultrastar is a trademark of HGST, a Western Digital com-pany. Western Digital, WD, and the WD logo are registered trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
LSI Corporation reserves the right to make changes to any products and services herein at any time without notice. LSI does not assume any responsibility or liability arising out of the application or use of any product or service described herein, except as expressly agreed to in writing by LSI; nor does the purchase, lease, or use of a product or service from LSI convey a license under any patent rights, copyrights, trademark rights, or any other of the intellectual property rights of LSI or of third parties.
One GB is equal to one billion bytes and one TB equals 1,000 GB (one trillion bytes). One PB is equal to 1,000 TB (one quadrillion bytes). Actual capacity will vary depending on operating environment and formatting.
Copyright ©2012 by LSI Corporation and HGST, a Western Digital company. All rights reserved. > 0312
For more information and sales office locations, please visit the LSI web sites at: lsi.com
North American HeadquartersMilpitas, CAT:+1.866.574.5741(withinU.S.)T:+1.408.954.3108(outsideU.S.)
LSI Europe Ltd.European HeadquartersUnited KingdomT:[+44]1344.413200
LSI KK HeadquartersTokyo, JapanTel:[+81]3.5463.7165
Solution Brief
About LSI
LSICorporation(NYSE:LSI)designssemiconductorsandsoftwarethatacceleratestorageand
networking in datacenters and mobile networks. Our technology is the intelligence critical to
enhanced application performance, and is applied in solutions created in collaboration with
our partners. More information is available at www.lsi.com.
About HGST
HGST, a Western Digital company, develops advanced hard disk drives, enterprise-class solid
state drives, innovative external storage solutions and services used to store, preserve and
manage the world’s most valued data. Founded by the pioneers of hard drives, HGST provides
high-value storage for a broad range of market segments, including Enterprise, Desktop,
Mobile Computing, Consumer Electronics and Personal Storage. HGST was established in 2003
and maintains its U.S. headquarters in San Jose, California. For more information, please visit
thecompany’swebsiteathttp://www.hgst.com.
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