Business decisions aren’t often made in a flash, but in the case of storage, flash might be just what your business needs.
The speed of business dictates that data be reliable and accessible at all times. In response to these mounting requirements, businesses are increasingly adopting all-flash and flash-based storage solutions. How can you tell if flash-based storage is right for you? Here are seven reasons you should look into flash storage as a viable option for your business.
1. Architected for Speed
You want to run a modern business, and speed factors heavily into how effective your strategies are in moving forward. All-flash solid-state drives (SSDs) offer speeds of 8,000 IOPS, versus hard-disk drives (HDDs) that top out at around 400 IOPS. This is especially significant with system and endpoint boot and loading speeds. Also, all-flash SSDs lowers fragmentation, as data can be stored anywhere on the flash drive. This translates into a huge difference in both performance and profit. Flash solutions such as HPE Nimble All Flash Arrays target high-performance or latency-sensitive workloads, where all-flash performance is critical.
2. Great Storage Density
When it comes to highly virtualized infrastructures, traditional storage is no longer a viable option. Flash offers the ability to scale storage capacity with business needs. Adding more HDDs is a clunky fix to a persistent problem, whereas flash allows you more room and availability at a lower total cost of ownership and return on investment (ROI).
3. Cost of Ownership
Yes, the upfront costs of flash-based storage are expensive — for those unprepared or shackled with tight budgets, this can mean serious sticker shock. However, there are more costs associated with storage than the initial price tag: In the categories of energy usage, wear-and-tear, replacement, and lifespan, flash will cost less in the long run, delivering markedly improved ROI. All it requires is a confident strategy up front. With flash becoming more ubiquitous, falling prices are always worth a check.
4. Minimal Power Usage
Server rooms are chilly for a reason, and the cost of keeping them cold is a significant business expense. Flash-based storage solutions, however, barely produce heat, which significantly lowers the amount of air conditioning needed, lowering your monthly cooling bill. Also, with no physical drive spinning to record data, SDDs use less power, which can decrease the electric bill further and in some cases extend endpoint battery life.
5. Deduplication Features
Redundant data can slow systems down and lead to disc fragmentation. Flash storage requires deduplication to ensure that valuable storage space isn’t being wasted on the same data that’s located somewhere else. This inherently leads to faster processing times and more capacity.
6. Overall Durability
HDDs have many moving parts that are prone to breakage, namely the drive heads and a scratching of the discs themselves. In addition, too many read/write requests can cause HDDs to break down, and data recovery costs can be catastrophic. Flash-based SSDs have no moving parts, so they are inherently more stable in environments that are prone to natural disasters and are known for their stability and durability in the face of spontaneous damages.
7. Noise Pollution
HDDs are mechanical in nature, so even the quietest ones will still emit sound when the drive is spinning or the read arm is moving. SDDs don’t have moving parts, so they make virtually no noise at all. While sound levels may seem like a luxury, consider the difference between working next to a construction site versus not. Employee comfort can mean better talent and high retainment rates — which are always worth an investment.
