Why no SSD drives in the new DS2246 shelf?

[avbohemen]

With NetApp jumping on the SSD drives, in addition to their previous solid state lineup consisting of the PAM-II cards, I really wonder why they chose to fit these drives only in the DS4243 shelf. The density of SSD drives would make them a perfect fit for the DS2246 shelf, and it would provide even greater performance/density/power ratio. Are there SSD drives planned in the future for the new 2,5" shelf?

[radek_kubka]

I can only second to that question, 2.5'' SSDs make perfect sense to me.

IMHO the likely reason is simply the validation & testing routine, so someone made the decision to introduce 3.5'' SSDs first.

Regards,
Radek

[vmsjaak13]

From the Storage Subsystem Technical FAQ:

SSD drives have a 3Gb/s interface. They would be unable to take advantage of the 6Gb/s speed offered by the IOM6 capable DS2246 shelf.

Regards,

Niek

[radek_kubka]

This particular argument doesn't stack up in my view:

1) SSDs wouldn't be any slower in DS2246, as the DS4243 they are supported in is 3Gbit SAS anyway

2) With SSDs it's all about random IOPS, not about throughput

[vmsjaak13]

I agree, but that was all I could find about the subject.

Regards,

Niek

[sshapiro]

The reason the SSDs are in the DS4243 shelf and not the DS2246 shelf was a time-to-market reason.  Combining the intro of both SSD and DS2246 added risk to bringing each new capability to market in a timely fashion.  Now that the DS2246 is shipping, there is the flexibility to use it in the future with SSD.

[vmsjaak13]

During Insight Jay White also explained that the SATA->SAS dongles weren't available in 2.5inch formfactor.

Regards,

Niek