Behind ATTO SiliconDisk: The Storage Pyramid

This article is part one of a multi-part series that describes the impetus and technology behind ATTO SiliconDisk RAM-based storage appliance. For more details, visit https://www.atto.com/products/silicondisk.

IT architects are always looking for ways to increase the speed at which data flows throughout a system. The prevailing storage options leave a gap in the storage hierarchy limiting the performance of the latest data-intensive applications like real-time data analytics, artificial intelligence, large-scale data processing and similar applications.

Ideally, all data would be stored in memory, however, that is presently far from a viable option because of cost, capacity and the limitations of current technology. Instead, storage architectures are segmented into performance tiers, referred to as a “storage pyramid”. The storage pyramid represents the multiple approaches to storage technology which are tiered based on where in a system the data is being used or not used, as the case may be.

The higher in the tier, the faster the storage. The highest tier, of course, is system memory itself which quite clearly leads in performance but is volatile and limited in scalability. Flash-based technologies, namely SSDs, comprise the top tier as these technologies are faster than spinning disk hard drives (HDDs). However, SSDs have limited life spans which can become costly with routine replacement and, ultimately, SSDs lack the performance of DRAM.

The further down the tier, the more we find older technologies like spinning disks and tape. These legacy technologies are excellent choices for deep data storage and archiving but can in no way provide I/O at the speeds demanded by modern computing platforms. Additionally, because they are mechanical, their lifespans are generally even more limited.

As a simple example of how the tiers relate; in a real-time solution some data will need to be in the upper tier of SSDs for processing but then moved to a layer based on HDDs as the data isn’t immediately needed. Eventually, this data might be moved down to a tier of tape-based storage for archiving.

This infrastructure paradigm is fairly rigid and creates performance network architecture challenges that limit flexibility. A solution that adds vastly increased storage speed, can be placed anywhere in the architecture and does not require routine replacement is exactly what IT architects need to design highly adaptable, next-generation systems.

ATTO SiliconDisk™ is an ultra-low-latency RAM-based storage appliance that provides near-RAM level performance over an Ethernet fabric. It fills the gap between RAM and storage, providing the performance needed by emerging computing loads.