SSD array maker Nimble releases scale-out arrays for VDI and OLTP

Start-up Nimble Storage announced new, scalable flash storage arrays with a range of performance and storage shelves.

The new products are designed to offer easy-to-deploy storage clustering and are being marketed for use in performance-intensive applications such as virtual desktop infrastructures (VDI), online transaction processing (OLTP) and databases.

Nimble Storage also announced a new version of its operating system. Nimble OS 2.0 is the glue that allows users to cluster the performance or capacity arrays together, providing linear scaling of both, as well as a unified management interface.

Nimble Storage, which came out of development two years ago with its first product, has sold SAN arrays that combine solid-state drives (SSDs) with high-capacity hard disk drives. The arrays serve as both primary and backup storage with the ability to replicate data offsite for disaster recovery.

The new products include the ES-Series expansion shelves, which allow users to incrementally boost performance through the addition of SSDs and CPU upgrades, and the CS400 series arrays, which allow users to grow only storage capacity. The arrays can be used alone or they can be added with no downtime to existing CS200 series array controllers and can be used for performance-intensive applications.

"This allows customers to be able to scale a deployment to meet their needs at the lowest incremental cost - whether they need more capacity, performance or both," said Dan Leary, vice president of marketing for Nimble.

The new enterprise-class CS400 array product line includes the CS420, with 12TB of disk capacity and 320GB of flash; the CS440, offering 24TB of raw capacity and 640GB of flash; and the CS460, offering 48TB of raw capacity and 1,200GB of flash.

The CS400 arrays extend the family of Nimble SAN servers, following on the success of the company's flagship CS200 arrays.

Scale performance consists of SSD and CPU upgrades to increase raw computational power and IOPS (input/output operations per second). Scale capacity is provided by new ES-Series expansion shelves, which deliver three incremental levels of raw capacity and flash: ES-H125 - 15TB raw capacity, 160GB flash; ES-H145 - 30TB raw capacity, 300GB flash; and ES-H165 - 45TB raw capacity, 600GB flash.

The CS400 series arrays, ES-Series expansion shelves and flash expansion options will be available in the third quarter of 2012. Nimble OS 2.0, which supports scale-out clustering, will be available in the fourth quarter of this year. Pricing was not yet available.