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Lenovo with RAID Inc. to Offer Storage Spaces Solution

The Ignite 2016 extravaganza begins today in full earnest, as all eyes and ears turn towards what Microsoft has planned for the Software-Defined Data Center. The much anticipated Azure Stack will be a hot topic, but with its release in 2017 its’s best to reel in the forecasting and expectations a bit and look at this year’s– Storage Space Direct (S2D).  Microsoft is unlocking the value of hyperconvergence with the launch of S2D.  Windows Server 2016 introduces the second iteration of the Storage Spaces to bring cloud inspired capabilities to the data center with advances in compute, networking, storage, and security.

Interesting “born in the cloud” innovations for WS2016 include the introduction of Windows Server Containers and Hyper-V containers, Nano Server, and new features unique to the Datacenter Edition including an Azure-inspired networking stack, support for Shielded VMs, Storage replica, and the aforementioned Storage Spaces Direct and yes the polarizing new pricing scheme, but we’ll leave that topic to another day.

RAID Inc. has formed a partnership with Lenovo to provide its HPC expertise and performance tuning with introduction of the RAID Inc. Ability™ HCI Series of hyperconverged appliances. This partnership is built on Lenovo’s industry-leading enterprise systems, ranked number one in customer satisfaction[1] and reliability[2], allows RAID Inc. to continue its technical computing expertise and innovative vision for the software defined data center (SDDC). The Ability HCI Series S2D platforms will be highlighted in the Microsoft Partners Offer session.

Enterprise-Grade Building Blocks for Windows Server 2016 SDDC: Partner Offers

RAID Inc will be exhibiting inside the Microsoft expo booth area known as Windows Server Software-Defined Offers (#MS34) to demonstrate a hyperconverged infrastructure solution based on the Storage Space Direct software-defined storage infrastructure. This exhibition will be presented and managed by RAID Inc. in partner with Lenovo and Clearpointe with the directive to validate the high performance computing (HPC) capabilities achieved by S2D platform-tuning in conjunction with an NVMe flash cache.

The Ability™ HCI Series S2D200 model powered by the Lenovo System x3650 M5 rack server on display at Ignite this year demonstrates the latest NVMe flash storage and is tuned to excel in running nearly all workload types, including Hyper-V virtualized and enterprise applications, SQL databases, Remote Desktop Services for virtualized desktops, Azure-ready hybrid clouds, and big data analytics, with improved efficiency and scalability. Additionally, Lenovo and RAID Inc. are planning significant actions in solution development as well as aggressive go-to-market initiatives.

To take advantage of the rapidly growing demand for hyperconvergence platforms and software-defined storage, RAID Inc is making sizeable investments in architecting with the Ability™ HCI Series. By integrating both NVMe and SATA devices as a method of lessening the cost of infrastructure hardware, the Ability HCI utilizes best-of-breed NVMe performance flash technologies from Western Digital Corporation (aka HGST / SanDisk) and RDMA-enabled networking cards from Chelsio. RAID Inc. can leverage this partner eco-system with its in-house validating, real-world testing and HPC pedigree to supercharge the Lenovo-based S2D certified platforms and top the appliance off with ClearPointe’s private cloud management capabilities–allowing for a smooth transition to Azure Stack.

As you scale a complex system in size or density, you will invariably reach a point where the scale and complexity of a system will exceed the skill of the resources you have available to service or troubleshoot the solution. ClearPointe provides a single source of management and remediation to ensure optimal performance for the life cycle of the Ability HCI S2D200 powered by Lenovo. This partnership delivers a holistic approach from design and POC through installation and scales to match your demand with 24/7 management and monitoring tools allowing you to deploy a model that scales into Azure Pack / Azure Stack, and therefore Azure, to create a harmonious hybrid ecosystem.

Ignite Demo — RAID Inc. Ability™ HCI Series: S2D200

Design Highlights:

  • Lenovo System x3650 M5
  • 2TB of Memory
  • 224 Cores
  • S2D-tuned NVMe Flash Cache Tier
  • 20TB Usable Storage Capacity
  • 40Gb RDMA iWARP Networking

Performance Metrics:

  • 4 Million IOPS at 70/30 4k Random Read/Write
  • 17-22 GBps throughput at 70/30 4k Random Read/Write
  • Up to 80 Power User Compute VMs (4C + 16GB)
  • Under $500 per VM (300 VMs at 1C + 2GB)

The RAID Inc. Ability™ HCI Series: S2D200 powered by Lenovo for Storage Spaces Direct in Windows Server 2016 can reduce the total cost of ownership of IT infrastructure by condensing and consolidating resources into a performance-tuned, holistic designed and managed, market leading reliable solution. The Lenovo-based Ability™ HCI Series appliances are expected to be available in tandem with the general availability launch of Windows Server 2016 with an aggressive go-to market strategy and S2D hyperconverged appliance solution price point of under $500 per VM for a soup-to-nuts deployment. Innovators and early adopters are encouraged to work with their RAID Inc. technical computing expert to design a proof of concept Lenovo-based solution, tuned for performance and positioned for Azure Stack as it becomes available.

<!– Lenovo Ignite Blog — Platform Data Sheet –>

“Lenovo embraces its commitment to provide world-class software defined data center designs by partnering with Microsoft and RAID Inc. to craft a performance-tuned Storage Spaces Direct solution leveraging the flexibility of the Lenovo System x3650 M5 rack server,” said Dan Olsen, National OEM Sales Director, Lenovo. “Powered by Lenovo, the RAID Inc Ability HCI Series breaks new ground in performance and TCO for Microsoft Azure Stack inspired Windows Server 2016 solutions, while fine-tuning hyperconverged capabilities for private and hybrid clouds of all sizes.”

[1] Lenovo enterprise servers ranked #1 in customer satisfaction, according to the latest TBR Customer Satisfaction Survey, August 2015

[2] Lenovo enterprise servers are ranked #1 in x86 reliability, according to the ITIC 2015-2016 Global Server Hardware, Server OS Reliability Report, July 2015