Texas Memory Systems Sets New SPC-1 Performance Record for the Fourth Time [1]

Texas Memory Systems, Inc. (TMS) today announced record-setting audited SPC-1 and SPC-2 Results [4] produced by a single RamSan-630 Flash solid state disk (SSD). Storage professionals worldwide look to Storage Performance Council (SPC) benchmarks for independent and verifiable comparisons of real-world application performance. As demonstrated by the highly transactional SPC-1 and the high-bandwidth SPC-2 Results, no other storage system offers the versatility and performance of the RamSan-630. The RamSan-630 achieved #1 SPC-1 IOPS and joined the top four SPC-2 Results leaders for millions of dollars less than the competitive solutions.

Top four SPC-1 Results as of May 10, 2011:

1. RamSan-630, 400,503.26 SPC-1 IOPS, $1.05 SPC-1 Price-Performance, Total Price $419,292.00, #A00105[4]
2. IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v5.1 (6-node cluster), 380,489.30 SPC-1 IOPS, $18.83 SPC-1 Price-Performance, Total Price $7,165,323, #A00087[6]
3. IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v5.1 (4-node cluster), 315,044.59 SPC-1 IOPS, $22.65 SPC-1 Price-Performance, Total Price $7,134,842, #A00086[6]
4. IBM Power™ 595 with PowerVM™, 300,993.85 SPC-1 IOPS, $10.77 SPC-1 Price-Performance, Total Price $3,243,117, #A00083[6]

Top four SPC-2 Results as of May 10, 2011:

1. IBM System Storage DS8800, 9,706.74 SPC-2 MBPS, $270.38 SPC-2 Price-Performance, Total Price $2,624,257, #B00051[7]
2. HP StorageWorks XP24000 Disk Array, 8,724.67 SPC-2 MBPS, $187.45 SPC-2 Price-Performance, Total Price $1,635,434, #B00035[7]
3. Hitachi Universal Storage Platform V, 8,724.67 SPC-2 MBPS, $187.49 SPC-2 Price-Performance, Total Price $1,635,770, #B00036[7]
4. RamSan-630, 8,323.13 SPC-2 MBPS, $49.37 SPC-2 Price-Performance, Total Price $410,926.90, #B00054[4]

The SPC-1 benchmark consists of I/O patterns typically found in online transaction processing (OLTP) applications, with a focus on random accesses. The RamSan-630 delivered 400,503.26 SPC-1 IOPS with an SPC-1 Price-Performance of $1.05. This SPC-1 Result beat the runner up by over 20,000 SPC-1 IOPS [4, 5] at less than 75% of its “cost per gigabyte” [3] and 5% of its SPC-1 Price-Performance [2]. Solid state storage (SSS) from Texas Memory Systems sets the new standard for high transaction processing performance at low costs.

A pioneer in solid state storage technology, Texas Memory Systems is the first company to use InfiniBand to produce an SPC-2 Result. The SPC-2 benchmark consists of large, sequential I/O commonly required by file processing, database query, and video on demand applications. A single InfiniBand-attached RamSan-630 produced 8,323.13 SPC-2 MBPS with an SPC-2 Price-Performance of $49.37 per SPC-2 MBPS. This SPC-2 Result illustrates the extreme bandwidth and cost-effectiveness of Texas Memory Systems InfiniBand-attached SSS.

“Texas Memory Systems has achieved two significant milestones for solid state disk technology with their demonstration of high transactions and bandwidth with these SPC-1 and SPC-2 Results,” said Walter E. Baker, administrator of the Storage Performance Council. “Their commitment to producing SPC Results provides end-users with a clear, unambiguous set of information to guide purchase decisions.”

SPC-1 and SPC-2 are sophisticated real-world storage performance benchmarks that are especially challenging for solid state storage. Both the SPC-1 and SPC-2 Results require data prefilling and high write rates that highlight historical weaknesses of solid state storage. Additionally, the SPC-1 Result demonstrated a successful eight-hour Sustainability Test. All SPC Results are audited and require full disclosure of components and pricing. Among the few SSS manufacturers that attempt the SPC benchmarks, Texas Memory Systems is the price and performance leader.

“Texas Memory Systems continuously demonstrates its engineering prowess and this announcement is no exception,” said Dan Scheel, President of Texas Memory Systems. “We know that solid state storage provides low cost per IOPS, but today’s results show that Texas Memory Systems solid state storage is less expensive for high-bandwidth scenarios, too. Our flexible solutions help remove the bottlenecks that impact our customers’ bottom lines.”

As the new SPC-1 IOPS champion, the RamSan-630 is the densest high-performance SLC Flash-based enterprise storage solution on the market. This 3U rack-mounted SSD provides up to 10 TB of shareable SLC Flash storage for organizations with demanding storage capacity and performance needs. The RamSan-630 is available with up to 10 QDR InfiniBand or 10 8-Gb Fibre Channel interfaces for maximum performance in enterprise environments. Find more information about the Texas Memory Systems RamSan-630 along with price quotes online at http://RamSan.com/Products/RamSan-630.

About the Storage Performance Council (SPC)

The SPC is a non-profit corporation founded to define, standardize and promote storage benchmarks and to disseminate objective, verifiable storage performance data to the computer industry and its customers. The organization's strategic objectives are to empower storage vendors to build better products as well as to stimulate the IT community to more rapidly trust and deploy multi-vendor storage technology.

The SPC membership consists of a broad cross-section of the storage industry. A complete SPC membership roster is available at http://www.storageperformance.org/about/roster/.

A complete list of SPC Results is available at http://www.storageperformance.org/results.

About Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

Since 1978, Texas Memory Systems, Inc. (http://RamSan.com) has designed and built solid state storage systems that accelerate demanding enterprise applications. Its award-winning RamSan^® product line, known as The World’s Fastest Storage^®, has continually delivered fast, reliable, and cost-effective solutions to a broad range of enterprise and government clients around the world. All Texas Memory Systems products are designed and manufactured to the highest standards of excellence in Houston, TX, USA.

[1] 112,491.34 SPC-1 IOPS, A00028 Texas Memory Systems RamSan-320, http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00028 as of April 5, 2004.
291,208.58 SPC-1 IOPS, A00063 Texas Memory Systems RamSan-400, http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00063 as of January 28, 2008.
254,994.21 SPC-1 IOPS, A00085 Texas Memory Systems RamSan-620, http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00085 as of October 27, 2009.
400,503.26 SPC-1 IOPS, A00105 Texas Memory Systems RamSan-630, http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00105 as of May 10, 2011.

[2] The following is as of May 10, 2011:
SPC-1 Price-Performance of $18.83, A00087 IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v5.1 (6-node cluster with 2 IBM DS8700s), http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00087
SPC-1 Price-Performance of $1.05, A00105 Texas Memory Systems RamSan-630, http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00105

[3] “cost per gigabyte” is not part of the SPC-1 Reported Data but is calculated as Priced Storage Configuration Total Price divided by Total ASU Capacity in GB, using the appropriate SPC-1 Reported Data as of May 10, 2011.
“$72.43 per gigabyte”, A00087 IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v5.1 (6-node cluster with 2IBM DS8700s), http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00087
“$51.55 per gigabyte”, A00105 Texas Memory Systems RamSan-630, http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00105

[4] A00105 Texas Memory Systems RamSan-630, http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00105
B00054 Texas Memory Systems RamSan-630, http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc2#b00054

[5] 380,489.30 SPC-1 IOPS, A00087 IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v5.1 (6-node cluster with 2 IBM DS8700s), http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00087.
See footnote #1 for the A00105 Texas Memory Systems SPC-1 IOPS.

[6] A00051 IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v5.1 (6-node cluster)
http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00087
A00086 IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v5.1 (4-node cluster)
http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00086
A00083 IBM Power™ 595 with PowerVM™ (SSDs)
http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc1#a00083

[7] B00051 IBM System Storage DS8800
http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc2#a00051
B00035 HP StorageWorks XP24000 Disk Array
http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc2#a00035
B00036 Hitachi Universal Storage Platform V
http://www.storageperformance.org/results/benchmark_results_spc2#a00036

SPC, SPC-1, SPC-1 IOPS, SPC-1 Price-Performance, SPC-2, SPC-2 MBPS, and SPC-2 Price-Performance are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Storage Performance Council (SPC).

Texas Memory Systems, The World’s Fastest Storage, and RamSan are trademarks or registered trademarks of Texas Memory Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.