Nimbus Knowledge launched FlashMax as its next-generation multiprotocol all-flash platform for contemporary information facilities. Positioned as a successor to the corporate’s FlashRack line, FlashMax combines PCIe-based enlargement, rack-level resiliency, and next-generation information discount whereas presenting block, file, and object providers inside a single namespace.
Thomas Isakovich, founder and CEO of Nimbus Knowledge, says conventional enterprise storage has grow to be overly advanced, rising prices and decreasing effectivity. He explains that Nimbus Knowledge’s FlashMax product adjustments the technical design (structure) and the enterprise mannequin of enterprise storage, offering a flash-based information platform targeted on simplicity, simple scalability, and long-term value effectivity (sturdy financial benefit).
FlashMax consolidates main storage protocols right into a single system and versatile capability pool. This consists of NVMe-over-Materials (TCP and RoCEv2), Fibre Channel, iSCSI, NFS, SMB, and S3. By permitting block, file, and object storage to coexist in a single namespace, the platform can scale back information silos and simplify capability enlargement with out requiring separate arrays for various entry strategies. Connectivity scales as much as 400GbE and helps 64G Fibre Channel, focusing on performance-driven environments similar to virtualization, containers, databases, analytics, and information warehousing, digital media workflows, and huge unstructured information repositories.
FlashMax applies hardware-accelerated block-level deduplication and compression to scale back uncooked capability necessities and related rack house and energy calls for. Nimbus Knowledge additionally emphasised using industry-standard NVMe SSDs fairly than proprietary flash modules, positioning the platform as a strategy to keep away from lock-in whereas bettering capability affordability and provide availability.
| System | F500 | F700 | F900 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base SSDs / Uncooked Capability | 24 x SSDs (as much as 3 PB) | 24 x SSDs (as much as 3 PB) | 24 x SSDs (as much as 3 PB) |
| Max SSDs / Uncooked Capability (w/Growth) | 48 x SSDs (as much as 6 PB) | 120 x SSDs (as much as 15 PB) | 168 x SSDs (as much as 21 PB) |
| Twin IOCs | Built-in in Base | Built-in in Base | Exterior 2 x 2U |
| Connectivity | |||
| Community Ports (max per IOC) | 3 x 100G Ethernet, or 6 x 25G Ethernet, or 4 x 32G Fibre Channel |
4 x 400G Ethernet, or 8 x 200G Ethernet, or 16 x 64G Fibre Channel | 4 x 400G Ethernet, or 8 x 200G Ethernet, or 16 x 64G Fibre Channel |
| Constructed-in Ports (per IOC) | 2 x 10GbE SFP+ | 2 x 10GBASE-T | 2 x 10GBASE-T |
| Growth Chassis Assist | Non-compulsory, as much as 1 x E240 | Non-compulsory, as much as 4 x E240 | Commonplace, as much as 6 x E240 |
| Efficiency | |||
| Throughput | As much as 30 GBps | As much as 100 GBps | As much as 100 GBps |
| Latency | As little as 100 µsec | As little as 80 µsec | As little as 80 µsec |
| IOps | As much as 2.2M (4 KiB) | As much as 6.8M (4 KiB) | As much as 6.8M (4 KiB) |
| Growth & Options | |||
| Growth Structure | DirectLinkTM PCIe enlargement playing cards and FlashMax E240 PCIe enlargement chassis | ||
| Key Options | Redundant PCIe IOCs, twin energy/cooling modules, 24 x SSDs, 2U, -500 W | ||
| Protocol Assist | NVMe-oF (TCP and RoCEv2), iSCSI, Fibre Channel, NFS, SMB, S3, AFP, FTP, TFTP | ||
| Storage IO Controller (IOC) | Twin lively/passive IOCs with patented structure (US Patent 9,268,501) | ||
| Administration Ports (per IOC) | GbE Mgmt, BMC, Console, USB | ||
| Redundant Scorching-swap Elements | IOCs, SSDs, energy provides, and cooling followers | ||
| Dimensions | |||
| Base System Rack House | 2U – 4U | 2U – 10U | 6U – 16U |
| Base System Depth | 21.2 in or 539 mm | 34.4 in or 874 mm | 21.2 in or 539 mm |
| Base System Weight (most) | 71.6 lbs or 32.5 kg | 88.7 lbs or 40.2 kg | 48.8 lbs or 22.1 kg |
| Energy | |||
| Voltage | 100 – 240 VAC | 200 – 240 VAC | 100 – 240 VAC |
| Frequency | 48 – 62 Hz | 48 – 62 Hz | 48 – 62 Hz |
| Base System Energy Consumption | -600 W (900 W max) | -1100 W (2000 W max) | -1400 W (2200 W max) |
| Environmental & Compliance | |||
| Ambient Temperature | Working: 5 to 40 °C, Non-operating: -20 to 60 °C | ||
| Relative Humidity | Working: 10% to 80%, Non-operating: 8% to 95% (non-condensing) | ||
| Altitude | Working: -50 to 3000 m, Non-operating: -100 to 12,192 m | ||
| Shock & Vibration | Operational Shock: 5G for 11ms, 1/2 sine wave pulse Operational Vibration: 0.15G at 5-500 Hz Non-operational Shock: 10G for 11ms, 1/2 sine wave pulse Non-operational Vibration: 0.5G for 5-500 Hz |
||
| Company Approvals | CE Mark, EN55022/EN61000 Class A, FCC Class A, Canadian IECS-003, VCCI Class A, ISO 9002 manufacturing | ||
| Guarantee & Assist | As much as 10-year complete, together with 24×7×365 assist, fast components alternative, with optionally available media retention | ||
DirectLink PCIe Growth for Excessive-Density Scale-Up
FlashMax introduces DirectLink, a local PCIe interconnect structure that attaches enlargement capability on to twin controllers by way of devoted PCIe bandwidth. Nimbus Knowledge positioned this strategy as an alternative choice to legacy enlargement shelf designs that depend on expanders and daisy-chained topologies, which might introduce oversubscription and stacking latency. With DirectLink, the corporate states FlashMax can scale past 20PB uncooked capability and as much as 100PB efficient capability by means of information discount, with extra scale potential as SSD densities enhance. General, FlashMax is positioned as a mass-capacity various to scale-out storage that reduces reliance on extra storage nodes and cluster materials, and reduces capability overhead usually related to erasure coding.
Write-Via Structure and Rack-Stage Resiliency
FlashMax is constructed on a patented parallel write-through structure supposed to keep away from controller-to-controller cache mirroring. Writes commit on to flash fairly than DRAM, which Nimbus Knowledge positions as a method to enhance resiliency by decreasing cache-related complexity and eliminating destaging steps. The platform additionally helps rack-level failure resilience inside a single system, with a single FlashMax deployment spanning a number of racks and remaining operational even within the occasion of a complete rack failure. Constructed-in synchronous mirroring spans racks whereas presenting a single redundant namespace, delivering excessive availability with out deploying duplicate arrays.
Enterprise Knowledge Companies with Per-System Licensing
FlashMax methods are centrally managed with Omni, Nimbus Knowledge’s monitoring, telemetry, and API-driven automation platform. Nimbus Knowledge lists a full set of enterprise providers, together with immutable snapshots, distant replication, end-to-end checksums, RAID safety, {hardware} encryption, and ransomware safety. The corporate additionally highlighted per-system software program packaging, with options included fairly than licensed per terabyte, positioning the mannequin as a strategy to keep away from capacity-based function prices and keep predictable economics as deployments scale.
