Lab Validation:
SanDisk FlashSoft
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© 2012 by The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Why This Matters
As virtual servers become a more common implementation for mission-critical applications, they must be able
to support the high levels of application uptime and data availability required. Organizations may avoid
performance-enhancing solutions that are disruptive and require separate management, giving up business
value in order to maintain operations.
ESG Lab validated that FlashSoft for VMware vSphere can be non-disruptively installed in a running VMware
cluster. FlashSoft was easily installed into the ESX kernel in approximately 35 seconds using the standard VIB-
based installer, required no changes to storage configurations, added no footprint on the server, and remained
transparent to existing ESX software layers. Once installed, FlashSoft was available for management from the
vCenter console.
Manageability
The vCenter plug-in enables SanDisk FlashSoft acceleration to be managed directly from VMware. No other
management software is required, and the full functionality of all VMware features is available through a tab in the
vCenter GUI. FlashSoft can also accelerate snapshots at a granular level. The administrator has the option to
accelerate a base (primary) data set, individual point-in-time snapshots, or both; this level of flexibility enables the
administrator to focus acceleration wherever needed in order to optimize the performance impact.
ESG Lab Testing
ESG Lab tested the impact of FlashSoft installation on vMotion capabilities. The top picture in Figure 6
demonstrates vMotion in the cluster before FlashSoft was installed; ESG Lab moved a running VM from the first ESX
node in the cluster to the second node. The bottom picture shows that vMotion continued to operate normally
after FlashSoft was installed.
