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EqualLogic launched its first all-SSD-capable model in 2009. But the December PS6210S release takes advantage of controller and firmware technology redesigned specifically with flash in mind. The end result is a performance claim by Dell of 1.2 million IOPS in a configuration with a virtual pool of eight all-flash arrays.
The PS6210S all-flash EqualLogic array supports only the high-performance but more expensive SLC flash, as the industry increasingly moves to cheaper MLC technology. Dell started with a price of $8 per GB for the PS6210S, based on a configuration with two dozen 800-GB SSDs, placing it roughly in the middle of the pack of the lines of all-flash arrays.
The most aggressive all-flash array vendors claim their prices are less than $5 per GB, but those products often use data reduction methods to hit those low numbers. Neither the all-flash EqualLogic arrays nor Compellent arrays support inline de-duplication and compression, two of the most important storage-saving features. They support only post-process de-dupe for file data within a unified storage system via the Dell Fluid File System, and Compellent recently added support for post-process compression, according to a Dell spokesperson.
Dell’s EqualLogic division has credited the PS6210S array’s redesigned controller and software for allowing it to stake a claim of flash performance at the price of disk. The company declined to supply an estimated price per IOPS.