Flash Cache and PAM

Optimize the performance of your storage system without adding high-performance disk drives. Grow while conserving power, cooling, and space.

Use Flash Cache (PAM II) or the original Performance Acceleration Module to optimize the performance of random read–intensive workloads such as file services, messaging, virtual infrastructure, and OLTP databases without using more high-performance disk drives. These intelligent read caches speed access to your data, reducing latency by a factor of 10 or more compared to disk drives. Faster response times can translate into higher throughput for random I/O workloads.

NetApp® Flash Cache and PAM give you performance that is comparable to that of solid state disks (SSDs) without the complexity of another storage tier. You don’t need to move data from tier to tier to optimize performance and cost. Active data automatically flows into Flash Cache and PAM because every volume and LUN behind the storage controller is subject to caching.

You can give caching priority to your most important volumes and LUNs when the load is heaviest by using our FlexShare® quality of service software in combination with Flash Cache and PAM cards. You can also tune them to match your specific workload with software settings that let you cache only metadata or cache new data when it is written to disk.

NetApp Flash Cache and PAM can reduce costs for storage, power, and rack space. We have demonstrated that Flash Cache can eliminate up to 75% of the high-performance disk drives in a storage system while providing better response times across the same I/O throughput range.

Our intelligent caches can be used in combination with SATA drives for many workloads to increase storage capacity and reduce costs while maintaining a high level of performance.

Purchasing these modules doesn’t have to be a leap of faith because you can simulate the results of adding cache to your current NetApp storage system. Predictive Cache Statistics, a feature of the NetApp Data ONTAP® 7G operating system, generate information that indicates whether caching modules will help and how much additional cache is optimal for your workload.