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storage ICT


storage objects that create complexity in a virtualized environment. As a result, users can spend less time managing and troubleshooting VM and storage interactions.


VM bottleneck visualisation Because Tintri is VM-aware, it gives administrators easy, instant visibility in to VM and vDisk performance — from the guest OS layer to the storage layer. They can see per-VM or per-vDisk latency at any infrastructure layer, identify the source of performance issues, and take immediate action.


Interchangeable data stores Each Tintri appliance appears in the VMware vCenter console as a single datastore, simplifying management for administrators. Most traditional arrays require IT to create dozens or hundreds of datastores.


Change/performance monitoring The Tintri dashboard view quickly identifies VMs with the most changes in performance or capacity requirements in the past seven days. This makes it easy for administrators to spot potential problems and address them before service levels are affected.


VM auto-alignment and pinning


VM auto-alignment solves a well-known problem that affects performance but can’t be easily fixed with traditional storage systems. Many VMs are not aligned with the underlying storage blocks, requiring additional IO requests to access information. Because Tintri’s system is VM-aware, it automatically aligns the storage layer to the guest OS, improving performance by up to 30%. Although 99% of IOs on Tintri VMstore are delivered from flash, users may occasionally want to guarantee that a specific VM remained “pinned” to flash. VM pinning allows users to guarantee performance for individual VMs, something that is impossible with general-purpose storage.


Scalable nodes Tintri VMstore integrates software and hardware capability in to a field-servicable storage appliance, built from the ground-up to run VMs. Adding storage is as simple as plugging another appliance in and adding VMs to it.


Array-side snapshots


Most storage arrays require taking snapshots of volumes or LUNs, which contain multiple VMs – an inefficient approach in a virtualized environment. Tintri VMstore lets users snapshot individual VMs at the storage level without any performance impact.


QAnd how does your technology help to meet the industry’s key hot topics right now?


A MC: The majority of new server workloads are now being virtualized. However, storage has


emerged as bottleneck, forcing customers to spend significantly on high-end storage arrays. According to VMware’s own estimates, up to 60% of the cost associated with a virtualization deployment is storage. Tintri is able to deliver cost-effective flash performance designed for virtual environments.


QSpecifically, how does the Tintri technology fit into the virtualisation landscape, when compared to other


offerings? May 2012 I www.dcsuk.info 25


A MC: Storage solutions are typically designed to support a wide variety of workloads. Even emerging vendors that have built systems


based on flash are general-purpose storage and are poorly suited to virtual environment. Tintri’s system is designed specifically to take advantage of flash to deliver performance, and was built expressly for virtual environments. It combines the benefits of both with the only VM-aware storage solution on the market today.


QAnd what are the advantages/drawbacks of being a ‘pure play’ virtual storage company (as opposed to companies who have a


physical ‘legacy’)?


Tintri is able to focus on virtual environments, and aren’t burdened by either a legacy file system that was designed for disk, or by the need to support a wide range of physical application workloads. The potential drawback is that Tintri can’t support non-virtual environments. However, storage in virtual environments is already a $10 to $11 billion market according to analysts and continues to grow.


QAnd what about, inevitably (!), Cloud?


A MC: Tintri already has customers using its solution to support a private cloud infrastructure. The sheer simplicity of the Tintri solution makes it easier for IT to create a “cloud pod” (as one customer described it), where users can self-service provision VMs without having to wait on storage.


QAny other sweet spots for Tintri – whether applications and/or industries?


A MC: Tintri has customers in several industries, including banking, travel, high-tech, healthcare, entertainment, government and


education. Tintri is suitable for both server and desktop VMs, though about a third of our customers now have significant VDI deployments running on Tintri.


QWhat is Tintri’s presence in Europe to date?


A Tintri has offices in the UK and partnerships with distributors and resellers throughout EMEA. It has customers in the UK, Norway, Russia, South Africa and elsewhere.


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