NetApp has announced the launch of their new storage systems NetApp AFF A-Series, designed to eliminate complexity in advanced data management and power demanding workloads such as AI, GenAI, VMware, databases, media, and entertainment. These new all-flash solutions promise significant performance increases, greater efficiency, and minimized maintenance and downtime, thus setting a new standard in data storage.
New Capabilities for Demanding Workloads
With the growing demand for advanced workloads in artificial intelligence and other critical applications, NetApp has introduced the AFF A70, A90, and A1K systems, designed to provide a solid and scalable data infrastructure.
AFF A70: This mid-range platform is optimized to balance price and performance, suitable for a wide range of enterprise applications.
AFF A90: Targeted at mission-critical workloads, this high-end platform ensures exceptional performance and resilience.
AFF A1K: Designed to handle the most demanding workloads, this high-end modular platform offers massive expansion capacity and unmatched speed.
Key Advantages and Enhanced Performance
The new AFF A-Series systems offer up to double the performance compared to the previous generation. These innovations provide the same simplicity and reliability that NetApp customers have trusted for years, but with significantly enhanced capabilities.
Performance and Scalability: With up to 40 million IOPS and 1 TB/s of performance in a cluster, these systems ensure enough power and resilience for all critical workloads. Six-nines data availability ensures unwavering reliability.
Advanced Connectivity: Equipped with 200 Gb Ethernet and 64 Gb Fibre Channel (FC) network connectivity, the systems offer fast access to data and optimal system performance.
Improved Bandwidth: The use of PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 memory significantly increases data read and write speed, offering faster and more efficient transfers.
Efficiency and Sustainability
The new AFF A-Series systems are designed to be highly efficient. Enhanced data reduction through inline compression and deduplication, accelerated by Intel Quick Assist (Intel QAT) technology, allows exceptional storage efficiency without impacting performance. Tests have shown that database applications can run 44% faster, improving storage efficiency by 71%.
These systems also reduce space, energy, and cooling requirements in data centers, thanks to dense storage and the use of titanium power supplies. This maximized energy efficiency not only generates substantial savings but also contributes to environmental sustainability, as the new systems will be shipped in eco-friendly packaging.
Simplified Data Management and Enhanced Security
With a single storage operating system (ONTAP), the AFF A-Series systems allow for easy data management, protection, and mobilization in hybrid cloud environments. AIOps-based automation, intuitive multi-cloud control, and the industry’s most comprehensive data services set facilitate efficient and secure management.
In terms of security, these systems offer multi-layer protection, real-time detection with over 99% accuracy, and a cyber vault with immutable backups to defend against ransomware attacks. Additionally, they are ready to provide end-to-end data encryption with the ability to offload encryption for IPsec or TLS 1.3 in future ONTAP updates.
Conclusion
NetApp reaffirms its leadership in the data storage market with the launch of the AFF A-Series systems. These new solutions not only enhance performance and efficiency but also ensure simplified management and robust protection, catering to the needs of today’s most demanding workloads. With these innovations, NetApp continues to empower organizations with intelligent and future-ready data infrastructure.