Paper Title: The Performance Story: An Independent Evaluation of Flash Storage

Paper Abstract: Demartek, an independent test lab using real-world applications, will report on performance tests run during the last 12 months on database and virtualization workloads that are typical of today’s data centers. Vendors will learn how their products shape up and where they should put their efforts. Demartek will also discuss recent advances such as NVDIMM, NVMe over Fabrics and high-speed interfaces such as 100 Gb Ethernet and 32 Gb Fibre Channel. Dennis will discuss his rules-of-thumb for NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) devices in a storage target.

Paper Author: Dennis Martin, Sr Analyst, Principled Technologies

Author Bio: Dennis Martin is the founder and President of Demartek, an analyst firm focused on validation and performance testing of data center products. Demartek has its own fully equipped, modern test lab with the servers, networking and storage gear found in today’s data centers. Its widely recognized reports cover products and technologies from both well-known vendors and startups, including Broadcom, Cavium, Cisco, Dell EMC, HPE, IBM, Intel, Microsemi, NetApp, Nimbus Data, Pure Storage, Samsung, Seagate, Toshiba, Western Digital and others. Demartek also produces popular industry references, including its “Storage Interface Comparison” covering every interface used by storage systems and its “SSD Deployment Guide” that explains everything you need to know to deploy flash-based storage systems in the datacenter. Dennis’ commentary “NVMe over Fabrics Rules of Thumb” is a must-read for those designing storage systems that will take advantage of NVMe devices with multiple network adapters for network fabrics. Dennis is frequently quoted in the press (in such outlets as TechTarget, Market Watch, and Street Insider) on such topics as best practices for deploying SSD technologies and analyzing performance claims for all-flash arrays. A 38-year veteran of the technology industry, Dennis was previously a Senior Analyst with Evaluator Group and a marketing and engineering executive with StorageTek.