Paper Title: The Straight Truth: How Today's Storage Devices Perform on Realistic Workloads

Paper Abstract: Often, the only performance statistics one has for a storage device come from tests run by a vendor using standard benchmarks. Principled Technologies, an independent test lab and marketing agency, offers performance tests run on database and virtualization workloads typical of today's data centers. You will learn how your products (and your competitors products) stack up in the real world, so you will know what to advertise and what to improve. Tests also cover recent advances such as NVDIMM, NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF), and 3D XPoint devices.

Paper Author: Dennis Martin, Sr. Analyst, Principled Technologies

Author Bio: Dennis Martin is a Senior Analyst at Principled Technologies, where he focuses on validation and performance testing of data center products. He was previously the founder and President of the analyst firm Demartek (acquired by Principled Technologies). Principled Technologies 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, Cisco, Dell EMC, HPE, IBM, Intel, NetApp, Pure Storage, Samsung, Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital. Principled Technologies 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 39-year veteran of the technology industry, Dennis was previously a Senior Analyst with Evaluator Group and a marketing and engineering executive with StorageTek.