Kalray Unveils Support of NVMe/TCP to Accelerate Data Center Storage Disaggregation
GRENOBLE, France, August 1, 2019 — Kalray, pioneer in processors for new intelligent systems, has leveraged the capability of its MPPA (“Massively Parallel Processor Array”) processor and its optimized fast-path software to develop a new NVMe/TCP profile for its Kalray Target Controller (KTC) solution. NVMe/TCP brings the opportunity to disaggregate storage from the compute servers in infrastructures using regular and ubiquitous TCP protocol, re-using existing Network Interface Cards (“NIC”) and switches for easy deployment and optimized cost.
Kalray’s innovative PCIe cards can be seamlessly configured to support NVMe-over Fabric (“NVMe-oF”) either over RDMA (“RDMA over Converged Ethernet” or RoCE) or over TCP protocols. This dual-persona capability brings the flexibility required in evolving data centers, minimizing investments while maximizing the return and lifetime of the NVMe-oF storage disaggregated infrastructure. Integrators and users can therefore repurpose their JBOF (“Just a Bunch of Flash”) systems.
Integration into Wistron’s Lymma JBOF
Wistron of Taiwan, one of the largest suppliers of Information and Communication Products (www.wistron.com), selected the new solution to be integrated into a version of its Lymma JBOF and give data center operators & storage appliance makers rapid access to a complete product.
Kalray has been an early supporter of the NVMe-oF standard and the first company to receive the NVMe-oF certification for a complete solution from the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (www.iol.unh.edu).
“NVMe/TCP is opening the door for a democratization of the storage disaggregation”, says Olivier Lauvray – Executive VP and General Manager of Kalray’s Data Center Business Unit. “Our 10/40Gbps solution allows for mature data centers to expand the lifetime and value of their assets without a high investment, while our 25/100 Gbps solution is aiming at new data center infrastructure deployments”.
KTC, enabling cost-effective storage disaggregation
KTC fully packaged solution is enabling JBOF or JBOD (“Just-a-Bunch-of-Disks”) integrators to rapidly develop and deploy solutions based on NVMe-oF. It consists of a Kalray PCIe card using a single MPPA processor that integrates all the software required to support a JBOF/JBOD NVMe-oF target controller functionality. There is no need for an additional costly and power-hungry processor or additional FPGA. With a MPPA power consumption below 20W, the resulting storage solutions are very dense and cost-effective.
Kalray is continuously taking advantage of the unique computing capability, architecture flexibility and standard programmability of its MPPA intelligent processor, to develop and enable system solutions with the lowest Total cost of Ownership for its customers. The multi-standard KTC product is a good example of how Kalray’s technology can enable a paradigm shift in the data center industry.
Flexibility, high performance and low latency
The first version of this multi-standard solution is now available on a 40 Gbps PCIe-based KTC Card from Kalray, achieving 2.5 MIOPS, and several cards are integrated into a version of the Lymma JBOF from Wistron, resulting in a very dense solution. Further deployment of KTC is planned onto the 100 Gbps PCIe Cards from Kalray and within other JBOF chassis, targeting up to 9 MIOPS per card. Demonstration will be shown at the Flash Memory Summit (www.flashmemorysummit.com).
Source: Kalray
