CommArc are upgrading to the Ferrari of cloud platforms…

Over the next 8-10 months CommArc will be upgrading our two Tier One HP Storage Area Networks (SAN’s).  These “exciting” sounding systems actually form the backbone of CommArc’s private cloud platform.  A SAN is effectively a massive bank of disk drives that work collectively together to provide the storage for our cloud platforms in Christchurch and Auckland.

We have chosen to upgrade both our tier 1 SAN’s from spinning disk to 100% solid state (SSD).  This is an innovative investment for CommArc that will see us with one of the very few 100% SSD cloud platforms in New Zealand.

Why solid state?  First and foremost, SSD is up to 40 times faster than standard magnetic disk technology.  It uses much less power, and it has no moving parts.  A SAN that is based on SSD technology will offer considerable performance gains to CommArc Cloud customers.

Secondly, it is the way of the future, and we want to position CommArc as an absolute industry leader in this field.

 Our Auckland Data Centre will be upgraded later this year, with our Christchurch Data Centre following in mid 2016.  Our existing tier 1 SAN’s will also be retained to provide lower cost storage options, disaster recovery and backup.

FYI regarding Solid State Technology (thanks to BozMatthews):

First of all, an SSD has no mechanical parts whatsoever. If you are familiar with conventional hard drives, you may know that they read to and write from rotating magnetic platters – or disks. Sort of like a CD or DVD but much faster and without the lasers. Because of the mechanical parts and the tiny areas available for reading and writing, hard drives are very fragile. Usually, the hard drive is the first thing to break in a computer.

 A Solid State drive, on the other hand, uses memory technology that works more like the computer's internal memory (RAM). But unlike RAM, where information is only stored temporarily and disappears as soon as it loses power, an SSD retains its data even when your computer is turned off. In addition, it does all this without involving mechanical arms, rotating platters or anything else that could easily break.