KIOXIA America, Inc. today announced the introduction of Software-Enabled Flash (SEF),
a new technology that combines software flexibility, host control and
flash native semantics into a flash native API and purpose-built
controller. Targeted to data center directors, architects and
developers, SEF technology makes flash easier to manage, more timely to
deploy and more predictable in nature - putting the power in
programmers' hands.
With
hyperscale computing redefining storage and virtualization, the race is
on to orchestrate digital storage for cloud applications in a way that
drives greater efficiency at scale. Effectively and efficiently
utilizing flash for stable, predictable latency in ever-changing cloud
workloads through direct host management of flash will quickly be
critical to realizing these much-needed efficiencies.
Past
efforts to provide a market solution for hyperscalers have not been
widely adopted, as these attempts have all been extensions of the HDD
paradigm. Taking a completely different approach, KIOXIA designed SEF to
free developers from narrowly defined "drive" behaviors by
fundamentally changing the relationship between solid-state storage and
the host in cloud environments. SEF bypasses legacy HDD storage
paradigms to unlock true host control and enable the use of flash at its
natural speed.
Additionally,
SEF enables architects to maximize the benefits of their investments in
solid state storage, including the unprecedented ability to freely and
flexibly define storage behaviors between the host and the flash. The
API abstracts generational differences, eliminating the need for
developers to modify code with each new version of flash.
"As
the inventor of flash memory, KIOXIA is perfectly positioned to
introduce this game-changing approach to deploying flash at scale,"
noted Eric Ries, SVP, Memory Storage Strategy Division (MSSD), KIOXIA
America, Inc. "Our customers have been pushing for the ability to drive
operational efficiency in the data center programmatically, and SEF
technology will meet this need by placing access and control of flash
directly in the hands of hyperscale programmers."
SEF hardware is compliant with PCIe standards,
enabling a large ecosystem and accelerating open innovation across
multiple products. For more information, please visit www.kioxia.com and www.SoftwareEnabledFlash.com.