Flash memory vendor Fusion-io has collaborated with MariaDB and Percona on a new flash aware interface, NVM Compression. The new flash aware interface doubles the useable capacity of ioMemory flash for MySQL databases, according to Fusion-io.
With traditional disk storage, data compression significantly hinders database performance. Testing conducted by MariaDB database developer, SkySQL, would have shown that using the NVM Compression interface with the Fusion-io nonvolatile memory file system (NVMFS) doubled the useable capacity of the ioMemory server flash available to the database without affecting performance.
When integrated with the Fusion-io Atomic Writes interface, NVM Compression would also deliver 4 times more flash endurance by streamlining commands to optimize databases for persistent flash memory architectures.
NVM Compression
Unlike disk-era compression techniques, flash-optimized NVM Compression shares the vast majority of the application code with the traditional uncompressed database logic. By leveraging the underlying architecture of flash as a memory tier, NVM Compression significantly reduces the complexity of storage engines, which allows for improved scalability and higher efficiency.
In addition, the well-defined interface of NVM Compression would allow developers to quickly introduce flash-aware compression to their applications using versatile workload-optimized compression algorithms. Once integrated into an application, NVM Compression enables developers to help enterprises scale their IT infrastructure to meet increasing data demands by effectively balancing storage efficiency with customer workload performance requirements.
Modern IT architectures
“Solutions like the flash-aware NVM Compression and Atomic Writes interfaces integrate powerful software-defined features that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of modern IT architectures, making flash an even more essential addition to the data center,” said Eric Burgener, Research Director for IDC’s Storage Practice. “While much of the rest of the industry is looking at flash as a replacement for disk, these flash aware interfaces emphasize how Fusion-io is architecting flash as a replacement for memory.”
The Fusion-io NVM Compression and Atomic Writes interfaces are now in early access testing in MariaDB 10 and Percona 5.6. Fusion ioMemory platforms for MySQL database acceleration are available from server vendors including HP, Cisco, Dell, IBM, and Supermicro.
