Kaminario and Freeform Dynamics Announce Joint Investigation Results

Kaminario announced today, citing a report by research firm Freeform Dynamics, that all-flash storage is most widely used in database-related applications and is being positively received in the market as a catalyst for innovation.

According to a Freeform survey of approximately 300 IT professionals, 70% of responding companies are using all-flash storage for database-related applications. Multiple responses were recorded for virtual server hosting at 51%, OLTP at 48%, and VDI (desktop virtualization) at 34%, and it was also found to be widely used in fields such as cloud infrastructure deployment, real-time analytics, and mobile applications.

Bryan Betts, Senior Analyst at Freeform Dynamics, stated, “Perceptions regarding the utilization of all-flash storage have been changing rapidly recently. Its suitability for enterprise environments has already been accepted by the market, and it is now emerging as the new normal capable of driving new business innovations and reshaping IT environments.”

It has been observed that investments in all-flash storage are being made in conjunction with orchestration and automation solutions, particularly for managing cloud environments. In this regard, Freeform Dynamics analyzed that all-flash storage is evolving through three major stages in the storage market: initially emerging to accelerate point applications, then going through a stage where it is used for general-purpose applications, and finally, in the third stage, evolving into a core foundation for cloud environments, Infrastructure as a Service platforms, and software-defined data centers.

Based on the results of this survey, the report forecasted the all-flash storage market through the following analysis.

The pace of the third evolution will accelerate: The majority of enterprises are already leveraging all-flash storage as an opportunity for IT automation and reducing manual system management elements. By eliminating I/O bottlenecks and enabling autonomous storage management in response to infrastructure changes, IT departments will be able to optimize support for cloud applications and maximize the user experience.

The position of hybrid storage is set to shrink: While areas requiring hybrid storage still exist, all-flash arrays are expected to dominate the overall storage paradigm. This shift has been particularly evident over the past year or so, with a growing tendency for customers to purchase solid-state drives individually to address specific performance issues, rather than purchasing hybrid storage solutions. Although database-related applications remain the primary motivation for flash adoption, most enterprise applications are expected to be supported by all-flash arrays in the future.