Intel today announced its Intel Cache Acceleration Software (CAS) for Linux that prioritizes application performance, which it said can offer up to 18 times the performance for read-intensive applications, such as on-line transaction processing systems.
The Linux version of the software will be generally available within 30 days as an enterprise subscription and open source release. It will complement the existing Intel CAS 2.0 for Windows that is available today.
Intel CAS 2.0 is based on technology from Intel's August 2012 acquisition of NEVEX Virtual Technologies, and provides capabilities that enhance the company's SSD data center family of products. Intel's CAS 2.0 solution provides significant input/output (I/O) and application performance improvements in use cases including database/OLTP, virtualization, cloud and big data (Hadoop).
"Intel CAS complements our SSD data center family by providing a total caching solution that delivers even more value and capability for our customers," said Chuck Brown, product line manager for Intel's Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group. "Intel CAS delivers a multi-level cache across the SSD and DRAM for optimal performance. Compared to short-stroked hard-drive technology, we've seen up to 50 times the improvement in I/O performance throughput for read intensive workloads by adding Intel CAS with the Intel SSD 910 series."
The Intel CAS solution provides improved performance for I/O-intensive applications running on dedicated servers or virtual machines (VMs). With its unique policy-based caching, Intel CAS can target performance to specific applications, files, VM or individual database tables. Selective optimized caching allows administrators to focus performance on applications and data that directly impact the business while enabling consistent I/O acceleration by avoiding contention with other applications and server actions. A scalable application server tier with direct-attached SSD provides low latency and consistent performance, complementing SAN technologies for capacity storage tiers such as archive, backup, recovery and more. By balancing CPU and I/O performance, Intel CAS offers companies lower TCO with an optimized, integrated solution. "Attempts to solve I/O performance issues at the SAN tier have resulted in wasted spend, wasted productivity, and frustration to both users and IT administrators," said Steve Dalton, General Manager of Attached Platform Storage Software at Intel. "We have the seamless answer with our Cache Acceleration Software solution. Intel CAS allows administrators to target storage performance to those applications that need it the most, offloading IOPS from primary storage to the servers themselves, providing a win-win with previous storage spend."
Intel CAS 2.0 for Windows and Linux supports the Intel SSD data center family including the Intel DC S3700 and 910 Series. The open source code release will be available on intel.com.