Startup Firm FlashSoft Exits Stealth Mode to Unveil FlashSoft SE Software Allowing Flash Memory Virtualization Technology
A startup firm called FlashSoft has come out in the public to
release its FlashSoft SE software that allows users to benefit from flash memory technology. This will allow customers to lower their IT and operational costs.
The company described on Tuesday that it will work on the development and completion of its software and technology, which will be assisted by venture capitalists. It has been announced that the company has received 3 million dollars as basic funding, also known as ‘Series A’ round. The CEO and founder of FlashSoft, Ted Sanford, said that 3 million dollars are the only funding and investment the company has received so far.
The company’s software, FlashSoft SE, allows the virtualization of a server’s flash memory. According to Ted Sanford, the software “virtualizes the Flash memory inside a server and across multiple servers into a cache memory that can be used to run the most frequently-accessed data.” He added that “It can work with PCIe-based Flash memory or with SSDs.”
“It puts hot data on Flash in the cache,” he described. “So for a 2-TB data set, you might normally need seven PCIe Flash cards. With FlashSoft, you just need one. That’s $10,000 vs. $70,000 in cost.”
This cost-reduction technology is not the first in the market. In fact, the NYSE listed firm EMC announced in May that it was releasing a Flash-based technology that would reduce the performance gap between servers and storage, thus increasing efficiency and reducing costs. Sanford acknowledged the fact that FlashSoft SE is similar to EMC’s Project Lightning since it moves the data required by application into cache inside the server. As the data remains in the server it allows applications to run with more speed than when data stays in SSDs inside storage arrays as part of a tiered-storage approach.
He added, “As an ISV, FlashSoft is not tied to specific SSDs or storage devices. Project Lightning is tied to EMC storage.”
This software will offer the advantages that are almost the same as EMC’s Project Lightning; it will bridge the performance gap between storage and servers. According to Sanford, “This could change storage dynamics. If you are running the hottest 20 percent of data in server cache, you might not need the storage to be as powerful.”
“FlashSoft SE is cluster-aware, which means it clusters the cache of multiple servers regardless of which vendor’s cluster technology is used. We can virtualize across multiple SSDs and PCIe Flash cards in a server, and across multiple servers,” he added. “We’re building a clustering model to provide a consistent distributed cache across the cluster.”
The cluster-aware function won’t be released until the end of summer or the beginning of autumn. It will primarily be available for Microsoft clustering applications, and then for VMware, Linux, Xen and KWM.
Sanford also added that the company is actively searching for solution providers who can team up with FlashSoft, buy its software, and then recommend the proper memory devices to users. These solution providers can also be trained by the company and get equipped with the proper information so that they can optimize the FlashSoft SE software with customers’ Flash memory devices for specific applications. Apart from them, FlashSoft is also looking for OEMs that would implement its software and technology.
Due to the booming virtualization industry and the obsession to reduce IT operational costs, the road to success won’t be too difficult for such a start-up firm. Since it has already enlisted support from goliaths such as Microsoft and VMware, FlashSoft could receive more rounds of funding in the future and witness a rise in popularity, starting from its new software.
Related posts:
loool… that is an awesome idea!