Flash Storage Array
Terms related to simplyblock
A flash storage array is an all-solid-state storage system that exclusively uses flash memory (typically NAND-based) instead of traditional spinning disk drives. Designed for performance-critical workloads, flash arrays deliver ultra-low latency and high throughput, often exceeding what legacy HDD-based systems can provide. These arrays are central to modern high-performance IT infrastructures, especially in environments that require consistent and rapid access to data.
Flash storage arrays are available in both all-flash and hybrid configurations, where the latter combines flash with hard drives for tiered storage capabilities. However, the term usually implies a 100% flash-backed architecture optimized for speed, endurance, and reliability.
How Flash Arrays Work
Flash storage arrays consist of multiple solid-state drives (SSDs) organized and managed through a controller that orchestrates storage operations such as wear leveling, garbage collection, RAID functionality, and data deduplication. Unlike legacy SAN architectures that rely on spinning media, flash arrays minimize access latency and maximize IOPS—especially crucial in database workloads, virtualized environments, and real-time analytics.
Flash arrays often integrate with NVMe interfaces to avoid the performance bottlenecks of older protocols like SATA or SAS. This is further enhanced by NVMe over Fabrics technologies such as NVMe/TCP or NVMe-RDMA, allowing the performance of local flash to be extended over Ethernet networks.
🚀 Run Flash Arrays at Full Speed with NVMe/TCP
Use Simplyblock to cut latency, maximize IOPS, and simplify your infrastructure with native NVMe performance.
👉 Use Simplyblock for NVMe over TCP Storage →
Benefits of Flash Storage Arrays
For enterprises transitioning to software-defined architectures or deploying containerized applications at scale, flash storage arrays bring quantifiable improvements:
- Sub-millisecond latency with high IOPS per watt
- Consistent performance under mixed or unpredictable workloads
- Reduced rack space and energy consumption due to SSD density
- Advanced data services like erasure coding, thin provisioning, and snapshots
Combined with storage orchestration tools, flash arrays streamline complex tasks such as cloning, compression, and replication—especially when deployed in Kubernetes environments via CSI drivers like the one offered by simplyblock.
Flash Storage Arrays vs Traditional Disk Arrays
While both storage types serve enterprise workloads, flash arrays are designed for modern high-speed applications. Here’s how they compare:
| Feature | Flash Storage Array | Traditional Disk Array |
|---|---|---|
| Media Type | NAND flash (SSD) | Magnetic spinning disk (HDD) |
| Performance (IOPS) | 100,000+ per device | Up to 200 per device |
| Latency | Sub-millisecond | 5-15 ms |
| Failure Rate | Lower (no mechanical parts) | Higher due to moving components |
| Power & Cooling | Lower consumption | Higher cooling requirements |
| Cost per TB | Higher | Lower |
| Use Case Fit | Databases, VMs, Analytics, AI/ML | Cold storage, archival, backups |
Most modern workloads, especially in cloud-native, edge, or hybrid setups, demand the performance envelope only flash can provide. Platforms like simplyblock combine flash with erasure coding and NVMe to unlock scalable, resilient, and high-throughput storage architectures.
Use Cases for Flash Storage Arrays
Flash storage arrays excel in environments that are both data-heavy and latency-sensitive:
- Databases: Relational or NoSQL systems such as PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Redis benefit from flash’s IOPS capabilities. See simplyblock for PostgreSQL.
- Virtualization: Critical for VM performance in platforms like VMware, Proxmox, and OpenStack.
- Kubernetes: Offers persistent, high-speed volumes via CSI for platforms like Amazon EKS.
- Edge and Air-gapped Environments: Low power usage and instant data access make flash ideal for constrained environments. Learn more about edge storage.
- AI/ML & Analytics: Necessary to feed GPUs and parallel workloads with fast data streams.
Flash Arrays and Simplyblock
At simplyblock, flash storage is not just a performance enhancement—it’s a core component of our modular, adaptive, unified, shared-everything (MAUS) architecture. Our platform delivers distributed, software-defined block storage that uses NVMe drives over TCP/IP networks, combining flash performance with cost-efficient scale-out design.
Thanks to advanced erasure coding and multi-tenancy QoS, simplyblock enables enterprises to deploy flash-backed storage arrays across Kubernetes, bare metal, and hybrid cloud environments—without the operational overhead typically associated with high-end storage infrastructure.
Our NVMe/TCP support ensures seamless integration with commodity Ethernet networks while achieving low-latency access comparable to direct-attached storage. This makes simplyblock an ideal SAN alternative for organizations looking to consolidate workloads on a single unified storage platform.
External and Internal Resources
Questions and Answers
An all-flash storage array is a storage system built entirely on solid-state drives (SSDs), delivering ultra-fast data access with low latency and high throughput. It uses flash memory instead of traditional spinning disks and is ideal for performance-demanding workloads like databases, virtualization, and analytics.
Flash storage arrays drastically reduce latency and boost IOPS by using SSDs without mechanical components. Combined with modern protocols like NVMe over TCP, they can handle demanding workloads with significantly better performance than traditional disk-based systems.
Yes, flash storage offers faster access, lower failure rates, and better energy efficiency compared to HDDs. Although HDDs are cheaper per GB, flash storage delivers far superior performance and is ideal for real-time applications or latency-sensitive environments.
All-flash arrays provide consistent high-speed storage for containerized workloads. With CSI integration like Simplyblock’s Kubernetes storage, you get dynamic provisioning, strong encryption, and low-latency access for persistent volumes in Kubernetes.
Flash arrays often include built-in support for data-at-rest encryption (DARE), helping protect sensitive information. Combined with multi-tenant solutions like Simplyblock, each volume can be encrypted with unique keys for maximum security and isolation.