PodCast #96: VAST Data is Flipping Storage on its Head

Brian sat down with VAST Data’s CMO and Co-founder Jeff Denworth for a deep dive into VAST’s technology and to learn more about why this is such a game-changer for the industry and their customers. VAST is one of the brightest players in the market and gets high marks from its customer base. In fact, VAST customers have exhibited the highest recommender rating, with 100% of the organizations submitting reviews saying they would recommend Universal Storage. In addition, VAST has recorded the third year of solid growth with its AI data platform.

Jeff is very forthcoming with details on VAST’s technology and shares his views on where the industry is headed. Although this is a lengthy discussion, this podcast is well worth the time.

Time-stamped in case you want to jump to a specific topic.

0:00 Brian asks Jeff to give VAST’s core mission

Simplifying data management and systems
How to make it easier
Flash TCO
Systems that scale
Nex-gen systems management
Google File System White Paper

4:00 Architecture

NVMe-oF
Shared everything
‘DASE’
- - DisAggregated Shared Everything
Systems that scale
Global Codes

7:00 How it works

QLC requirements
Erase Blocks impact
Getting longevity out of flash storage

10:00 Why haven’t others come up with a solution?

Addressing the cost of operation
The cache is the problem
How to get rid of cache
VAST’s field deployment and warranty

15:00 Data Protection

Typical overhead
Global flash wear leveling
Data protection code
Erasure code is the differentiator
Global compression impact

20:00 Deduplication and pattern matching efficiency

23:00 What is a VAST System?

Types if clusters
Hardware that can be controlled by S/W
Enclosures determine density
The current 2U system supports up to 1.3 PB
- Similar to a JBOF
No single point of failure

32:00 Workloads and compression

40:00 What’s next?

AI discussion
Future direction of the industry

45:00 How VAST uses DPU

Hardware design
How VAST is push the market
Deeper density discussion

50:00 Server vs Storage

Node failure
Cluster Architecture

55:00 What do customers worry about?

Storage savvy customers
The Art of Possible
Hardware enclosures by AIC and Mercury with others on the horizon

1:00:00 Partners

Resiliency
Value-added

1:05:00 Processors

Performance and scale
Power metrics
Energy efficiency

1:10:00 Continuing the discussion on power consumption

Part of NVIDIA SuperPod Program
NVMe-oF

1:15:00 I/O traffic increases when adding flash to cluster

How VAST delivers POC in customer environments

1:20:00 Deployment scenarios

WRAP UP

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2 years ago

Harold Fritts

I have been in the tech industry since IBM created Selectric. My background, though, is writing. So I decided to get out of the pre-sales biz and return to my roots, doing a bit of writing but still being involved in technology.