Technology August 24, 2009, 11:02PM EST

Cloud Computing Could Be a Boon for Flash Storage

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In addition to fast access to data stored in the cloud, Facebook anticipates that flash storage can provide "tremendous" gains in reliability while using significantly less power than other storage systems, Heiliger said.

MySpace expects that flash storage could save space in data centers while still supporting the fast page loads that users demand, according to Buckingham. By replacing disk drives with flash technology, MySpace can use 1U servers instead of taller 2U models, which would save a lot of space in a company whose data centers collectively occupy 60,000 square feet.

MySpace also hopes to one day use flash technology to cache frequently used data and to maintain indexes for searches, Buckingham said.

However, the social networking company won't rely on flash for persistent data, such as the pictures users post on their pages. Only about one-twentieth of the company's data would ever be stored on flash. "I'm never going to write something to an SSD and hope it lasts forever," Buckingham said.

MySpace is working with flash vendors to establish baselines for performance and reliability, he added.

Hoping to take advantage of the growing demand, several top storage vendors have unveiled flash technologies in the past year. Many of the offerings are based on products developed by Stec Inc. in Santa Ana, Calif.

EMC Corp. (EMC) added SSD technology to several of its storage offerings, while IBM (IBM) executives have said that flash should be available for all of the company's enterprise storage platforms by the end of this year. Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) offers SSD technology for its high-end XP storage arrays and midrange Enterprise Virtual Arrays, as well as flash cards made by Fusion-io Inc. that fit into HP servers.

Lawson is a reporter for the IDG News Service.

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