Last year, Microsoft had acquired Avere Systems, the data storage and data management infrastructure provider. Avere Systems provides a high-performance caching appliance called Avere FXT Edge Filer. Microsoft is now advancing this solution with the release of new Azure FXT Edge Filer.
Microsoft said that Azure FXT Edge Filer will bring more performance, SSD, memory and support for Azure Blob. It will deliver high-throughput and low-latency NFS (Network File System) to apps that run on Linux compute farms. It will remove the latency issues between Blob storage and on-premises computing.
“Since Microsoft’s acquisition of Avere last March, we’ve been working to provide an exciting combination of performance and efficiency to support hybrid storage architectures with the Avere appliance technology,” wrote Jeff Tabor, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft Azure, in a blog post.
The new solution will be a combination of software and hardware, and optimize the latency and throughput for hybrid storage infrastructure supporting HPC workloads. The hardware in the Azure FXT Edge Filer will be provided by Dell EMC, while Microsoft will provide the software.
The tech giant is launching two models of the new solution—FXT 6600 model and FXT 6400 model. The FXT 600 is a top-end model that will offer 40% more read performance and double the memory of FXT 5850.
On the other hand, FXT 6400 is a mid-range model for customers who don’t require high memory and SSD capacity, or who want to economically upgrade FXT 5600 and FXT 5400.
Both the models are scalable and can support up to 24 server nodes when the demand increases. The mountpoint provides easier management across heterogenous storage. Plus, it exhibits a hybrid architecture which supports NetApp, Dell EMC Isilon, Azure Blob, and S3 storage.
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Microsoft said that it is currently previewing the FXT 6600 model at customer sites, with FXT 6400 model becoming generally available. The company will reveal the first look of its new solution at NAB 2019 in Las Vegas.
