Many All-Flash Array (AFA) storage vendors claim that their all-flash array can meet the performance and capacity requirements of every storage use case. The reality is that, even if your budget is limitless, there are still several factors to be weighed when considering flash-based arrays.
TrueNAS by iXsystems makes these decisions easy by offering you a seamless line of flash-assisted hybrid and all-flash solutions to meet your exact performance, capacity requirements, and budget.
It’s been said that when you only have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. This is exactly the message that all-flash-only vendors are sending. The truth is that modern storage requirements fundamentally tiers your storage from your front line database and virtualization systems down to your backups and cold storage. Most of these storage tiers do not need flash storage. Ask your AFA vendor to price out a petabyte of archival storage to learn exactly what we are talking about. With TrueNAS, you can choose the exact hybrid or AFA array that meets the needs of your application.

1. Capacity Matters

While it’s true that flash storage prices continue to drop, hard disk capacity has grown at the exact same rate and the result is more choice, rather than the arrival of the long-promised all-flash era. As a scale-up solution, TrueNAS strategically delivers AFA via the TrueNAS Z50 with capacities up to 30TB in perfect harmony with its Z20, Z30 and Z35 models that can deliver up to 4PB in hybrid storage. The result is a unified and dense line that can meet the unique needs of every area of your organization and storage network, rather than serve as the hammer that hits one nail well.

2. User Experience Matters

The User Experiences of different storage arrays can vary significantly and introduce unforeseen hidden costs in training and support. Only TrueNAS can provide you with a unified user experience at every capacity from a few terabytes of all-flash storage to petabytes of hybrid. Many vendors offer AFA solutions that they acquired to round out their product lines while TrueNAS was engineered by the same Silicon Valley team that designed the TrueNAS hybrid storage line. Learn to run one TrueNAS system and you can run them all.

3. Price Matters

Hard disk storage is still the undisputed winner in the $/TB game, and TrueNAS hybrid storage arrays offer all-flash performance at spinning-disk prices in many applications, giving you the best of both worlds. Our knowledgeable Solution Engineers will help you determine exactly which TrueNAS solutions will best meet your different requirements and explain how each model works together to deliver both speed and reliability. With VMware, Veeam, Citrix and Microsoft Hyper-V qualifications, TrueNAS is truly a one-stop virtualization, file sharing and backup storage solution.

4. Flexibility Matters

Many vendors offer only file or block storage options, but TrueNAS is a unified NAS and SAN solution that can serve SMB, NFS, AFP, iSCSI, Fibre Channel and more simultaneously. An all-flash SAN-only solution that requires a Windows Server to provide sharing services introduces cost, complexity and management challenges. DCIG determined that up to half of storage TCO can be attributed to software costs. By contrast, TrueNAS never requires add-on licenses to unlock features or remove artificial limitations.

5. Support Matters

When you have issues or need help, you expect to get the prompt support you need. iXsystems acts as an extension of your organization and provides you with authoritative support and services from its Silicon Valley headquarters. Many AFA vendors use offshore support, limits support options, or increases support costs after a fixed time period. iXsystems offers U.S.-based services and support with multiple tiers to suit every budget and SLA requirement. In fact, customers say that the post-purchase support you get with TrueNAS is first-rate with most preferring our support to that of other vendors. Also, if you have storage solutions from multiple vendors, you need to work with multiple support organizations and maintain multiple support contracts. By deploying a combination of TrueNAS AFA and Hybrid models, you can have one go-to source of world-class support for your entire storage infrastructure.
The true TCO of a storage solution includes much more than its acquisition cost.  It also includes training, licensing fees, support, support extensions and more. TrueNAS offers a full line of hybrid and AFA storage arrays with enterprise-class features to meet your exact needs across your organization. We think you will agree with industry analyst DCIG that TrueNAS is the best value in the storage industry.
Learn more about the TrueNAS architecture in this whitepaper and email us at sales@ixsystems.com or call 1-855-473-7449 to learn from one of our consultative account managers which TrueNAS will best meet your needs.
TrueNAS Team