Windows Server 2012 “Cluster-in-a-Box” Accelerates the Move to Private Clouds

Violin Memory, Inc., provider of one of the world’s fastest and most scalable flash Memory Arrays, and Microsoft Corporation are showcasing at Microsoft TechEd (located at Pavilion Kiosk 21), the world’s first all-flash “Cluster-in-a-Box” Solution with Windows Server 2012 running natively on the Violin 6000 platform. With increased demands placed on today’s IT departments to meet end user needs for data in near real-time the release of Windows Server 2012 is a welcome relief for the enterprise customer. Using Violin Memory Arrays, Windows Server 2012 can scale to address the needs of the largest and most demanding enterprise IT departments.

IT departments in data intensive markets like government, financial, Web and media, are challenged with delivering business critical data to end users anywhere and anytime.  Infrastructure consolidation and private cloud deployments have enabled IT departments to address some of these challenges. However, as more applications move to a hosted or virtualized model, disk-based tier-1 storage simply cannot scale performance to maximize the value of solutions like Windows Server 2012. The “Cluster-in-a-Box” solution from Violin and Microsoft eases the transition to a more service-oriented infrastructure that delivers the highest levels of performance, efficiency and reliability.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Microsoft to showcase the power of Windows Server 2012 on Violin flash Memory Arrays,” said Don Basile, CEO of Violin Memory. “The 6000 platform delivers some of the highest levels of performance, reliability and efficiency to meet the needs of the most demanding enterprise IT environments. Windows “Cluster-in-a-box” is the foundation for a set of solutions such as continuously available file server, database-in-a-box and virtual private cloud-in-a-box.”

"We’re excited to see companies such as Violin Memory demonstrate their capabilities with a “Cluster-in-a-Box” solution on Windows Server 2012 at the Microsoft Partner Pavilion at Microsoft TechEd in Orlando this week,” said Thomas Pfenning, general manager of Microsoft Windows File Server Foundation.

According to Joseph Unsworth, research VP at Gartner, “The performance challenges of spinning disk are well known and have paved the way for flash based Arrays to challenge current tier 1 storage incumbents. Systems that marry compelling hardware and savvy software by delivering enterprise reliability, efficiency and performance required for the next generation of ‘flash aware’ software will be critical for enterprises to fully exploit their investments.”

Violin’s flash Memory Arrays are changing the data center for companies like AOL, Revlon, DataQuick, Tagged.com, Juniper and HP through its patented flash vRAID technology. In addition to this joint solution demonstration, Violin has worked with Microsoft and other partners to showcase the value proposition of its platforms. Read more about the benchmarks here.

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About Microsoft Corporation
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

About Violin Memory, Inc.
Violin Memory is pioneering the future of Flash memory in the enterprise data center with Memory Arrays that accelerate business critical applications and enable enterprises to virtualize and optimize their IT infrastructures. Specifically designed for sustained performance with high reliability, Violin’s Memory Arrays scale to hundreds of terabytes and millions of IOPS with low, spike-free latency. Founded in 2005, Violin Memory is headquartered in Mountain View, California. For more information about Violin Memory products, visit www.vmem.com.