The processing requirements to run computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) engineering programs means engineers often cannot work on these drawings and designs from a construction or manufacturing site and, subsequently, must return to their offices to update or modify designs.
However, through the use of a flash storage thin-client server, which has access speeds faster than 200 microseconds (1/5000 of a second), an engineering company can store the designs on the thin-client server and stream the data to a remote desktop. This enables engineers on site to work on and modify the technical drawings without the need for powerful, expensive computers on site, says data storage company Whiptail Europe, Middle East and Africa VP and GM Brian Feller.
The technology provides highly scalable input/output operations per second and throughput, ensuring that organisations are equipped to cope with the increased data transfer demands of virtualised environments, says South African information technology reseller Blue Turtle consultant Ronnie Koch.
“The Whiptail Accella and Invicta flash storage arrays are not replacements for traditional disk storage, but are effective in making data that must be accessed by many users, or accessed and written to continuously, more quickly accessible. This reduces the need for unnecessary storage hard disks and increases the throughput of information and storage in a company,” continues Feller.
Magnetic hard-disk storage, used in the majority of commercial servers worldwide, does not have uniform access speed to all bits of data because, as more users and data are added, the speed with which the disks can access different data storage areas on the disks decreases.