Cisco, Fusion-IO sign flash storage pact

Upstart server maker, Cisco Systems, has tapped server flash-drive maker Fusion-IO to be its OEM supplier for flash storage in its "California" Unified Computing System blade severs, The Register reports.

With this deal, Fusion-IO has wrapped up OEM deals with HP, Dell and IBM, the top server makers in terms of shipments, as well as with Super Micro, the king of the whitebox makers, which peddles its own servers as well as raw components that smaller server makers use to build their own boxes.

Fusion-IO makes flash storage subsystems that are integrated into servers through a PCIe slot rather than located on external storage systems, Computerworld writes.

This tier of storage is more directly accessible than a conventional SSD (solid state disk) and is designed to accelerate application performance. Fusion-IO has developed flash subsystems with HP for its BladeSystem c-Class servers and with IBM for its xSeries line. It also offers products for Dell and SuperMicro servers.

According to Storage Review, the Cisco UCS solution is a data centre solution that combines compute, network, storage and virtualisation into a single system that is designed to reduce total cost of ownership while improving flexibility.

Cisco customers have been looking for ways to increase performance further, which makes the new ioMemory solution ideal for Cisco UCS users who want reduced latency for key applications.