Operational Characteristics of SSDs in Enterprise Storage Systems - A Large-Scale Field Study

Explore a comprehensive field study on the operational characteristics of SSDs in enterprise storage systems. Delve into key aspects such as write amplification, wear leveling effectiveness, and program-erase cycle usage rates based on data from nearly 2 million SSDs in production environments. Gain insights into how these factors impact SSD performance and lifespan, with a focus on NetApp's enterprise storage systems. Compare findings between enterprise storage systems and data centers, and understand the implications for future generations of flash memory with lower endurance. Learn about the research questions, methodology, and significant findings that shed light on the real-world behavior of SSDs in large-scale deployments.

Computer Science UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
Research Questions • Performance and lifespan of SSDs are affected by operational characteristics.
Systems Description . We focus on NetApp's enterprise storage systems
What are NAND Usage Rates in the field?
Write Amplification Factors (WAF) SSDs internally perform housekeeping tasks (garbage collection, wear levelling, etc.) resulting in Write Amplification
Write Amplification Factors (WAF) in production?
Which factors impact WAF? . Several factors can affect an SSD's write amplification.
Enterprise storage systems versus data centers