Teradata claims performance boost with latest data warehouse platforms

Teradata has launched two new data warehouse platforms that it says can speed in-memory performance and help save energy in the datacentre.

The new Active Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) platforms include solid state drive (SSD) and hard disk drive (HDD) technology that can be used to move data across tiered storage platforms according to how often and fast it needs to retrieved.

The design also includes Teradata's cabinet packaging and cooling advances which the firm said enable them to run hotter, thereby helping to lower the amount of energy needed to power the datacentre overall.

The Active EDW 6680 comes with SSD and HDD storage and Teradata Virtual Storage (TVS) software, which is designed to track data use and “intelligently” migrate it to the most appropriate storage type.

The Active EDW 6650 also features HDD storage, with the ability to upgrade to SSDs and the TVS software.

Scott Gnau, Teradata chief development officer, said the Active EDW 6680 offers up to a four-times boost in throughput, enabling increased performance for reporting, operations and complex analytic applications.

“Teradata is the only vendor to offer integrated, self-managing storage combining SSD and HDD devices in the same platform. Also, by combining large memory and efficient caching, Teradata provides in-memory performance without requiring a separate appliance,” he said.

The storage firm said the new Active EDW 6680 removes the need to run multiple storage HDDs to mitigate their slow input/output performance, while matching the performance advances of software that runs on multi-core processors.

Teradata added that its “massively parallel approach to storage” could replace up to 17 HDDs with just one SSD, depending on workload. The platform is also designed to scale from 7TB up to 36PB of data.

The 6680 uses Pliant Technologies’ SSDs with 300GB capacity, and LSI Engenio HDD storage arrays, ranging from 300GB to 450GB, along with LSI modular enclosures that can hold a choice of 300GB, 450GB or 600GB HDD devices.

Teradata said its Active EDW 6650 is aimed at companies wanting to match storage capacity with ever more powerful systems performance. It scales from 7.5TB to 92PB of data and includes capacity for 300GB, and 450GB-sized HDDs.

Clive Longbottom, service director at analyst firm Quocirca, told V3.co.uk that Teradata’s announcement seems to be following the direction of more advanced hierarchical data storage software systems, like those of Hitachi Data Systems.

"The physical temperature of a datacentre is a hot topic," he added. "Being able to run a datacentre at a hotter temperature means less energy needed for cooling, so is a great win for the datacentre and the business."

But Longbottom warned that HDDs could be a little “pernickety” when it comes to temperatures, and may need to be kept within closer tolerances than, say, CPUs or other equipment.

“SSDs can take far higher temperatures than magnetic disks, however,” he said.