The all-flash array market is heating up. A day after E8 Storage Inc. debuted a new NVMe appliance that it claims is ten times faster than traditional alternatives, Nimble Storage Inc. is launching an entry-level system aimed at making the benefits of solid-state memory more easily attainable.

The platform is being marketed under the name AF1000 and can accommodate up to 20 terabytes of data in its most basic configuration. If needed, customers are able to increase the array’s effective capacity to as much as 165 terabytes by adding an expansion shelf that grows its total footprint to 4U. Dev Datta, a product manager for Nimble, said that this is “far above” the maximum storage limit of rivaling all-flash systems in the entry-level bracket. Much of the credit goes to the homegrown management stack that the company ships with its gear, which he explained provides 20 percent more effective capacity per terabytes of raw flash in the system than competitors’ software.

The reason why Nimble decided to join the entry-level segment is twofold. First, the AF1000 will enable the vendor to court the numerous small and midsize organizations out there that can’t afford its more expensive systems. And second, it provides an easy way for large enterprise buyers to try out its value proposition. A company could deploy the new array in, say, a small offshore data center with limited storage requirements, and then buy more units if the deployment is up to snuff. Since all of Nimble’s all-flash appliances run the same management software, growing an implementation is only a matter of buying more units.

The scalability of AF1000 is also useful for smaller buyers that are expecting their storage requirements to grow over time. Nimble says that a deployment can be expanded to provide up to 8 petabytes of storage and 1.2 million I/O operations per second by adding more arrays. Moreover, customers also have the option of upgrading the on-board controller if they need additional processing power.

The AF1000 starts at just under $40,000, which can be considered fairly affordable by enterprise standards but is still more than what some rivals charge for their entry-level systems. Hewlett Packard’s 3PAR StoreServ 7200 All-Flash Starter Kit is available from $35,000, while Dell sells its SC4020 appliance for as little as $25,000.

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