Nimble Storage

We have started working with a new iSCSI storage platform from Nimble Storage. This product is unique because of its’ Cache Accelerated Sequential Layout (CASL) architecture. This architecture includes inline compression, optimized data layout, integrated backups, intelligent indexing and highly efficient offsite replication.


The most unique feature of this product is the size of the underlying block for the storage system. Most iSCSI vendors set the underlying file system block at a very large size (larger than10Mbytes in most cases). Nimble has designed their storage system to allow the creation of LUNs with different block sizes which can be customized to match the optimal server block size.

For instance, if you were building an Exchange 2010 server you could create a LUN for the system drive which would be 4K, a second LUN for the Log file drive that would be 16K, and a third LUN for the Exchange database drive that would be 32K. This would allow all system drives to run at optimal size and speed. This design makes Nimble’s unit perform much faster than competitors when dealing with data that is 4K to 32K in size. The variable block sizes also make snapshots and backups much more efficient since you are copying blocks that are 4K to 32K in size verses copying blocks that are 10Mbytes or larger.

The compression that is built into this product is very good. On a recent test, we copied a 1 Tbyte volume to the SAN and we realized savings of about 300 Gbytes. Considering that this volume consisted of compressed images and documents the compression rate was impressive. The unit actually runs faster with compression turned on!

The system is designed to be a fully functioning backup solution as well as a fast iSCSI storage system. It is also very easy to install and configure. It took me about 1 hour from start to finish to hook it up to the network, configure LUNs and connect storage to it.