We are pleased to announce that Pure Storage FlashArray//m is certified by Microsoft Data Warehouse Fast Track (DWFT) program for SQL Server 2014. As you may already know, Microsoft DWFT solves for the first difficult phase in building data warehouses. This program provides a number of pre-configured, partner-led reference architectures for customers. Simply choose a reference-architecture based on current needs of performance and capacity. That way you are taming the complexity of building your data warehouse. Coupled with Pure Storage’s evergreen storage ownership model, your data stays in place while storage hardware and software evolves around it non-disruptively with no performance impact to workloads. Thus FlashArray//m is the perfect match for data warehouses. You are on the fast track not just for deployment, you continue to stay on fast track.
Microsoft Data Warehouse Fast Track
During Pure Storage’s DWFT certification we used the entry level model in FlashArray//m family: FlashArray//m20. As you would see from DWFT solutions list, this entry level array from Pure Storage is already beating several competing mid to high end arrays. But that is just the beginning. What is important is that its modular design helps customers stay on fast track beyond just the initial deployment.
In the course of doing business, organizations generate a lot of data. Data warehouses help to put these historical data to work rather than letting it sit idle. You can extract, transform and load (usually abbreviated as the ETL workflow) transactional data to dedicated data warehousing systems so as to glean insights through reporting, analytics and other value-added work streams. These insights help stakeholders make data driven business decisions.
As we are talking about modular FlashArray//m, Pure Storage’s entry into Microsoft DWFT makes things even better when compared with other fast track solutions built on top of storage requiring forklift upgrade.
- As we said earlier, FlashArray//m features a modular architecture where all its components can be refreshed as needed to solve independently for growing capacity and performance needs for data warehouses.
- The refresh/upgrade process is non-disruptive. Neither the availability nor the performance is compromised during the upgrade. It is simple to do via graphical user interface on production systems. The stakeholders of ETL, reporting and analytics workflows are unaffected during such array maintenance operations.
Let your data warehouse get into fast track and stay in it!
