1. Copyright M. Leslie 1
Samsung OIC meeting
03 December 2012
mleslie@leslieventures.com

2. Storage Trends - Introduction
Broad-based reconfiguration of IT
infrastructure based on public / private
cloud computing
Advent of pervasive Flash Memory
Disruption to compute/storage hierarchy
Storage supplier industry in flux
Copyright: Mark Leslie 2007 2

3. Copyright: Mark Leslie 2007
Impact of Flash Memory
 Flash learning curve and economics are being driven by
smartphones and tablets
 Unlike past new storage technologies of the past like optical and bubble, which
were never able to compete with magnetic storage learning curve
 We are at the very a long term trend (20 – 30 years) to replace
rotating memory with flash memory
 A look back to disk vs. tape is instructive
 In the next 5 years, all laptops and most conventional desktops will
switch to flash
 In the next 5 years, all performance driven applications will switch to
flash (or subsystems with significant amount of flash at the top of the
hierarchy)
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4. The Compute / Storage Hierarchy
 Background
 Over the years storage migrated from direct attached to array based, to network
accessible.
 At the same time, storage as been deployed in well articulated hierarchies, with
fast disks (perhaps with small caches higher performance (flash or dram),
medium speed disks, slow disks and tape (now used only occasionally for
backup).
 The STORAGE HIERARCHY is being replaced by the STORAGE
GRADIENT of storage
 Flash appears as direct attached via PCIE (SSDs)
 Flash integrates more intimately with DRAM and the CPUs than it does with the
storage traditional storage infrastructure (Fusion)
 Flash also appears as
 The primary storage (Pure)
 And the cache or hierarchical component of disk systems (EMC, NetApp, Nimble)
 And on the disk device itself (Seagate)
Copyright M. Leslie 4

5. Industry Impact
 Important new companies
 Fusion
 Nimble
 Pure
 (Pernix Data)
 Subsystem companies
 EMC
 An agile company that will acquire what it needs to stay relevant
 NetApp
 WAFL, which has been the core IP of the company, is obsoleted by new technology
 The company has no track record of acquisition
 Is (and will) struggle with this transition
 HP, Hitachi, etc.???
 Primary suppliers
 Seagate
 Enjoys scale and dominance, and is thinking about all of this
 Does not own Flash production, and is not in the subsystem business
 But could become the “Storage Tek” of the future
 Western Digital, et al???
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