The ParAccel Analytic Appliance (PAA) is a software appliance created for simple installation and configuration of the ParAccel Analytic Database (PADB) on commodity hardware.
The PAA is also available as a packaged appliance on commodity hardware in ultra performance or in standard configurations. The PAA ultra performance configuration features PAA with Fusion-io’s leading enterprise-class solid-state storage while the standard configuration includes mechanical drives.
PAA Ultra Performance Configuration Using Fusion-io
The ParAccel Analytic Appliance, deployed with Fusion’s ioMemory, is the first flash-powered, columnar, analytic appliance that propels the already market-leading performance of PADB to dramatic breakthrough levels. Because analytic systems are I/O intensive, storage architecture is a very important consideration when designing for performance.
Balanced CPU and I/O for Greater Performance
PADB’s architecture uniquely leverages Fusion-io’s enterprise-class solid-state storage technology. PADB’s MPP-columnar design, high compression rates, and new-generation Omne optimizer enable complex data exploration without the bloat of indices, materialized views or specialized schemas required by other platforms. PADB compiles queries prior to execution to fully use the power of the CPUs. This technique along with other CPU optimizations enables faster and more efficient analytic processing.
Within the PAA, CPUs connect directly to flash without the need for storage controllers. This streamlined approach provides transformational analytic processing at ultimate I/O speeds, as each flash card is typically 15X faster than a mechanical drive. The combination of PADB’s distinct CPU advantages with Fusion-io’s accelerated scan speeds provides a balanced, high-performance analytic appliance. Customers can do far more with fewer servers, occupying less rack space and consuming less power.
PAA Standard Configuration
The PAA standard configuration relies on mechanical drives for onboard storage in commodity servers. When implemented with mechanical drives, each node benefits fully from the server’s own disk controller and I/O bus; the data flows directly along the server’s high speed bus without being bottlenecked by a secondary storage connection. Mechanical drives are very cost effective making the standard configuration a good choice for environments where high performance, capacity and price must be balanced.
Configuration Flexibility
The PAA is easily deployable in all enterprise environments, including virtualized standard operating environments. ParAccel also offers the Scalable Analytic Appliance (SAA), maximizing PADB’s analytic performance with the enterprise data manageability of SAN environments.