Introduction to Flash Accel

Flash Accel makes server-side flash storage available as cache for applications that read from and write to NetApp back-end storage. In a Flash Accel-enabled system, applications write to cache as well as to back-end storage, so that future application reads can be serviced locally from cache. For read-intensive applications in particular, the result is increased throughput and reduced latency. Your storage system may also realize efficiency gains on the back end, as IOPS are offloaded from the controller.

Flash Accel has the following components:

•	Flash Accel Host Agent. This is the software that manages caching functionality on ESXi hosts. You install the Host Agent on each ESXi host with an installed flash device.

•	Flash Accel Guest OS Agent. This is the software that manages caching functionality on virtual machines. You install the Guest OS Agent on each VM running an application that accesses the cache.

•

Flash Accel Management Console (FMC). This is the browser-based graphical tool you use to install the host and virtual machine software and to manage caching across the vCenter. You install the FMC on any ESXi server in the network, provided it is not a host on which you are planning to install the Flash Accel Host Agent. Team members can use multiple instances of the FMC to manage resources in a single vCenter.

Ordinarily it is best to install the flash device before installing Flash Accel software on the host, but you can install it afterward if you prefer. The flash device can be an SSD or a PCIe flash memory card.

The figure below shows where these software components reside.

Which Flash Accel console should you use?

Flash Accel supports two user interfaces:

•	The Flash Accel Cache window in the Monitoring and Host Configuration pane of VSC for VMware vSphere.

•	The Flash Accel Management Console (FMC), a standalone, browser-based graphical tool.

If you are not sure which Flash Accel console to use, you may want to look at the NetApp knowledgebase article "Which Flash Accel console should you use?" at https://kb.netapp.com/support/index?page=content&id=3013813. The feature table in the KB article compares the consoles side-by-side, suggesting ways in which you might benefit from their different approaches. You cannot use both interfaces to manage Flash Accel caching.

Next Topic

Flash Accel features

Flash Accel features intelligent end-to-end data coherency, cache persistence, and support for VMware vSphere services, including vMotion and Storage vMotion, High Availability (HA), and Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS).

Flash Accel components

Flash Accel software runs on VMware ESXi hosts and virtual machines. You use the a browser-based graphical tool to install the host and virtual machine software and to manage caching across the vCenter.

How Flash Accel manages read and write operations

In a Flash Accel-enabled system, applications write to cache as well as to back-end storage, so that future application reads can be serviced locally from cache, from so-called hot data.

How cache is affected by other storage system operations

Changes to other components in your storage infrastructure typically do not have a negative effect on cached data. Some common operations and their impacts on cached data are listed below.