Nimbus Data: Flash Memory Solutions That Powers Innovation

New workload requirements demand a forward-looking storage architecture. And this is what California-based Nimbus Data is innovating to create, as enterprises need more storage capacity with the hyperscaling of data in this digital era.

Nimbus Data was established by the life-long storage technologist Thomas Isakovich, who has been a master innovator all his life. He wanted to build the next great storage company by combining intelligent software with solid-state technology to provide superior performance, protection, and efficiency. Nimbus Data’s innovation has won many awards, including the Most Innovative Product of the Year, Best Enterprise Customer Implementation, and Top 10 Coolest Storage Startups.

Unveils the World’s Highest Capacity QLC Flash SSD

Being the lead innovator in the flash memory storage space, Nimbus Data recently unveiled its ExaDrive NL, the world’s highest capacity QLC flash SSD, and in the industry’s very first QLC flash SAS SSD for enterprise workloads. The ExaDrive NL has a capacity of up to 64 TB in a single SSD. This innovation can help organizations remove the server sprawl. It will also reduce software licensing costs, improve efficiency, and reduce data center operating costs by up to 75%. “Customers are always looking for more capacity and more efficient ways to access their data,” said Jeff Janukowicz, Research Vice President, IDC. “High capacity QLC flash SSDs, like Nimbus Data’s ExaDrive NL, help organizations migrate to enterprise-grade flash storage as cost-effectively as possible, while simplifying hybrid storage that blends HDDs and SSDs seamlessly to optimize cost and performance for their workloads.”

In the enterprise setting, ExaDrive NL series SSDs could replace the hard drives and offer up to 4x capacity compared to the traditional hard drives. It can improve data access by over 100x. It is available in a 3.5-inch form factor, just like enterprise hard drives. ExaDrive NL is plug-and-play compatible with virtually any 3.5 inch HDD slot.

The existing QLC SSDs cannot match the capacity of the latest hard drives. ExaDrive NL is available in 3 variations, including 16 TB, 32 TB, and 64 TB sizes. It easily eclipses all HDDs and QLC SSDs on the market today. Availability of the ExaDrive NL makes transitioning to flash more affordable than ever before, enabling organizations to increase capacity and reduce OpEx while preserving their existing servers, racks, power, and cooling equipment.

Storing and transporting massive data sets is a challenge as more data is created at the edge. Hard drives are simply not cut for this task because of their slow performance and vibration sensitivity. On the other hand, NVMe SSDs need too much power and do not provide enough storage capacity. ExaDrive NL weighs in at less than a pound. It reduces weight per terabyte by 95% compared to bulky hard drive-based systems. Its small form factor and resiliency makes ExaDrive NL well-suited to autonomous vehicles, aircraft, mobile systems, 5G infrastructure, e-discovery, and cloud data transport appliances.

For A Better Planet

Powerful data storage is a strategic advantage, but existing enterprise storage arrays remain proprietary, complex, and expensive. The enterprise storage vendors usually quote inflated capacity costs, escalating support fees, costly hardware refreshes, and an often tedious sales process. It is hard to escape this status quo as an enterprise.

Nimbus Data’s Tectonic has completely turned this on its head. Tectonic taps into Nimbus Data’s technology and operational strengths to offer enterprise storage customers superior service and greater agility at lower costs.

In a world where data centers consume 2% of the world’s electricity, sustainability is the question of the hour. This number is expected to touch 8% by 2030. To address this concern, Tectonic has made a Zero Emissions Pledge.

Under this initiative, Nimbus Data buys, at its own expense, 100% renewable energy (solar and/or wind power) to fully offset the carbon footprint of the power usage of ExaFlash arrays during the support term. So even if a data center does not use renewable energy, it will be doing its part to support sustainability and the planet's health.

Meet the Leader

Thomas Isakovich, Founder and CEO

He built Nimbus Data to be a great storage company by by combining intelligent software with solid state technology to provide superior performance, protection, and efficiency. He built his first network storage array 25 years ago as a teenager and has been pushing the envelope of storage innovation ever since.

Prior to Nimbus Data, he was CEO and founder of TrueSAN Networks, where he raised over $34 million and led the development of storage virtualization and multi-vendor SAN management software. At Network Computer (also known as Liberate Technologies), he oversaw product marketing for the company’s line of thin-client workstations and server software. At IBM’s Almaden Research Center, he developed new technologies for simplifying and enhancing human-computer interaction. He has several patents in storage and is a published author. He is a frequent speaker on technology and entrepreneurship at universities and industry events.

He has a B.A. with Honors in political science from Stanford University.

“Our solutions include the Nimbus Data AFX storage operating system, ExaFlash® all-flash arrays, ExaDrive® solid state drives, and the ground-breaking Tectonic enterprise storage experience.”

“Nimbus Data helps hundreds of enterprises accelerate and protect their critical data assets.”