An all flash array refers to a storage array comprised of flash drives or flash modules. Flash drives and flash modules allow reading data stored in them and writing data on them at a faster speed than magnetic disks including hard disks. Because of this feature, all flash arrays are utilized for systems that require high I/O performance.
When all flash arrays were first launched, they had a smaller memory capacity and were more expensive compared with storage arrays incorporating hard disk drives (HDDs). Thus, they were used only for limited applications. More recently, however, flash memories have become less and less expensive and all flash arrays have gained increasingly higher functions such as data compression and de-duplication, resulting in lower bit costs (price per memory capacity).
Moreover, given the growing demand for utilizing the huge volume of data possessed by companies, all flash arrays have gathered attention for their fast processing speed, and are being used increasingly and widely in the enterprise areas.
