Rumors circulating that EMC is buying XtremIO gives a sense that Flash is about to get a real boost in the mainstream market.

XtremIO play is a bit different than other flash providers in the market.  It’s  pure flash array. It’s not an add-on. It’s not focused on boosting the cache. It is designed to run high-end applications and databases in a virtualized environment.

In February, EMC announced VFCache.  According to Wikibon, the server-based flash storage card system has two functions:

• As a cache, which will intercept and select the most relevant writes and retain them for subsequent reads. The cache does not hold up the writes; they are written through to the disk or write protected cache of an array in the normal way.
• As a split cache, where a portion of the cache can be used to hold a complete volume of data.

It’s designed to work in a tiered storage environment with a company’s existing storage array.

XtremIO would give EMC a pure Flash play that would set it apart from NetApp, IBM and the rest of the established storage companies. In particular, it could position EMC very well in the big data world.

The Register’s Chris Mellor says it well:

It’s not hard to see the fit here is it? The XtremIO box could be Thunder spec-wise. Scale-out with peer nodes sounds almost like Isilon in flash. In fact we could see EMC eyeing up this great little startup and thinking Thunder could use its technology and so could Isilon. With XtremIO technology in its Thunder and Isilon products it could then provide a ginormously great platform for Greenplum analytics to run on. We could see EMC exec’s saliva glands going into production overload over the prospects.

Derrick Harris points out that an EMC acquisition would lead to a buying spree. Fusion-io, Nimbulus Storage and Violin Memory would all have to be considered. But it’s also testament to EMC’s efforts in helping establish its credibility.

More importantly, it would establish flash as mainstream technology.

Wikibon:

Today, while VFCache is the first product of a family early in its lifecycle, it is an important signal to the market that PCIe flash will become a mainstream technology. CIOs need to pay attention and look at applications where cost-per-IO is a more important measure than cost-per GByte. That is where flash can provide a real pay-off

It’s just a matter of time before mainstream acceptance of flash technology. An EMC acquisition would simply pave the way.