The flash market is hot, writes Wikibon’s Scott Lowe in his latest report from VMworld 2012. Users, however, by and large do not understand the differences among the three major vendor classes (flash-on-server, hybrid flash/disk, and pure flash arrays) and see all the vendors as the same, judging from conversations he had on the floor.

Actually the differences are there, the industry needs to do a better job of educating the market. The danger of seeing all the vendors as equivalent is that users will choose the wrong vendor. Lowe says that in reality the market provides a wide selection, and that educated buyers can find a vendor to meet nearly any combination of storage performance need and budget.

The first stop for buyers seeking that information, he writes, should be Wikibon’s CIO Primer on Solid State Storage and the Solid State Market. This fairly detailed guide, which Lowe published in July, provides a detailed analysis of the different types of solid-state storage and of the differences among most of the individual vendors. Lowe promises to expand this report and keep it up to date over time.

Like all Wikibon research, this report is publicly available without charge. IT professionals are invited to register for free membership in the Wikibon community, which allows them to add public comments to research and to publish their own experience in the form of Professional Alerts and longer pieces. Wikibon members also get invitations and reminders of live events including the frequent Peer Incite Meetings at which users on the leading edge give presentations and answer questions about their experiences with advanced solutions to real problems.