Thousands of customers are deploying NetApp storage with larger and larger computing Grid environments. In order to meet the increasingly demanding requirements of these data centres, NetApp built the Kilo Client to explore the limits of its storage solutions in a controlled environment and developed best practices in rapid provisioning methodologies. Specifically, NetApp demonstrated how a SAN boot architecture coupled with thin provisioning provides rapid client provisioning and storage consolidation, simplifies the management of large data centre architectures, and reduces the level of power consumption, all for huge overall cost savings.

"The NetApp Kilo Client is a breakthrough architecture that pushes the limits in the testing and development of enterprise Grid compute environments", stated Patrick Rogers, vice president of Solutions Marketing at NetApp. "This environment was made possible for our customers due to close collaboration with key partners like AMD, Blade Network Technologies, Brocade, Chelsio Communications, Cisco, IBM, Intel, QLogic, Qlusters, and VMware. The Kilo Client is a technology that delivers the day-to-day business efficiencies promised by utility computing and makes those efficiencies not just a theoretical possibility, but a practical consideration for commercial usage today."

The Kilo Client, a 1500-node diskless enterprise server farm located at the NetApp RTP facilities, runs multiple operating systems including Windows, UNIX, and Linux. Additionally, the Kilo Client supports NAS, FC SAN, and IP SAN protocols. The system leverages NetApp FlexClone technology to rapidly create system images without making full physical copies of those images. This approach affords near-instantaneous image provisioning, maximum performance, and unprecedented flexibility in a footprint of just over 300 square feet.

Patrick Rogers continued: "NetApp is taking a holistic approach to helping users test and build the most energy-efficient data centres without sacrificing performance and scalability. The NetApp Kilo Client affords end users the right insight into pulling the maximum utilization from their storage and server virtualization resources. This isn't a technology of the future - everything in the Kilo Client test lab can be leveraged by NetApp customers today."