HPE is making waves in the storage world with its new Alletra MP B10000, a disaggregated, scale-out block storage solution designed to meet the demands of today’s most demanding applications. This isn’t just another storage array; it’s a fundamental shift in how we think about enterprise storage, offering a unique blend of performance, scalability, and cloud-like simplicity. The MP B10000 is HPE’s next-generation storage solution leveraging the new HPE Alletra Multi-Protocol hardware platform, which supports file, block, and object storage workloads.
What Makes the Alletra MP B10000 Different?
- Disaggregated Architecture: Unlike traditional monolithic storage arrays, the B10000 separates performance and capacity, allowing you to scale them independently. This leads to greater efficiency and cost savings.
- 100% Data Availability Guarantee: HPE offers a 100% data availability guarantee, highlighting the platform’s resilience and fault tolerance.
- Cloud-Managed: Managed through HPE GreenLake, the B10000 provides a unified view across on-prem and cloud environments, simplifying operations and automation.
- AI-Powered: Built-in AI helps optimise performance and proactively prevent issues.
- Future-Proof: The B10000 supports non-disruptive upgrades via HPE’s Timeless programme, offering features like free controller refresh and reducing TCO by 30%.
A Deeper Dive Into Disaggregation
The core architectural principle of the Alletra MP B10000 is the complete separation of compute and storage resources. Compute is handled by the B10000 compute nodes, while storage is provided by separate storage nodes. This independent scaling model is a significant evolution from monolithic storage arrays.
Benefits Of Disaggregation
- Independent Scaling: Tailor compute and storage to specific workload requirements.
- Improved Resource Utilisation: Scale only what’s needed to avoid idle capacity.
- Simplified Management: Centralised control via HPE GreenLake.
- Increased Agility: Rapid provisioning and failover of compute resources.
- Enhanced Availability: Redundant architecture ensures system resilience.
Alletra MP B10000 Compute Nodes
- Stateless Compute: Nodes boot locally but rely on shared storage. If a node fails, another can take its place with no data loss.
- Connectivity: Nodes connect to storage via NVMe-oF using RoCE or Fibre Channel, offering high-speed, low-latency data access.
- Virtualisation: Designed to support VMs and containers, allowing flexible and efficient compute allocation.
Alletra MP B10000 Storage Nodes
- Scale-Out Storage: Add storage nodes to increase capacity and performance, with distributed I/O and redundancy.
- Storage Media Flexibility: Supports NVMe SSDs, SAS SSDs, and HDDs, enabling tiered storage.
- Data Services: Features include snapshots, replication, thin provisioning, and deduplication, all managed centrally.
- NVMe-oF Target: Storage is presented as NVMe namespaces directly to compute nodes for high-performance access.
Interconnect Fabric (NVMe-oF)
- Key to Performance: Ensures fast, efficient data access between compute and storage.
- Protocol Choices: RoCE for Ethernet-based networks or Fibre Channel for dedicated high-performance fabrics.
- Redundancy and Resilience: Multiple paths and redundant switching prevent single points of failure.
Management Plane (HPE GreenLake)
- Unified Management: Centralised control of all compute and storage components via a single interface.
- Cloud Integration: Manage both on-prem and cloud workloads together for hybrid flexibility.
- API-Driven: Enables DevOps and infrastructure automation through integration with external systems.
How Does it Fit into the Competitive Landscape?
The Alletra B10000 is well positioned in the competitive enterprise storage market due to its disaggregated design, 100% availability guarantee, and strong alignment with modern IT practices. It stands apart from legacy systems with its cloud-first management model and scale-out architecture.
HPE’s established reputation and robust partner ecosystem also strengthen its appeal in both greenfield deployments and data centre modernisation projects.
Who is the B10000 For?
The Alletra B10000 is ideal for organisations with demanding, high-performance workloads such as AI/ML, analytics, and enterprise databases. It’s also a strong fit for businesses needing flexibility and simplified infrastructure management without compromising on scalability or resilience.
Its modularity and independent scaling make it a valuable solution for businesses with unpredictable or evolving data needs.
Early Impressions
While it’s still early days, the Alletra B10000 presents a bold step forward in enterprise storage. Its forward-looking architecture, AI-led optimisation, and seamless cloud-based management offer a compelling proposition for modern IT teams. More hands-on insight will be shared as testing continues.
Explore HPE Storage With Nexstor
Considering a next-generation storage solution like the HPE Alletra B10000? Speak to Nexstor — a trusted UK HPE partner — to explore whether this system aligns with your infrastructure needs. From solution design to deployment, Nexstor can help you assess, scale, and future-proof your storage strategy with confidence.
