FlashSoft is a VC-funded startup that may be a sign of things to come in the enterprise storage space. The company leverages flash memory to accelerate application performance.

Ted Sanford, CEO of the two-year-old company, explains that FlashSoft sells server software that enables businesses to put a flash device in the server and cache their hottest data on that device. The result is application performance that is three to seven times faster than it would otherwise be.

The first implementation of the solution is for Windows server, so that can be leveraged to accelerate such applications as SQL, Exchange and SharePoint. Linux and VMware implementations are in the works. (FlashSoft also is working to support clustered applications. Sanford says the company is building software to allow for management and updates across clusters of servers.)

FlashSoft has publicly announced two customers and is in evaluations with a dozen enterprises right now. That includes large banks, large trading houses, large gaming companies and others, says Sanford.

The company currently sells direct, but its intent is to sell into verticals eventually by creating blueprint solutions for various verticals that can then be taken to market through resellers in each of those verticals. It also will go to market via large OEMs like big server and virtualization outfits, he adds.

While FlashSoft says it has a unique take on the market, Sanford expects there to be a lot of activity around application acceleration on this front. He says a couple start ups, including IO Turbine, already are playing in this space. Hardware companies like EMC and Fusion-io (News - Alert) also have announced plans to do this kind of thing, he says.

But while the current state of the art is to use flash in a storage rack, Sanford says FlashSoft puts the flash right in the server for much better performance. He adds that FlashSoft is also unique because it allows the customer to use any SSD hardware and any underlying software.

FlashSoft calls its technology flash virtualization, which he says makes it appear to users as if they have bought enough flash for a much larger data set. He says it can allow some customers to use just one flash card as opposed to five, for example, so they invest just $15,000 vs. $70,000 for effectively the same performance. Using this approach also allows for server consolidation, further adding to customers’ return on investment, Sanford adds.

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