IBM expands flash storage portfolio

IBM has announced an expansion of its flash storage portfolio to help clients more quickly extract value from data so it can be turned into a competitive advantage.

IBM launched three new all-flash array products incorporating performance with a minimum latency of 250μs (microsecond).

Consumers today are demanding cloud-based applications that are fast, easy and intelligent. Sub-second response times are critical when data is retrieved from the cloud to deliver a unique, personalized and positive customer experience. IBM MicroLatency technology transfers data within the flash array via hardware instead of the added layer of software. Also built into the solutions are features designed to solve cloud requirements such as quality-of-service (QoS) to prevent the impact “noisy neighbour” problems have on application performance, secure multi-tenancy, thresholding, and easy-to-deploy grid scale out.

“The drastic increase in volume, velocity and variety of information is requiring businesses to rethink their approach to addressing storage needs, and they need a solution that is as fast as it is easy, if they want to be ready for the Cognitive Era,” said Greg Lotko, GM, IBM Storage and Software Defined Infrastructure.  “IBM’s flash portfolio enables businesses on their cognitive journey to derive greater value from more data in more varieties, whether on premises or in a hybrid cloud deployment.”

IBM is unveiling an end-to-end flash portfolio with features specifically needed for cloud environments.

• Providing simple onramp for flash storage for IT service providers: The FlashSystem A9000 comes fully configured which helps drive down the cost of implementing an all-flash environment.
• Delivering scalable storage for cloud service providers: The FlashSystem A9000R, with its grid architecture, provides easy scaling up to the petabyte range.
• The FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R both incorporate data reduction features, including pattern removal, deduplication and real-time compression, as well as IBM FlashCore technology to deliver consistent low latency performance. They are priced as low as $1.50 per gigabyte.
• Optimised all-flash systems for enterprise-class servers: With the all-flash IBM DS8888, customer databases and data-intensive applications are accelerated resulting in improved business performance and customer satisfaction.