A new hybrid cloud all-flash storage solution from IBM hopes to help modernize storage deployments for enterprises. The IBM Spectrum Storage Suite, announced Wednesday, promises to reduce software costs for companies by up to 40 percent.
“Data feeds the engine for cognitive applications that deliver client value and competitive advantage. Helping clients evolve from having data obligations to using its data to better serve its business is at the heart of today’s wide-reaching announcement,” said Ed Walsh, general manager, IBM Storage and Software Defined Infrastructure. “Hybrid Cloud enablement, as a standard feature for new and existing users of Spectrum Virtualize gives our clients more control to store their data where it can have the most impact to its business.”
Combining Cloud, Flash, and Software-Defined Storage
Cloud storage has the advantage of lowering costs, while flash storage helps increase performance, and software-defined storage is more flexible than either. IBM said that by integrating the three capabilities together with security and data management, enterprises will see a faster return on investment.
“IBM uniquely offers choice of on premise storage or software defined solution, or as a cloud service,” the company said in its press release.
Among the new features announced this week is hybrid cloud enablement for both existing and new on-premises storage. The enhancements will bring hybrid cloud capabilities for block storage to IBM Storwize, FlashSystem V9000, SAN Volume Controller, and VeraStack platforms, in addition to almost 400 storage systems from IBM and others.
IBM Spectrum Scale, meanwhile, will now sync files and object data across on-premises and cloud storage to connect cloud native applications in order to drive cognitive application development.
The company also announced that it will be offering a new high density expansion enclosure and new 7TB and 15TB flash drives for its IBM Storwize storage solutions. Strowize will now be able to grow up to eight times larger than previous solutions without disruption, with up to 32PB of flash storage in four racks to meet the needs of fast-growing cloud workloads in space constrained data centers.
All-Flash Storage for Big Data and Analytics Workloads
IBM said it would also begin offering all-flash storage for big data and analytics workloads through its new DeepFlash Elastic Storage Server. The new storage solution promises up to eight times better performance compared to HDD-based solutions for big data and analytics workloads, the company said. The solutions will also include virtually unlimited scaling, enterprise security features, unified file, object, and HDFS support.
The company said that new, high-performance flash capability for its DS8880 storage system will provide double the performance and three times more efficient use of rack space for applications such as credit card and banking transactions, as well as airline reservations running on IBM z Systems and IBM Power Systems.
The new storage solutions are expected to be available worldwide in early December through IBM and IBM Business Partners.
