IBM reset the bar (again) today for the storage marketplace with new models of their FlashSystem storage family. That is saying a lot…
Remember that prior to today, the IBM FlashSystem storage was already:
- The fastest in the industry with 19 micro-second access time
- Delivering up to one PB of effective capacity in 1U of rack space
- 100% NVMe, end to end
- With IBM FCM-4 technology, offers online, real time, cyber threat detection and protection
- LIST PRICED at $1,000/TB capacity, with 3 year, 24x7 premium support included
(IBM FS5300 with 19.2 TB FCM-4 cards, RAID-6, 2:1 compression).
That begs the question: How does one “do it again” when you are already faster, more compact, more energy efficient, cheaper, and more Cyber Resilient than the rest of your competition? Answer: you lean into IBM’s unmatched stable of AI resources. You use the things IBM learned helping build the AI world we are living in.
In plain English… The IBM Themes for the new FlashSystem are Protect, Adapt, and Perform
Protect:
- Quantum-safe encryption done in hardware. AES-256 bit encryption done at the card level.
- Content aware security. Cyber threat and anomaly detection in under one minute. Recovery from on-array immutable copies in minutes.
- A proactive vs a reactive philosophy.
Adapt:
- AI that matters. Introducing FlashSystemAI. AI driven self-tuning and error identification /correction. This applies to single or muti subsystem configurations (i.e. the FS GRID).
- Hardware that is location aware, and can run to comply with local or regional laws and regulations for availability and data protection/recoverability.
- Natural Language processing. You “talk” to the FlashSystem. No longer do you need to know detailed syntax to accomplish tasks. You tell the HW what to do, and review it’s suggestions. Beginners can handle tasks previously reserved for your most experienced staff.
- Less human intervention/tuning/care and feeding. Set it and forget it.
Perform:
- Built on the newest IBM Flash Core Module, the FCM-5. Uses the latest NVMe EDSFF form factor. A design replacing the 2” flash card and offering dramatically better cooling efficiency and use of space.
- The FCM-5 adds data deduplication capability to the data encryption and data compression already available in the FCM-4. In English: all three are done at wire speed. That is, without any performance impact to the subsystem. This is true computational storage.
- FCM-5 outlasts standard SSD’s, supporting 5.5x more write cycles.
- Keeps the same simple “Small-Medium-Large” model options as today. All running the same OS.
- Max IOPS increases for the family, now ranging from >2M to >6M IOPS across the models.
- Capacity increases to a range of 400 TB to 2.4 PB (usable) and from >2 PB to >11 PB (effective) across models.
Whether you have loved or hated IBM storage in the past, this product deserves some of your time. Its value statement: an unmatched mix of technology delivering better throughput, performance, capacity, and data protection, all at a dramatically lower cost of ownership.
“IBM did it again!” If you want to see some of the details on the times “IBM did it before,” enter my name "Zwolski" in the search box on our main Blog page and read through some of my archived posts.
Mike Zwolski is an (old) storage specialist at LRS, and an unabashed fan of the IBM DS8000, TS7000, and FlashSystem Products. His point of view: “Might as well have the best”*
*The historic motto of Filson, an American clothing company founded in 1897.