Data Backup Digest

IBM are introducing a new hybrid cloud all-flash solution which they are hoping will bring enterprise storage into the modern world, blending together different storage methods for the ultimate solution. The solution, entitled the IBM Spectrum Storage Suite and announced in early November, will apparently reduce overall software costs by up to 40 percent.

By bringing together cloud, flash and software storage, IBM hope to pair these with security and data management to help enterprises see a quicker return on their investment. Cloud offers lower costs, flash offers greater performance, and software-defined storage offers flexibility.

“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 for 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.”

It was announced that nearly 400 existing systems such as IBM Storwize, SAN Volume Controller, VeraStack and FlashSystem V9000 will benefit from hybrid cloud capabilities, for both existing and new on-premises storage. Also, IBM Spectrum Scale now syncs files and object data across on-site and cloud storage. This will connect cloud native applications, thus driving cognitive application development.

IBM also announced that they would be offering a high density expansion enclosure for its IBM Storwize solutions, along with new 7TB and 15TB flash drives. In a world where the amount of data being stored is growing, in terms of quantity and individual file size, it’s vital that enterprises have enough storage to cater for their needs.

Storwize will now be able to increase by up to eight times the capacity of previous solutions without any disruption, allowing for up to 32PB of flash storage in two racks.

The company also said that they would start to offer all-flash storage with DeepFlash Elastic Storage Server, intended for big data and analytics workloads. It will provide up to eight times better performance than traditional hard disk drive solutions and will also include unlimited scaling, security features, HDFS support, object and unified file.

Finally, their DS8880 storage system is getting a new, high-performance flash capability that will double the performance and provide three times more efficient use of rack space. This will help for those enterprises using them for applications such as banking transactions, along with reservations using the IBM z Systems and IBM Power Systems.

All of these new storage solutions show that IBM is still doing everything it can to keep in the game, remain innovative and capture those lucrative enterprise contacts. By building this ecosystem it ensures that that businesses buy into IBM storage solutions and stick with them for the long-term.

It is expected that these new storage solutions will be available worldwide in early December via IBM directly and official IBM Business Partners.