IBM's new data storage systems bridge the gap between once incompatible high-end and midrange storage classes. Combining high-end function with the ease-of-use characteristics of a PC, the new IBM systems include a massively scalable storage system and a compatible ultra-dense storage system that provide capabilities found in EMC systems that can be up to 20 times larger and twice as expensive.
Slightly larger than a VCR and as small as one twentieth the size of comparable EMC systems, the new IBM Total Storage DS6000 series provides large system performance and reliability features for as little as half the price of comparable EMC DMX800 configurations. Also unveiled today, the massively scaleable IBM Total Storage DS8000 series provides clients with virtual storage systems, and the ability to consolidate workloads running on smaller systems.
The DS6000 and DS8000 series are the result of a large-scale, multi-year research and development effort at IBM, leveraging billions of dollars in server and storage innovations to drive new economics and customer choice. Both systems include game-changing POWER microprocessor technology and mainframe-inspired features that enable clients to dramatically improve storage utilization by virtualizing and sharing system capacity across diverse servers and applications.
"These are the most significant storage announcements we have made in more than a decade. IBM is focused on being the storage innovator and clear technology leader," said Dan Colby, General Manager, IBM Storage Systems. "Today, we are delivering new economics and choice by leveraging common components, breakthrough technologies from mainframes and supercomputers, and unmatched virtualization and management capabilities."
Starting at just 580GB and scaling up to 67.2 terabytes, the new IBM Total Storage DS6000 series helps complete IBM's continuum of enterprise storage products by providing many technologies previously only available in high-end systems and making those capabilities available in a very small form factor. The storage server changes the game and sets a new standard in the industry to help clients more easily manage information over its lifecycle. The DS6000 series can connect to zSeries, iSeries, UNIX, Linux and Intel environments. This capability in a single machine offers the ability to operate in a broad range of environments, often at considerably lower price points than those available from EMC for machines with similar host support capabilities. The new system also shares more than 90 percent of its storage-related functional code with the new DS8000 series, making it easier for customers to integrate the two systems into an infrastructure. Packing a multitude of enterprise storage features into a tiny form factor, the DS6000 series can achieve nearly twice the scalability of a refrigerator size EMC DMX800.
The culmination of a massive research and development effort, the DS6000 series is packed with unique breakthrough technologies. Some of IBM's superior technologies in the system include:
- Power Architecture - the proven, versatile processor platform to help improve overall system throughput and dramatically accelerate data response times to provide clients speedy access to data they store;
- Building-block architecture - a highly reliable and scalable design that allows clients to pay for data storage incrementally as they need it by simply adding disk capacity to help clients simplify their infrastructure;
- Calibrated Vectored Cooling - borrowed from our IBM BladeCenter and eServer xSeries product-line, an advanced way of cooling highly dense environments;
- Light path diagnostics - Visual alerts to help identify and guide the repair of components quickly and easily to help clients service the machine;
- Predictive failure analysis - autonomic capabilities that can take preemptive actions to keep data protected without administrative interaction; and
- Express configuration wizards - a Web-based graphical user interface to help easily deploy the storage system in about one hour with minimal storage expertise needed.
The new IBM Total Storage DS8000 series provides clients with massive scalability, high performance and availability capabilities to support business continuity and infrastructure simplification. It provides clients the ability to scale up or scale out their infrastructure with integrated virtualization capabilities. The system is designed to use IBM POWER5 microprocessors and IBM Virtualization Engine technology, to achieve high performance while reducing costs for a wide range of business applications.
The enterprise storage system, which is available in either dual two processor or dual four processor configurations, includes an architecture that can address over 96 petabytes of data - or more than 4500 times the amount of information found in the Library of Congress. Incorporating open standards, the DS8000 series and its expandable architecture can help clients to consolidate and simplify their data storage environments.
Using IBM Virtualization Engine technology, selected models of the DS8000 series can be used as a single, large storage system, or can be used as multiple systems with logical partitioning (LPAR) capabilities. IBM LPAR technology, which is unique in the storage industry, allows the resources of the storage system to be allocated into separate logical storage system partitions each of which can be totally independent and isolated. By utilizing LPARs, clients have the option to more efficiently use machine resources and reduce critical data center floorspace, power requirements and cooling requirements.
New caching technology from IBM Research called Adaptive Replacement Cache (ARC) is designed to help clients achieve dramatically greater throughput and faster response times than previous IBM Total Storage Enterprise Storage Server 800 systems. ARC incorporates autonomic, self-optimizing technology and a more efficient and effective method for the widely used process of replacing data pages in computer cache memories. The breakthrough technology, available in both the DS6000 and DS8000 series, dynamically optimizes the storage system's performance for both sequential and randomly accessed workloads.
The DS6000 series and the DS8000 series are bound together by shared microcode, common functions, common interfaces and common management software using open standards. Using IBM DS Storage Manager, clients will be able to seamlessly manage and mirror data across the broad continuum of storage options represented by the DS6000 series and the DS8000 series. IBM DS Storage Manager also is designed to allow IT professionals to perform system management tasks on hundreds of systems from a remote location. As a result of the common operating environment, the DS6000 series and DS8000 series can offer remote mirroring capabilities to help clients reduce overall costs by allowing the different models to be deployed together as part of a single business continuity solution - a potential cost-savings many other storage vendors can not offer to clients.
The DS6000 series and DS8000 series complement what is already the industry's most comprehensive set of information on demand capabilities, including IBM's popular DS4000 line. IBM Total Storage solutions are designed to help clients simplify their underlying IT infrastructure and its management to lower costs and complexity, protect data and efficiently manage information throughout its lifecycle.