IBM FlashSystem

2021: Announcement of Ransomware Protection for IBM Flash System

In mid-July 2021, IBM introduced a new ransomware protection system for its IBM Flash System line of storage systems. The company also spoke about plans to deploy the "storage as a service" service, which involves integrating hybrid cloud storage with data centers without advance capital costs. More details here.

2017: Triple storage density

At the end of October 2017, the American corporation IBM updated the family of storage systems () SHD based on FlashSystem solid-state drives, and also released new software for this equipment and third-party devices. Innovations significantly increase the density of information storage and help customers save money.

According to IBM, upgraded storage FlashSystem began to hold more data than FlashSystem 900 systems  with the same physical size of equipment. This reduced storage costs by 60% because companies can load more files into fewer storage systems.

The company managed to achieve such density through Micron flash memory and a new 3D TLC FlashCore technology developed by IBM engineers. 3D TLC technology will FlashCore appear in the A9000 arrays (designed for cloud providers) and A9000R and V9000 (addressed to commercial companies).

As it became impossible to reduce the size of NAND flash memory cells, developers began to increase storage density by increasing the number of layers of transistors. In a short time, such chips became 32, 48 and 64-layered, and in mid-2017, Western Digital announced 96-layered 3D NAND memory.

IBM Storage FlashSystem

The FlashSystem 900 model, released on the market in April 2016, has a capacity of up to 60 TB. Thus, with IBM improvements, storage capacity can increase to 180 TB.

The new solutions support  the NVMe protocol, streaming compression and encryption of data, which reduces the latency of access to information and improves its security, according to an IBM press release.

The drives use hardware compression paired with custom programmable  FPGA arrays, whereby compression is performed without accessing the CPU. This approach greatly accelerates storage operations.

IBM has developed Spectrum Virtualize software. It is designed to facilitate the transfer of data from the vault to the public cloud and back, as well as restore information in case of loss. This solution is compatible with more than 400 storage models from IBM and others.

IBM also introduced new software that will allow company and third-party storage to interact with popular Docker and Kubernetes containers.

Finally, the corporation launched a beta version of a special cloud software called the Storage Insights Foundation, which connects storage with artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to optimize the performance, capacity, and stability of the customer's storage infrastructure. To do this, the program collects and analyzes inventory and diagnostic information.

IBM plans to release new FlashSystem storage systems and software products by the end of 2017.

According to the publication NetworkWorld, flash storage is becoming more popular in data centers due to its ability to access data faster compared to traditional hard drives. However, the widespread use of such devices is hampered by high cost and low storage density. New IBM developments are designed to solve these problems.

According to Gartner analysts, announced in 2017, in 12 years the performance of solid-state drives will improve 10 times, capacity will double, and the products themselves will become much cheaper.^[1]

2016: IBM FlashSystem A9000 и IBM FlashSystem A9000R

IBM announced in the spring of 2016 the release of three new solid state arrays. The IBM FlashSystem A9000 and IBM FlashSystem A9000R storage systems are designed for cloud providers and can be used to deploy hyperscaled private clouds. Another solution - DS8888 - is an enterprise system for storing data from z-Systems mainframes and IBM Power Systems servers based on Unix. All SPs are created as part of an OEM project with Sandisk.

IBM said that the novelties use flash technologies and will be used to work with business-critical and cloud applications. These storage systems help you reduce your big data experience. As conceived by the designers, this will provide a competitive advantage.

FlashSystem A9000 is a fully configured solution. It works in a variety of cloud environments and includes real-time data compression for pattern deletion and deduplication. Efficient system capacity from 60 TB to 300 TB, and the maximum possible value is 1200 TB.

The architecture scales storage to 144 nodes based on two 8-core Intel Xeon E5 v3 processors at 2.4 GHz each. Each has three controllers and a Flash Enclosure. It consists of 12 MicroLatency modules, which can have a capacity of 1.2, 2.9 or 5.7 TB. The IBM technology used FlashCore supports a constantly low delay - no more than 250 milliseconds. IBM notes that the development is focused on medium-sized businesses.

The same principles underlie the IBM FlashSystem A9000R. With the only difference that the system has even greater performance. The architecture is already used with four controllers and two Flash Enclosure units. Their number scales to twelve and six, respectively. Added InfiniBand switches. Efficient capacity from 300 TB to 1800 TB and maximum capacity from 3000 TB. This storage system occupies a whole rack, the target consumer is large enterprises.

IBM said that the performance of these storage systems does not fall even when flash memory crashes. Deduplication can compress data fivefold. The cost of storing information is $1.5 per gigabyte.

The IBM DS8888 is an optimized all-flash system. They improve the performance of data-intensive software on enterprise-class servers. IBM believes that this solution will increase business efficiency and customer satisfaction.

All three arrays also use a simplified Hyper-Scale Manager user interface. It facilitates data migration and allows you to manage hundreds of nodes with a single tool. The number of needed mouse clicks using this technology decreases, according to IBM, by 50%.

2014: IBM FlashSystem 820 и IBM FlashSystem 720

IBM FlashSystem 820, FlashSystem 720 - 1U form factor storage with extremely high installation density.

Features

• IBM Variable Stripe Redundant Array of Independent Discs (RAID) reduces system interruptions without reducing performance or usable capacity
• Faster decision-making across multiple applications, including Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) and Online Data Analysis (OLAP) databases
• Storage in an extremely high-density 1U form factor improves IT efficiency and throughput, I/O per second without compromising responsiveness
• Green storage for fast, low-power data access delivers huge benefits
• Get the return on your investment almost immediately with rapid system deployment.
• Ability to use single-level memory (SLC) or enterprise-class modules with multi-level memory (eMLC)
• Enables organizations to quickly analyze data using both traditional tools and new technologies developed for Big Data analysis
• Scalable storage devices save space and power.

To gain a competitive advantage in an area where business continuity is important, organizations must more often perform in-depth analysis of large data sets - including Big Data - while causing outages is completely unacceptable. IBM Flash-based solutions deliver high I/O per second and dramatically accelerate new IT infrastructures with microsecond latency. Compared to similar disk systems, IBM Flash solutions provide 6.7 times more capacity per rack, 19 times better profitability in dollars per IOPS, and 115 times more energy efficiency.

The IBM FlashSystem 820 and IBM FlashSystem 720 are designed to accelerate many enterprise-class applications, including Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) and Online Data Analysis (OLAP) databases, virtual desktop infrastructures, technical computing applications, and scalable cloud infrastructures. These IBM systems deliver the highest level of performance per gigabyte of data, enabling organizations to quickly analyze data using both traditional tools and new technologies designed for Big Data analysis. In addition, the FlashSystem 820 and FlashSystem 720 eliminate bottlenecks with IBM MicroLatency technology, which provides access with a delay of up to 100 milliseconds and allows you to quickly make decisions. With these low latencies, the disk layer of the storage environment can operate at speeds comparable to the CPU, Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) array, and networks and buses on the I/O subsystem path.