IBM Storage System Beats Record

IBM researchers announced the creation of a super-fast storage system capable of scanning in 10 billion files in 43 minutes. The IBM storage system uses speedy flash memory to store the metadata that the storage system uses to locate requested information. Computer World notes that IBM built a cluster of 10 eight-core servers equipped with a total of 6.8 terabytes of solid-state memory, to demonstrate the system.

 

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"The system used a tuned version of IBM's General Parallel File System (GPFS), version 3.4. Originally developed for high-performance computing systems, GPFS is becoming increasingly relevant for other data-heavy enterprise workloads as well, Hillsberg said. GPFS allows all the processor cores to write to and from disks in parallel, which can significantly improve storage system responsiveness.

"Today's file systems are not well-suited for managing data across multiple storage systems as a single namespace, Hillsberg explained. The 2007 demonstration showed how a parallel file system such as GPFS could be used as the basis for highly scalable storage systems. The new work demonstrates how such a system could be improved even more with the addition of solid-state disks."

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