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IBM today announced new updates to its PureSystems line integrated IT systems for data centers. Chief among them are new storage components that boost storage utilization by up to 30 percent, says IBM.
Helping PureSystem achieve this level of storage efficiency is the new Flex System V7000 node. It features built-in virtualization, automated tiering and the company’s real-time compression technology.
All told, these capabilities enable “storing up to five times as much data in the same physical disk space,” according to IBM. The company claims that its real-time compression alone can compress data by as much as 80 percent.
The hardware is based on the Storwize V7000 architecture, and as such, it carries forward IBM’s Easy Tier technology for automated SSD optimization. Additionally, it offers thin provisioning, replication, clustering and external storage virtualization capabilities for improved block storage management, data protection and systems scaling.
Flex System V7000 accommodates up to 24 SAS drives (2.5-inch). With the addition of Storwize V7000 expansion enclosures, it can scale up to 240 drives or up to 960 drives per clustered system. Network connectivity options include 8Gb Fibre Channel (FC), 10Gb Ethernet Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and iSCSI. The system’s dual-node setup offers 16 GB of cache.
In terms of systems deployment, Flex System V7000 hardware self-configures when inserted into a Flex System Enterprise Chassis. Once it automatically appears in the new version of Flex System Manager software and its Chassis Map, administrators are treated to physical and logical storage topology views as well as virtual image management features that include virtual machine creation, deployment and cloning.
This focus on automated setup and management is a natural response to customer demand, according to Andrew Monshaw, general manager of IBM PureFlex. “Clients are telling us that when they look to upgrade the legacy servers and storage that constitute their current IT infrastructures they don’t want to spend too much time and effort tuning and managing the new systems,” says Monshaw in a company statement.
“These are the companies that are turning to PureSystems to reduce their costs and increase their datacenter utilization,” adds Monshaw. And indications are that IBM is pleased by the rate of PureSystems adoption. The company reports that it has shipped more than 1,000 PureFlex and Flex Systems since PureSystems launched in April.
IBM Flex System V7000 will available on December 10, 2012.
Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Internet News, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.
