IBM storage

The IBM Storage product portfolio includes disk, flash, tape, NAS storage products, storage software and integrated solutions. IBM’s approach is to focus on data management. According to IBM, the company's storage portfolio helps businesses lower costs, increase the speed of accessing data, and secure the safety of their data. This approach improves "data economics" for business critical needs, data intensive solutions, or for companies that want to start with a smaller solution that can grow as needed.

IBM Spectrum Storage™

IBM Spectrum Storage™ portfolio can centrally manage more than 300 different storage devices and yottabytes of data. This device interoperability is the broadest in the industry – incorporating both IBM and non-IBM hardware and tape systems. IBM Spectrum Storage can help reduce storage costs up to 90 percent in certain environments by automatically moving data onto the most economical storage device – either from IBM or non-IBM flash, disk and tape systems.

IBM Spectrum Accelerate™

IBM Spectrum Accelerate™ offers grid-scale block storage with rapid deployment that helps speed delivery of data across an enterprise and adds extreme flexibility to cloud deployments.

The functionality of Spectrum Accelerate is fully based on the IBM XIV, a high-end disk storage system designed to provide consistent and predictable performance, high availability and simple manageability. IBM Spectrum Accelerate and XIV run the same base software stack and interoperate with features such as management, remote replication and volume mobility.

IBM Spectrum Scale™

IBM Spectrum Scale™ is flash accelerated, industrial strength, highly scalable software defined storage that enables global shared access to data with extreme scalability and agility for cloud and analytics. The product is very widely used in both commercial and academic environments [reference needed]. It has a long history going back to the mid 1990s. It was formerly known as GPFS before IBM re-branded all storage products in 2015.

IBM Spectrum Virtualize™

IBM Spectrum Virtualize™ industry-leading storage virtualization enhances existing storage to improve resource utilization and productivity to achieve a simpler, more scalable and cost efficient IT infrastructure.

The functionality of IBM Spectrum Virtualize is provided by IBM SAN Volume Controller. IBM Spectrum Virtualize™ is a block storage virtualization system. Because the IBM Storwize V7000 uses SVC code, it can also be used to perform storage virtualization in exactly the same way as SVC. Since mid-2012 it offers real time compression with no performance impact, saving up to 80% of disk utilization. SVC can be configured on a Stretched Cluster Mode, with automatic failover between two datacenters and can have SSD (Solid State Drives) that can be used by EasyTier software to perform sub-LUN automatic tiering.

IBM Spectrum Control™

IBM Spectrum Control™ provides efficient infrastructure management for virtualized, cloud and software-defined storage to simplify and automate storage provisioning, capacity management, availability monitoring and reporting.

The functionality of IBM Spectrum Control is provided by IBM Data and Storage Management Solutions.

IBM Spectrum Protect™

IBM Spectrum Protect™ enables reliable, efficient data protection and resiliency for software defined, virtual, physical and cloud environments.

The functionality of IBM Spectrum Protect is provided by IBM Backup and Recovery Solutions.

IBM Spectrum Archive™

IBM Spectrum Archive™ enables you to automatically move infrequently accessed data from disk to tape to lower costs while retaining ease of use and without the need for proprietary tape applications.

The functionality of IBM Spectrum Archive is provided by IBM Linear Tape File System. IBM Spectrum Archive™ works in conjunction with LTO tape technology to simplify accessing data stored on an IBM tape cartridge. It allows users to run any application designed for disk files against tape data without concern for the fact that the data is physically stored on tape.

IBM offers four options:

• IBM LTFS Single Drive Edition - access and manage data on a standalone tape drive as if the data were on disk
• IBM LTFS Library Edition - access and manage data on single or multiple cartridges in a tape library
• IBM LTFS Storage Manager - manage both online and offline files in IBM tape libraries
• IBM LTFS Enterprise Edition - run applications designed for disk files from tape storage.

Flash Storage

IBM offers a range of dedicated flash storage systems and flash storage capabilities in a number of other systems and solutions. In April 2013, the company announced a plan for a $1 billion investment in flash storage research and development to continue to enhance these capabilities. IBM acquired flash storage system maker Texas Memory Systems in 2012.

The product line-up was renewed in January 2014 with the announcement of the FlashSystem 840 and in February 2014 with the announcement of the FlashSystem V840. Both products were improved in May 2014 with new entry level capacity points and with iSCSI support added to the FlashSystem 840. In July 2014, IBM announced the FlashSystem V840 with increased performance and capacity. IBM FlashSystem products are covered under warranty against flash wear.

IBM FlashSystem V9000

IBM FlashSystem V9000 is a 6U rackmount with up to 57TB of usable storage capacity. The system supports a wide range of advanced data services such as IBM Real-time Compression and external storage virtualization. With scalability up to 456TB of usable capacity (over 2 PB of effective capacity when using Real-time Compression), FlashSystem V9000 is targeted for mixed workload environments.

IBM FlashSystem 900

IBM FlashSystem 900 is composed of IBM enhanced MLC flash technology. The system is a 2U rackmount unit with up to 57TB of RAID-5, usable storage capacity. The system supports a high-availability architecture with redundant and hot-swappable components, IBM optimized ECC, IBM Variable Stripe RAID, and two-dimensional flash RAID for data protection. With read IOPS of 1,100,000 and write IOPS of 600,000, FlashSystem 900 is targeted for OLTP and OLAP databases.

IBM FlashSystem V840

IBM FlashSystem V840 is a 6U rackmount with up to 40TB of usable storage capacity. The system supports a wide range of software-defined storage services including: Real-time Compression, external storage virtualization, snapshots, replication, IBM Easy Tier™, VAAI, and thin provisioning. FlashSystem V840 is targeted for workloads that need high velocity data access and advanced storage services.

IBM FlashSystem 840

FlashSystem 840 is composed of enterprise multi-level cell (eMLC) flash technology. The system is a 2U rackmount unit with up to 48TB of usable storage capacity, 40TB with RAID 5. The system supports a high-availability architecture with ECC, IBM Variable Stripe RAID, and two-dimensional flash RAID for data protection and offers hot-swap flash modules and power supplies. With read IOPS of 1,100,000 and write IOPS of 600,000, FlashSystem 840 is targeted for OLTP and OLAP databases, scientific applications and cloud solutions.

Other flash storage capabilities

IBM EXP 30 Ultra SSD I/O Drawer – 1U rackmount drawer for IBM Power System offerings. Supports up to 11.6 TB of storage and up to 480,000 IOPS

High IOPS PCIe Adapters – PCIe card adapters for IBM System x servers, offering capacities up to 2.4TB

eXFlash for System x – An internal expansion unit for IBM System x and IBM BladeCenter systems. Supports up to 1.8 TB of storage per “pack.”

Disk Systems

For enterprise workloads

DS8000

The IBM System Storage DS8000 is designed for high performance, reliability, and flexibility and works in a range of open server operating environments and the IBM System z mainframe. The DS8000 includes a range of features that automate performance optimization and application quality of service, as well as provide high levels of reliability and system uptime. The DS8000 offers specialized advanced functions optimized for IBM Power Systems and IBM System z servers. The DS8000 also can use self-encrypting drives for every drive tier to help secure data at rest.

• DS8100
  • Dual 2-core POWER5+-based controllers
  • Can contain up to 384 drives
  • Drives can be Fibre Channel or SATA
• DS8300
  • Dual 4-core POWER5+-based controllers (based on p570 servers)
  • Can contain up to 1024 drives
  • Drives can be Fibre Channel or SATA
• DS8700
  • Dual 2- or 4-core POWER6-based controllers
  • 3.5" Fibre Channel drives or solid state disk
  • Can contain up to 1,024 drives
  • Drives can be 3.5” 15K RPM Drives and enterprise flash drives
• DS8800
  • Dual 2- or 4-core POWER6+-based controllers
  • Can contain up to 1,536 drives
  • 2.5" 10K and 15K RPM Drives and SSD enterprise flash SAS-2 drives
  • 3.5" Nearline-SAS drives
• DS8870
  • Dual 2-, 4-, 8- or 16-core POWER7-based controllers
    • Running SMT-4 for 64 threads
  • 1TB Cache
  • Since December 2013 based on POWER7+
  • Can contain up to 1,536 drives plus 120 1.8-inch flash cards in the High-Performance Flash Enclosure (HPFE)
  • 2.5" 10K and 15K RPM Drives and enterprise flash SAS-2 drives
  • 3.5" Nearline-SAS drives
  • High Performance Flash Enclosure: integrates and optimizes flash technology in the DS8870
    • Up to 8 Flash Enclosures per System : 96 TB raw per system
    • High-performance flash enclosure fits into existing DS8870 bay

IBM XIV®

The IBM XIV® Storage System is a high-end disk storage system designed to provide consistent and predictable performance, high availability and simple manageability. As virtualized storage that meshes tightly with server hypervisors, XIV is designed to work well in cloud and virtualized environments. The XIV Gen3 model offers 2, 3, 4 or 6 TB drives, providing up to 485 TB of usable capacity per rack. SSD caching (available as an option) adds up to 12 TB of management-free high-performance data caching capability to the entire array. The system can also connect to external storage via Fibre Channel (8Gbit/s) and iSCSi (1 or 10 Gbit/s).

SONAS

IBM Scale Out Network Attached Storage (SONAS) is the IBM enterprise storage platform based on GPFS technology. This system implements NAS based protocols over a large-scale global name space. Today the system can scale out using commodity components to 30 balanced nodes and up to 14.4 PB of storage. GPFS gives the SONAS system with built-in ILM and tight integration with Tivoli Storage Manager helps move data to disk pools.

For entry and midrange workloads

Storwize Family

IBM Storwize V7000 is a virtualizing storage system from IBM based on the software from the IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC). It can attach to storage clients via FCP (8 and 16 Gbit/s), FCoE or iSCSI (1 or 10 Gbit/s) protocols and can use Real-time Compression to reduce disk space usage by up to 80 percent.

The Storwize V7000 Unified combines two head units running IBM Storwize File Module Software with the IBM Storwize V7000 block storage system. It is described as unified storage because it simultaneously implements NAS protocols (such as CIFS and NFS) and block storage.

IBM Storwize V5000, announced in 2013, is a mid-range virtualizing storage system offering many of the features of the V7000 in a 2U rack-mount enclosure. Storwize V5000 supports 6 Gb SAS and 1 Gb iSCSI host attachment and either 8 Gb FC or 10 Gb iSCSI/FCoE host attachment. The system can support up to 480 drives with nineteen expansion enclosures, and up to 960 drives in a two-way cluster configuration.

IBM Storwize V3700, announced on November 6, 2012, is an entry-level system designed to meet the block storage needs of small and midsize businesses. This new system offers capabilities previously available in more expensive systems to help businesses consolidate and share data at a lower price. Key hardware features include:

• Dual controllers with up to 480 TB of capacity and 8 GB of cache
• Up to 240 2.5-inch disk drives or 120 3.5-inch disk drives with nine expansion units
• Host attachment through 1 Gb iSCSI ports and 6 Gb SAS ports (standard), with optional 1Gb iSCSI, 6 Gb SAS, 10 Gbit/s iSCSI/FCoE, or 8 Gb Fibre Channel expansion cards.
• 8GB Cache (4GB per controller) standard; optional upgrade to 16GB
• RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10
• Redundant, hot-swappable components (i.e., power supplies and fans)
• AC power (110 to 240 V)

Storwize V3700 also offers management and interoperability features from previous Storwize systems, including:

• Simple management capabilities
• Virtualization of internal storage and thin provisioning for improved storage utilization
• One-way data migration to easily move data onto Storwize V3700

The system also offers remote mirror, Turbo performance and FlashCopy upgrade and IBM System Storage® Easy Tier® technology to optimize usage of solid-state drives.

In October 2013, IBM announced DC powered models, NEBS and ETSI compliance and remote mirror over IP networks, using Bridgeworks SANrockIT technology to optimize the use of network bandwidth.

DCS3860

The IBM® System Storage® DCS3860 storage system delivers the performance and scalability organizations need to succeed in this new era of big data. Designed for high-performance computing applications, DCS3860 supports up to 60 drives in just 4U of rack space—and it can scale up to 360 drives, including up to 24 solid-state drives (SSDs), with the attachment of five expansion units. This high-density system also helps make the most of today’s IT budgets by increasing capacity while reducing the storage footprint, power consumption and related operational costs. • 6 Gbps SAS host interface extends storage performance and reliability • Next-generation, high-performance controller Delivers outstanding performance for resource-intensive applications • Dynamic Disk Pooling offers simplified installation, greater data protection and more consistent performance than traditional RAID options • Intuitive IBM System Storage DS Storage Manager provides powerful yet easy-to-use and intuitive graphical user interface for administrative activities • Performance Read Cache option utilizes solid-state drives (SSDs) as a level-two data cache, significantly improving read performance from spinning media

DCS3700

The IBM System Storage DCS3700 is rebranded NetApp E-Series 5400 and designed to offer performance, scalability, and storage density for high performance computing environments.

• Dual-active intelligent array controllers enabled with Turbo Performance
• 6Gbit SAS host ports standard with optional 8Gb Fibre Channel (FC) host ports
• 60 SAS drive bays, with ability to scale up to 180 drives by attaching two DCS3700 Expansion Units
• Performance model controller is also available
  • 8Gb FC ports standard on each Performance model controller with optional quad port 8 Gb FC HIC, dual port 10 Gb optic iSCSI HIC and quad port 6 Gb SAS HIC.
  • Up to 360 drives supported with five additional DCS3700EXP attached on a performance model controller enclosure.

Tape and virtual tape systems

For enterprise workloads

TS4500 Tape Library

High density tape library supporting Linear Tape-Open (LTO) 5 and 6 or TS1140 and TS1150 drives. Can scale up to 35.5 PB of native capacity with 3592 cartridges and up to 11.7 PB with LTO 6 cartridges. Supports up to 5.5 PB in 10 sq ft.

TS3500 Tape Library

Highly scalable tape library supporting Linear Tape-Open (LTO) or TS11x0 drives. Can scale up to 16 frames, 192 drives and over 20,000 cartridges capacity per library string or up to 2,700 drives per library complex.

Tape drives

• TS1140 - Tape drive that uses 3592 media.
• TS1060 - LTO tape drive that uses LTO generation 6 technology for use in TS3500 tape libraries.

For entry and midrange workloads

Tape libraries

• TS3310 - Expandable library with up to 18 LTO drives (409 cartridges maximum with expansion modules.)
• TS3200 - Up to four LTO drive library using half-height drive assemblies (48 cartridges) or up to two with full-height drives.
• TS3100 - Up to two LTO drive library using half-height drive assemblies (24 cartridges) or one full-height drive.

Tape drives

• The IBM System Storage TS2900 Tape Autoloader - Designed for entry-level automation for backup and archiving in small-to-medium business environments. The TS2900 is available with IBM Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Half-High SAS tape technology.
• TS2360 - Full-height external standalone or rack mountable shelf unit with a native physical capacity of 2.5 TB. The IBM Ultrium 6 technology is designed to support media partitioning, IBM Linear Tape File System (LTFS) technology and encryption of data and WORM cartridges.
• TS2260 - Half-height external standalone or rack mountable shelf unit with a native physical capacity of 2.5 TB.

Virtual tape libraries

• TS7620 ProtecTIER Deduplication Appliance - Preconfigured repository that can be configured with either a Virtual Tape Library or Symantec OpenStorage interface with a capacity of up to 35 TB.
• IBM Virtualization Engine TS7700 series - The TS7700 is a virtual tape library for System z (mainframe) that uses disk drives for cache to accelerate backup operations. The design is intended to protect data while having shorter backup windows. End-to-end encryption protects data in motion, on cache hard drives and on tape. TS7740 and TS7720 are designed to speed up tape backups and restores by using a tiered hierarchy of disk and tape to make more efficient use of tape drives.
• IBM System Storage TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway - Designed to meet the disk-based data protection needs of the enterprise data center while reducing costs. The solution offers inline deduplication performance and scalability up to 1 petabyte (PB) of physical storage capacity per system that can provide up to 25 PB or more backup storage capacity.

Other storage products and capabilities

IBM SmartCloud Storage Access

IBM SmartCloud Storage Access is a software solution designed to create a private cloud storage service on existing storage devices. The software can be configured to allow users self-service, Internet-based access for account creation, storage provisioning and file management. The software offers simple management with monitoring and reporting capabilities, including storage usage by user and group definitions.

Active Cloud Engine

The Active Cloud Engine (ACE) is an advanced form of multiple site replication. ACE is designed to allow different types of cloud implementations to exchange data dynamically. ACE does is designed to extend the SONAS capability for a single, centrally managed namespace, to a truly distributed, geographically-dispersed, global namespace.

IBM Easy Tier

IBM Easy Tier is designed to automate data placement throughout the disk pool to improve the efficiency and performance of the storage system. Easy Tier is designed to relocate data (at the extent level) across up to three drive tiers automatically and without disruption to application. IBM Easy Tier is available on the DS8000, Storwize V7000, Storwize V7000 Unified, Storwize V5000, Storwize V3700 and SAN Volume Controller.

Withdrawn systems

• IBM System Storage N7000 series
• IBM System Storage N6000 series
• IBM System Storage N3000 series
• EXP300 (SCSI Ultra160 Expansion drawer for direct host attachment)
• EXP400 (SCSI Ultra320 Expansion drawer for direct host or DS400 attachment)
• DS300 (iSCSI controller)
• DS400 (FC Attached controller, using SCSI drives)
• DS4000 Series
• DS3500 Series
  • EXP100 (1Gbit FC Expansion drawer for DS4000 attachment, using SATA disks)
  • EXP700 (2Gbit FC Expansion drawer for DS4000 attachment)
  • EXP710 (2Gbit FC Expansion drawer for DS4000 attachment)
  • EXP810 (4Gbit FC Expansion drawer for DS4000 attachment)
  • DS4100 (FC Attached controller, using SATA drives)
  • DS4200
  • DS4300
  • DS4300 Turbo
  • DS4400
  • DS4500
  • DS4700
  • DS4800
• DS5000
  • DS5020
  • DS5100
  • DS5300
• DS6800
  • Enterprise storage, with both FC and FICON host connection
  • PowerPC 750 dual-controller with 8 host ports and 8 drive ports
  • 3U enclosure with 16 FC drive bays
  • Attached up to 128 drives using DS6000 expansion units (1750-EX1 and 1750-EX2)
• FAStT Series (renamed to DS4000 Series)
  • EXP200 (1Gbit FC Expansion drawer for FAStT attachment)
  • EXP500 (1Gbit FC Expansion drawer for FAStT attachment)
  • FAStT100 (renamed to DS4100)
  • FAStT200
  • FAStT500
  • FAStT600 (renamed to DS4300)
  • FAStT600 Turbo (renamed DS4300 Turbo)
  • FAStT700 (renamed to DS4400)
  • FAStT900 (renamed to DS4500)
• Enterprise Storage Server (or ESS, or Shark; predecessor of DS8000 Series)
• DCS9550 (based on the DataDirect Networks S2A9550)
• STN6800
• STN6500
• IBM FlashSystem 820
• IBM FlashSystem 810
• IBM FlashSystem 720
• IBM FlashSystem 710

See also

• List of IBM products
• IBM XIV Storage System
• IBM SAN Volume Controller
• IBM Storwize V7000
• IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

External links

• IBM Storage
  • Subsections: Disk, Flash, Network, Tape, Solutions, Software
  • IBM Storage Redbooks
• Upgrade IBM Storage