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Ouch, that's 13 bullet points: IBM pumps out storage software blast

Much tinkering across software board plus expanded capacity flash cards

Not to be outdone by any storage niche players, IBM has emitted a veritable catalogue of storage software updates, plus one on the storage hardware front – a new all-flash array.

It said, software-wise, that:

  • Spectrum Protect's automated tiering has been extended to a object storage tier,
  • Spectrum Protect Plus (SPP) will have vSnap repository encryption,
  • SPP has expanded item-level support in application environments including newly-added IBM Db2, with existing SQL server and Oracle databases,
  • Cloud Object Storage (COS) can now be a backup/archive target for mainframe z/OS,
  • COS can be target for DS8800 arrays with in-flight encryption,
  • hardware vendors can self-certify their COS support, sending verification test results to IBM for validation, meaning a faster certification process,
  • COS v3.14 will support Lenovo SR630 and SR650 servers,
  • Spectrum Scale (parallel filer software) v5.0.2 now has AWS support with bring-your-own licence functionality and AWS QuickStart for rapid deployment,
  • Spectrum Scale has added file audit logging, a watch folder, an improved user interface and greater network resilience,
  • IBM’s Elastic Storage Server (ESS) has preconfigured systems and implementation services to support NAS protocols,
  • IBM Cloud Private has added Spectrum Access Blueprint support for IBM Z,
  • there are new multi-cloud IBM storage options for for SAP and EPIC Electronic Health Records, and (whew)
  • the FlashSystem 9100 array now offers VDI.

On the hardware front, a new DS8800 array has arrived, the DS8882F with between 6.4TB and 358.4TB raw capacity. This comes via a jump from 800GB flash cards to 7.68TB ones.

Compared to a full populated DS8884F array, IBM said the DS8882F enables up to 50 per cent savings in power consumption and physical space.

It can be supported by IBM’s Z mainframe model ZR1 or LinuxONE Rockhopper II, and there’s also a 16U standard 19-inch rack version.

IBM said it’s an upgrade path for legacy systems such as the DS6000, DS8800, and DS8870 arrays. Get tech specs here.

Overall IBM appears convinced its customers will use multiple clouds alongside their on-premises IT infrastructure and so will need to be able to move their applications and data between clouds. That implies more announcements are coming, as this set only mentions AWS and the multi-cloud options for SAP and EPIC Electronic Health Records.

Big Blue corralled in an effusive quote from IDC’s group VP for worldwide infrastructure Ashish Nadkarni: "The substantial number of IBM Storage innovations announced this week send a clear message to any other technology vendors offering software-defined storage solutions for multi-cloud – lead, follow, or get out of the way!"

We are sure they will... do one of those things. ®

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