IBM Debuts General-Purpose Flash Arrays

IBM has expanded the storage options it offers by introducing three all-flash arrays for big data and the speedy processing required by analytics used in responding to customer activity and other competitive-advantage business initiatives.

Each of the three arrays has a response time of 250 millionths of a second, which IBM in its April 27 announcement termed an "industry-leading minimum latency." IBM spokesmen said the arrays were designed for a system that needed to perform high-speed analytics on large amounts of data, a task often associated with cloud–based applications.

The announcement also noted that the arrays had been designed with the needs of cloud service providers in mind.

Built in are "cloud-centric features, such as quality of service that prevents the impact of 'noisy neighbor' problems." Noisy neighbors on a multi-tenant cloud host require a lot of the server's resources for I/O and other purposes. Netflix coined the term as it carefully assessed which servers to use in theAmazon cloud.

In addition, IBM said the flash arrays offer secure multi-tenancy and ease of deployment for grid scale-out purposes, according to Greg Lotko, general manager of IBM storage and software-defined infrastructure.

Businesses that are rethinking what constitutes effective storage for a digital business are turning to several young flash storage providers, such as Pure Storage, Solid Fire, and Violin. IBM's expansion of its flash offerings is another sign that flash devices are moving higher in the enterprise storage food chain and taking over more tasks from spinning disks.

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