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IBM quietly introduces software-only Spectrum Fusion

Thursday, March 24th 2022

Published on Techtarget.com. Read the full article here.

Easing adoption with software-only

IBM is positioning Spectrum Fusion as storage for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform instead of as a more generic HCI storage offering. “It is not your typical HCI [product],” said Dave Raffo, a senior analyst at Evaluator Group. “It’s storage for containers.”

The initial version of Spectrum Fusion HCI was a turnkey appliance that had to be purchased through IBM, Raffo said. Now IBM is making the software available to run on any x86 hardware qualified to run OpenShift, giving customers the flexibility to use the software without having to invest as much in the hardware.

Initially, the hardware setup of Spectrum Fusion required six nodes minimum, or six appliances, according to IBM. However, most HCI setups require only three nodes, Raffo said. That is now the case with the new software-only Spectrum Fusion.

However, there are drawbacks for IT when choosing this software-only style of HCI.

“You have to put it together yourself,” Raffo said. “It doesn’t come on an appliance, already packaged. It takes more work.”

Baker echoed the point, and added that for Red Hat OpenShift customers with the correct hardware, the software-only version of Spectrum Fusion will provide the persistent storage for which they’re looking.

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