The IBM FlashSystem 9500 is an end-to-end NVMe storage system, meaning it supports NVMe over Fabric with Fibre Channel and Ethernet as well as attaching storage devices in the form of SSDs and FlashCore Modules using PCIe with NVMe protocol. The FlashSystem is targeted with the performance and capacity to cover requirements for high-end enterprises. With Spectrum Virtualize software in the FlashSystem 9500, it is capable of virtualizing other attached storage systems providing common administration, advanced features such as replication and snapshots, and the ability to seamless migrate data. The FlashSystem 9500 is a scale-out storage system with the basic unit being a pair of controllers that can be scaled to four pairs or eight controllers in a cluster. Included in the system is data reduction via Data Reduction Pools. Data is deduplicated, compressed, and compacted as it is received in the 9500 controllers and stored in reduced form. Data may also be compressed in the FlashCore Modules. Using Spectrum Virtualize software, data in the virtualized external storage systems may also be reduced.
Storage devices used in the FlashSystem 9500 include NVMe protocol SSDs and FlashCore Modules along with SCM devices. The FlashCore modules were re-engineered from the original FlashSystem 900 to attach to the controllers using PCIe and support the NVMe protocol. With the introduction of the FlashSystem 9500, PCIe Gen4 is used. FlashCore modules are in a 2.5” form factor. Up to 12 SCM devices can be supported as a storage tier. Both 24 and 96 2.5” device enclosures are supported with up to 184 expansion solid state device per controller pair.
The functionality of the FlashSystem is the same as the IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC). The management is a web-based GUI that is highly advanced, targeted at an IT generalist. Different from most other storage systems, the advanced features are pre-installed on the FlashSystem 9500 with many being included in the base price of the system. Additional cost features are enabled with license keys.
IBM FlashSystem 9500 Product Brief Includes:
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