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IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today that it has added a new 4 Gpbs storage system to its midrange lineup. Big Blue said the newest member of its TotalStorage family, the DS4800, is one of the fastest midrange disk systems in the market today.
The Storage Performance Council tested the DS4800 and reports the device sets a new standard for midrange storage server performance delivering a maximum of more than 42,000 SPC-1 IOPS.
Rich Lechner, vice president of storage, IBM, said company executives believe they are introducing a compelling new alternative that can't be matched by EMC (NYSE: EMC) or HP (NYSE: HPQ) products in the same class.
"IBM's new DS4800 is an excellent choice for clients with high-performance computing needs that store and utilize vast amounts of data for high-bandwidth programs and complex application processing, such as those in the energy, entertainment and scientific research segments," said Lechner.
More Storage, Less Footprint
The IBM DS4800 offers scalability designed to support up to 67 terabytes of data. It is also designed to provide data failover software, availability and integrity features, all managed through a graphical user interface.
Joe Clabby, an analyst with Summit Strategies, told TechNewsWorld that the DS4800 is one component of a vastly improved product line that includes lower-end storage models, improved volume management and Information License Management.
"This gives IBM a smaller footprint with larger storage capacity," Clabby said. "It's positioned to replace their DS4500 at a better price performance ratio. This extends mid-range down a little more. You get all the benefits of the common storage manager copy services."
Heterogeneous Support
The DS4800 is designed to operate in a heterogeneous operating system environment which includes AIX, HPUX, Solaris, Windows, and various Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and POWER-based versions of Linux.
"IBM has been really aggressive with its support of the systems management initiative and has really got out in front of a number of other vendors in making its storage more heterogeneously manageable," Clabby said.
The DS4800 will also support the recently announced integrated backup for databases with the AIX operating environment and IBM DB2 Universal Database.
Other features include a "call home" function to help provide alerts if there is a problem with the system, long battery life to help provide increased uptime in the event of an outage, a second Ethernet port so diagnostics can be conducted, and a switched expansion drawer to allow for easy scalability.
The IBM TotalStorage DS4800 models 82A and 84A are scheduled to begin shipping on June 17 with a starting list price of US$54,000.
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