IBM has made several key enhancements to its XIV Storage System Gen3, including a new solid state drive (SSD) caching option that can increase system performance by up to three times, and a new Apple iPhone app that lets people monitor their XIV storage environment from virtually anywhere.
With SSD caching, the most frequently used data is stored on solid state memory placed between the system memory and hard drives. Because SSDs use no spinning disks and robotic arms, the storing and retrieving of data is accomplished with virtually no latency, speeding data access by orders of magnitude. In addition to performance boosts, SSD cache requires no separate tier to manage. The IBM XIV SSD Caching option provides up to 6TB of fast-read SSD.
IBM launched the XIV Storage System Gen3 in July 2011. With XIV Gen3, IBM also replaced the system's Ethernet-based backplane with a high-performance InfiniBand backplane that increased the system's internal bandwidth between modules by 40 times. In October 2011, IBM added 3TB disk drives to the system increasing system capacity by 50%.
In addition to IBM XIV SSD Caching, IBM announced the ability to mirror data between previous versions of XIV and XIV Gen3 systems, which will ease data migration and help give customers the flexibility to repurpose their XIV models as disaster recovery backup systems.
Building on XIV Gen3's remote monitoring capabilities, IBM also announced the XIV Mobile Dashboard for the Apple iPhone, which enables customers monitor XIV systems from virtually anywhere. The app will be available for download at no cost later this month from the Apple Online Store. IBM released the XIV Mobile Dashboard for the Apple iPad last October.
IBM today also announced an update to its Linear Tape File System Single Drive Edition. LTFS Single Drive Edition Version 1.2.5 supports Mac OS X and lets users of the operating system create, manage, and optimize video workflows using LTO-5 based tape drives.
For more information on IBM XIV Storage System Gen3, visit www-03.ibm.com/systems/storage/disk/xiv/.