IBM introduced new mobile, management and storage components for its PureFlex and Flex System portfolios, including a new storage system to help improve storage utilization. The storage system is tightly integrated with IBM Flex System Manager and uses IBM Storwize family virtualization and IBM Real-time Compression technologies. This helps clients can run their most important workloads with no application performance degradation, IBM says.
The company also announced new capabilities for PureFlex and Flex Systems that include management and administration tools, including integrated end-to-end storage management; mobile access to the system for clients through a wide range of mobile devices (Android, Blackberry and iOS); and centralized control of user IDs and passwords across nodes and chassis.
PureFlex and Flex Systems are designed to reduce the time spent deploying, managing and administering servers, which consume increasingly larger portions of IT budgets, says Andrew Monshaw, general manager for IBM PureFlex. “Clients are telling us that when they look to upgrade the legacy servers and storage that constitute their current IT infrastructures they don’t want to spend too much time and effort tuning and managing the new systems,” he says.
IBM Flex Systems are built-to-order offerings for clients who want to custom build and tune configurations to specific requirements. This enables them to select the specific compute, systems networking and optional storage and management required to support their specific workloads.
IBM says to date, more than 1,000 PureFlex and Flex Systems have shipped in more than 40 countries around the world.
IBM also announced new and enhanced elements for all four aspects of the Flex System, including a new version of IBM Flex System Manager that will enable companies to bring new components online faster, provide better monitoring and alerts and integrate applications, services and workloads through a new interface and mobile access.
In addition, an Integrated Flex System V7000 storage node with built-in virtualization, intelligent tiering, and IBM Real-time Compression that enables storing up to five times as much data in the same physical disk space.
New POWER7+, x440 and x220 compute nodes will provide data centers with a wide range of advanced processing technology to deliver workload optimization. Also, all POWER compute nodes are now available as build-to-order components in Flex System, IBM says. New converged fabric switches providing Fibre Channel over Ethernet and new adaptors will provide an array of advanced networking technology choices.
More details are at the IBM site at www.ibm.com/puresystems.