IBM Spectrum Scale V4.1.1

IBM Spectrum Scale V4.1.1 delivers software-defined storage for cloud, big data and analytics, and data-intensive technical workflows.

It delivers a fast, available, scalable shared file system for clustered systems that enables access to files and objects spanning flash, disk, and tape storage systems.

For enterprises that are swamped by unstructured data, IBM Spectrum Scale V4.1.1 lets you share your storage infrastructure while it automatically places and moves file and object data to the optimal storage tier.

Integrated Lifecycle Management (ILM) tools automatically move data to the optimum storage tier based on customer-defined policies. This can dramatically reduce operational costs as fewer administrators are needed to manage larger storage infrastructures.

New applications are generating massive amounts of unstructured data such as video, audio, and text files, and all of this data must be managed across standard and new cloud platforms. Being able to balance traditional workloads with new workloads and data types puts pressure on IT and storage administrators to deliver application performance and reduce bottlenecks that delay schedules and waste expensive resources.

Spectrum Scale, based on technology from IBM GPFS, removes data-related bottlenecks by providing parallel access to data, eliminating single filer choke points or hot spots. It also simplifies data management at scale by providing a single namespace that can be scaled simply and quickly by adding more scale-out resources, eliminating filer sprawl and its associated headaches.

Spectrum Scale V4.1.1 enhancements include:

Improved client experience with configuration guidance, an installation toolkit, and integration with IBM Spectrum Control for health monitoring
Data access to a shared storage infrastructure through enhanced protocol support for NFS, SMB, and Swift Object
Advanced Edition support for Asynchronous multisite DR

Spectrum Scale V4.1.1 offers three levels of function,
each of which can be licensed by Spectrum Scale Client, Spectrum Scale Server,
and File Placement Optimizer (FPO):

Express Edition contains the base Spectrum Scale data access function
Standard Edition includes the base function plus ILM, AFM, and either integrated multi protocol support, which includes Ganesha NFS or traditional clustered NFS
Advanced Edition includes encryption of data at rest, secure erase, asynchronous multisite DR, and all the features of Standard Edition

This requires the installation of multiprotocol node software with a server license.

Key prerequisites
Power Systems servers running AIX or Linux OSs, and x86-64 servers running Linux or Windows OSs, with a minimum of 1GB of system memory.

Planned availability date

June 12, 2015: Electronic delivery
June 19, 2015: Physical media