New Storage Devices for IBM System x Servers

15,000 rpm 6Gb SAS 2.5-inch HDDs and 300GB and 600GB 15,000 rpm 6 Gbps SAS 2.5-inch G2HS/G2SS hybrid HDDs offer higher memory capacity for selected IBM System x servers

New HDDs and flash hybrid HDDs add high-capacity and high-performance offerings to the System x and BladeCenter family:

IBM 600GB 15K 6 Gbps SAS 2.5-inch G2HS HDD (00AJ300)
IBM 600GB 15K 6 Gbps SAS 2.5-inch G2SS HDD (00AJ305)
IBM 300GB 15K 6 Gbps SAS 2.5-inch G2HS Hybrid (00AJ236)
IBM 300GB 15K 6 Gbps SAS 2.5-inch G2SS Hybrid (00AJ241)
IBM 600GB 15K 6 Gbps SAS 2.5-inch G2HS Hybrid (00AJ246)
IBM 600GB 15K 6 Gbps SAS 2.5-inch G2SS Hybrid (00AJ251)

Note: The new hybrid drives are HDD drives that incorporate and leverage NAND flash to accelerate performance.

The amount of information that is gathered and stored by businesses continues to grow exponentially. In addition to the demand for increased storage, there are increasing requirements to quickly and effectively store and access data. Conventional HDD drives and solid-state storage technology are utilized to achieve specific objectives within the data center. Conventional HDD drives continue to be the most common storage media offering high density and basic performance in a cost effective solution. Solid-state storage solutions enable businesses to achieve optimal I/O through variable R/W capabilities for performance intensive applications and workloads.

Hybrid drives combine a cache of NAND flash and conventional media to accelerate HDD drive performance, enabling higher I/O performance while leveraging the capacity and cost of spinning media for primary storage. They are the next generation of hybrid drives from IBM.

As the newest additions to the System x family of 2.5-inch SAS drives, the 600GB 15,000 rpm 6 Gbps SAS 2.5-inch HDDs and 300GB and 600GB 6 Gbps SAS 2.5-inch hybrid HDDs offer high performance options and provide a wider selection of choices to satisfy a range of applications. These new drives are positioned at the top of the IBM SAS line.

The new 600GB 15,000 rpm 6 Gbps SAS 2.5-inch HDDs and 300GB and 600GB 6 Gbps SAS 2.5-inch hybrid HDDs are available in hot-swap (G2HS) and simple-swap (G2SS) versions.

Key features and benefits include:

15,000 rpm 2.5-inch SAS drives are RoHS compliant and Protection Information (PI) enabled
600GB 15,000 rpm 2.5-inch SAS HDDs and hybrid HDDs meet client requirements for larger capacities and increased speeds in small form factor drives
Up to 15,000 rpm speed to help optimize performance
Reliability that enables operation in RAID environments without compromising application performance or availability

You can increase your storage and data management effectiveness when you install these new high-performance SAS HDDs in your System x configurations.

600GB 15,000 rpm SAS characteristics include:

High capacity in a 2.5-inch industry-standard form factor
Drive-to-host interface that supports up to 6.0 Gbps burst rate
Drive media to buffer interface that supports sustained interface data transfers of up to 256 Mbps on the 600GB drives
Spindle speed of 15,000 rpm
Hot-swap and simple-swap capability
SAS interface

300 and 600GB 15,000 rpm hybrid characteristics include:

32GB NAND flash
Drive-to-host interface that supports up to 6.0 Gbps burst rate
Drive media to buffer interface that supports sustained interface data transfers of up to 256 Mbps on the drives
Spindle speed of 15,000 rpm
Hot-swap and simple-swap capability
SAS interface

Reliability

SAS compliance enables these HDDs to connect directly to selected System x systems.
S.M.A.R.T. allows software utilities to alert you of certain impending drive failures so replacements can be made before a problem occurs.
Testing through the ServerProven program instills confidence that your storage subsystem is compatible and will function reliably.

Warranty

One-year, customer replaceable unit (CRU), limited warranty

Key prerequisites

IBM System x system with SAS capability.

Planned availability date

November 15, 2013