IBM Cloud Object Storage Gen2 Hardware

IBM Cloud Object Storage Gen2 hardware
delivers improved economics, performance, and capacity

Cloud Object Storage Gen2 delivers cost reductions vs. IBM’s present generation of hardware, ensuring that clients can access the same Cloud Object Storage capacity at a lower price.

The costs savings will be dependent on client use cases, applications, and specific environments, and savings are expected to range anywhere from 25%-50% when based on either initial capital outlay or a cost per terabyte metric.

The combination of the new architecture with industry-standard components results in an initial system that completes up to 15% more reads and writes in the same timeframe as the current system, enabling easier and quicker access to faster systems.

The platform takes the best of the current Cloud Object Storage architecture and modifies and extends it to allow for newer technologies, components and approaches. These modifications and extensions enable this new gen of hardware to incorporate new features, functionalities, and capabilities in an easily manageable manner.

This new generation of hardware still supports the Cloud Object Storage System functions of Manager, Accesser, and Slicestor, in the same manner as the first generation of hardware with some key differences:

• The Storage Layer (Slicestor) is now provided through two physical components, a Controller Node server and a disk enclosure
• The Manager, Accesser, and Controller Node are all provided using the exact same physical 1U server that can be configured differently depending on purpose
• The function performed by the server is determined by the specific components selected for the server
• Capacity can be added independently or in conjunction with performance

These improvements mean that clients can start with small systems, in both the areas of capacity and performance, and grow as needed and in independent steps if that is what is appropriate for them.

This generation of hardware enables Cloud Object Storage solution clients to stay ahead of their competition by having optimized access to the data they need to run their business today. Cloud Object Storage Gen2 can also grow quickly and easily, with a future-ready platform that includes investment protection with a lower cost solution.

All of the capabilities, features, functions, and benefits of Cloud Object Storage that clients are used to today are maintained in this generation of hardware:

• The ability to scale-out to multipetabyte or exabyte capacity with faster performance
• Single-site, mirrored two-site, and geo-dispersed deployment options
• Configuration retention that provides up to 8 nines of availability and up to
• 15 nines of reliability

Clients will also receive the following benefits:

• Lower cost
• Higher performance
• More options to tailor configurations for workload optimization
• Greater consolidation of data in a single rack unit or a rack configuration
• The ability to more easily and cost effectively grow their systems as needed
• The ability to intermix Gen2 hardware with previous generation hardware

Key requirements
Cloud Object Storage System hardware servers must be loaded with the appropriate Cloud Object Storage System software that is designed for that server type. These certified hardware servers can be deployed in a single site or across multiple, geographically dispersed locations, connected by public or private networks.

Planned availability date: June 7, 2019