Rethinking Data Storage with IBM Flash System Family. FlashSystem 5000

Conventionally, an information technology architecture was a ringfenced place understood by a very few experts. I would love to take readers for a journey to hidden gems of the IBM Flash System.

How to benefit from the full spectrum of 21st-century data storage?

In the digital era and real time services, a customer wants to access service and data from anywhere, at any time, with any device. For an enterprise, the digital readiness in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) business environment and the accurate, reliable, and timely information flow along with the customer trust, play a fundamental role.

When most of the business models shift from offline to online and to industry 4.0, the information massification leads to rethink the data storage paradigm. The data volume increasing exponentially, paves the way for a new "More law".

To a great extent, data is the new medium of success for enterprises today. Statistically, 97.2% of organizations are investing in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.

The colossal amount of information generated each day is disseminated in real time, and large volumes of data are rendered obsolete in minutes, hours, or a few days. Nearly 80% to 90% of the data generated daily from all types of sources is unstructured.

To a great degree, the accuracy, freshness, quality, and timely availability of data define the value, play a key role and are the main stakes for many companies in the digital realm. In parallel the data driven economy must deal with the data protection and regulation.

Admittedly, cyber threats are part of the digital reality, targeting increasingly the data, IT infrastructures and the storage systems. While online businesses increase exposure to Internet, the data massification rises radically attractiveness for hackers. Above all, the security associated with access and protection of data storage is an absolute necessity to balance sustainable profits with managed and acceptable risks.

Data breach / ransomware / malware attack (to name a few cyberthreats) lead to complex and challenging reputational damage, cost, and often non-compliance. As threat actors are innovating, cybersecurity experts assert their own unique interpretation of trust and appreciate the storage solutions “that help to build and deploy enterprise-class scale-out microservices applications delivering highest performance, data efficiency, protection and agility to help the business exceed its goals.”

In a stream of ever transforming and emergent patterns, the corporate world is in a state of endless change. Cyber threats are ever-present element of these streams and patterns. Get ahead of cybercrime deploying multiple lines of defence with FlashSystem 5000.

The FlashSystem Family comprises of seven models that scale up the performance/capacity curve, offering the identical management, support, and operational capabilities; delivering “six nines” reliability with no single point of failure! The IBM FlashSystem 5000 is a faster, smarter, multicloud enabled, more affordable, easy-to-buy, easy-to-deploy, and easy-to-grow entry-level hybrid storage solution.

In a world driven by real time, availability of data and business continuity are crucial. Unplanned downtimes disrupt the business processes that lead to unpredictable difficulties and operational losses. Flexible systems fail over mechanisms and resilient software/ hardware architecture(s) must be in place to ensure an adequate business service level. The downtime impact increases with the digital growth and data volume of an enterprise. Therefore, the scalable and robust storage system is a must.

“The higher value of the data, the higher cost of the data breach.” IBM FlashSystem 5000 is an innovative and consistent response to protect data:

·        FlashSystem 5000 allows encryption in hardware and software. All data can be encrypted with encryption for data on other storage devices as well.

·        FlashSystem 5000 supports two and three data center sites with high availability cluster functions using synchronous data copies, which can be extended to a disaster recovery solution with asynchronous copies.

·        FlashSystem 5000 can leverage FlashCopy to create data snapshots, which can be offloaded to tapes using IBM Spectrum Protect - allowing to use a true air gap for the data.

With FlashSystem 5000 it is easier than ever to protect and manage data and assure high availability. This system is designed to protect values and embrace the digital growth of an enterprise in a context of competition and sophisticated digital threat.

Key takeaways

With faster, smarter, multicloud enabled, more affordable storage solutions of IBM FlashSystem 5000 you will:

·    Increase profitability

·    Reduce operational costs

·    Stay ahead of your competition

·    Accelerate business growth

·    Improve effectiveness and productivity

·    Attract and retain new customers

Taking into consideration the massification of data, (think the “MORE” law: more data… more data… more data), hybrid storage technology needs to handle both structured and unstructured data to multicloud enable successful digital transformation of enterprises, governments, nations, future smart cities, mobility and even the space.

This is, to the core, what IBM Storage does, adding intelligence and efficiency to the future-ready storage architecture, enabling organizations to overcome their storage challenges with advanced functionality, addressing the full spectrum of 21st-century data storage challenges. IBM FlashSystem performs exceptionally in the hybrid multi-cloud market.

The global cloud computing market is expected to reach $623.3 billion by 2023. According to cloud computing growth stats, the industry will grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18% during the forecast period.

Global Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) market is expected to grow with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22.9% over the forecast period from 2020-2026.

Cloud computing holds great potential for organizations that choose to stay agile and empower rapid scaling-up through partnerships and access to flexible and accessible resources.

With the cloud, IT is no longer a product, it is a service. The pay-as-you-go model holds the promise of saving money using the cloud. Efficiency and savings can be achieved, given, the attention is paid to cloud cost optimization.

With inevitable rapid changes and challenges of an evolving digital landscape, recognizing the complexity of the organization, having a long-term focus and strategic objectives is vital.

With Cloud Computing, it is no longer a question of If, but rather When and How. Migrating to the Cloud Is not a simple, one-time project.

The IBM FlashSystem 5000 as a faster, smarter, multicloud enabled, more affordable, easy-to-buy, easy-to-deploy, and easy-to-grow entry-level hybrid storage solution could effectively serve as a bridge from your on premise to cloud computing digital journey.

Invest in Data. Save on Storage. Turn Storage Technology into IT Gold.

Disclaimer: This article is created in partnership with IBM Storage.

Article by: Ludmila Morozova-Buss on September 28, 2020

Special THANK YOU goes to Thomas Harrer and Stephane Nappo.