IBM Unveils IBM Storage Scale System 6000
On October 31, IBM announced the release of the IBM Storage Scale System 6000, the latest innovation within the IBM Storage for Data and AI portfolio.
To satisfy new computational demands on account of growing AI adoption, the IBM Storage Scale System 6000 is a cloud-scale global data platform designed to yield greater value from data to accelerate AI workloads.
“The main challenges the IBM Storage Scale System 6000 addresses directly link to the data-intensive demands of AI workloads, which is only continuing to grow as most organizations strive to gain more value from their data and modernize their business,” says Sam Werner, vice president of IBM storage product management.
IBM Storage Scale System 6000 Specs
The IBM Storage Scale System 6000 features an advanced high-performance parallel file system that provides faster access to data with up to 7M IOPs and up to 256 GB/s throughput for read-only workloads per system in a 4U footprint, which is 2.5x the GB/s throughput and 2x the IOPs performance of leading competitors.
“This high-performance parallel file system can run multiple concurrent AI and data intensive workloads, connecting them together with enterprise resiliency, security and data efficiency as a single information supply chain from edge to core to public cloud,” Werner says.
With the new system, IBM Storage Scale System clients can accelerate the adoption and operationalization of AI workloads with IBM watsonx, and clients can create information supply chains from NVIDIA AI solutions to other AI workloads independent of their locations.
IBM Storage Scale System clients can also anticipate the incorporation of IBM FlashCore Modules, which will increase data efficiencies and economies of scale, in the first half of 2024.
Storage and Sustainability
This implementation of IBM FlashCore Modules will also align with IBM’s sustainability goals.
“With new maximum capacity NVMe FlashCore Modules, the Scale System 6000 will provide capacity efficiency with 53% less energy per TB than IBM’s previous maximum capacity flash drives for IBM Storage Scale System. It will also support 2.5x the amount of data in the same floor space than the previous generation system,” Werner says. “These improvements in data efficiency can support an organization’s goal to create a more sustainable infrastructure.”
Werner says IBM is already seeing clients leverage the system’s benefits. For example, University of Queensland has already reported major advancements in a variety of scientific fields through their use of IBM Storage Scale and the IBM Storage Scale System. Among other benefits within specific departments, the institution reports experiencing a general decrease in times to discovery and an increase in research productivity as a result of using the IBM Storage Scale System 3500. The university expects the IBM Storage Scale System 6000 to increase their performance and efficiency even further.
Ultimately, IBM recognizes the potential of AI and the storage bottleneck currently hindering AI initiatives, and its new system aims to improve data storage efficiency, advancing organizations’ abilities to gain value from AI workloads.
“As AI use cases expand, the underlying data infrastructure requires a unified global data strategy that both secures and provides a high-performance information supply chain for the expanding use of AI throughout an organization,” Werner says.
Read the full press release for more information.