IBM unveils next-gen storage offerings

Feb. 20, 2008
N7700 and N7900 allow for storage consolidation

IBM has unveiled a raft of enhancements across its disk and tape storage portfolio.

IBM said the N7700 and N7900 models offer data center operations and storage consolidation for large open system enterprises. Supporting 1,176 Terabytes of raw capacity and offering consolidation of SAN and NAS storage in a single system, the new models also provide support for primary, near-line, regulatory-compliant data retention, and archival storage.

For SMBs it introduced the N3300 and N3600 that provide 68TB and 104TB capacity respectively. Capacity has also been added to the N5300, which now supports 336 TB, while the N5600 supports 504 TB, the N7600 supports 840 TB, and the N7800 supports 1008 TB.

IBM said the SAN768B provides high-performance computing and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) technologies. It offers an 8Gbps data transfer rate. It also supports interoperability between b-type (Brocade) and m-type (McData) directors in an FC SAN infrastructure.

It said the DR550 v4.5 offers system storage archive manager (SSAM) for policy-based information retention and enables the transparent and automated movement of archived data. IBM introduced two versions: DR1 and DR2. DR1 is a 25U tall rack for mid-market clients, while the DR2 is for large enterprises.

IBM also introduced the DS3300 DC power model 32T that enables telecoms service providers to deliver basic voice telephony, internet protocol television, video on demand, IP multimedia subsystems, and security. The DS3300 has dual DC power supplies and can be used in remote locations.

IBM said the TS3100 and TS3200 Tape Library Express Models offer backup and restore, and archiving for SMBs, with security against physical cartridge loss and theft.

The N7700 and the N7900 will be generally available in April at a starting price of $125,000 and $190,000 respectively. The DR550 DR1, the DR2, SAN768B, and the DS3300 DC will be available this month at a starting price of $26,000, $73,000, $390,000, and $9,495 respectively. The TS3100 and the TS3200 tape library express models will be available in March with a starting price of $8,300.