The IBM Storwize V3700: Meeting the Big Data Storage Needs of SMBs

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1 IBM Software Analyst Brief White Paper December 2012 The IBM Storwize V3700: Meeting the Big Data Storage Needs of SMBs

2 2 The IBM Storwize V3700: Meeting the Big Data Storage Needs of SMBs Introduction Even small businesses must increasingly use big data tools and approaches to be competitive in modern environments. Data from a myriad of disparate systems ranging from CRM to point of sale to web analytics drives decisions as much for SMBs as it does for large enterprises. The difference for SMBs, however, is often much more limited IT resources, making the more with less mantra particularly important for small and medium organizations. At the same time, SMBs are turning to virtualization to cost-effectively meet their data and application processing needs. As powerful hardware becomes more affordable and hypervisors more intuitive, smaller businesses are able to leverage virtualized environments to achieve data center functionality without the data center price tag few could ever afford. While server virtualization is not especially new to the SMB market, storage virtualization and the dedicated hardware and specialized software it often entailed has generally been out of reach for smaller Thick or traditional provisioning As powerful hardware becomes more affordable and hypervisors more intuitive, small businesses are able to leverage virtualized environments to achieve data center functionality without the data center price tage. organizations. The IBM Storewize V3700, however, changes the landscape considerably, designed from the outset to cost-effectively meet the storage virtualization needs of SMBs. IBM Storewize V3700 Bringing storage virtualization where it s needed the most Storage virtualization differs somewhat from server virtualization. While server virtualization abstracts operating system and application software from the physical machines on which it runs, storage For SMBs, every dollar counts. Storage virtualization Thin or virtual provisioning 15GB 20GB 25GB Overlapping/doublebooked volumes in which space is only allocated as needed, allowing much greater storage density and efficiency 12GB 15GB Empty Space 8GB 100 GB storage media

3 3 The IBM Storwize V3700: Meeting the Big Data Storage Needs of SMBs Storewize V3700 Features Web-based GUI with point-and-click management capabilities Internal disk storage virtualization enables rapid, flexible provisioning and simple configuration changes Thin provisioning enables applications to grow dynamically but only consume space they are actually using Simple data migration from external storage to Storwize V3700 storage (one-way from another storage device) FlashCopy creates instant application copies for backup or application testing 2U modular disk system 1 GB iscsi host interface with optional 8 GB Fibre Channel or 10 GB iscsi/ Fibre Channel over Ethernet host ports Up to 180 TB of capacity Maximum disk drives: - Small form-factor enclosure: 24 x 2.5-inch drives - Large form-factor enclosure: 12 x 3.5-inch drives Supports up to four expansion units (up to 120 drives per system) Dual-port, hot-swappable 6 GB SAS disk drives Support for RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6 and 10 4 GB cache (per controller) standard, upgradable to 8 GB Redundant, hot-swappable power supplies and fans In the V3700, managing storage volumes, rapidly provisioning new volumes, and instantly cloning existing volumes for disaster recovery, seamless migrations, deploying new services, and testing new applications are wrapped in a straightforward GUI that makes it easy for administrators to spin up on storage virtualization, remaining focused on its capabilities without getting bogged down in its potential complexities. virtualization abstracts storage volumes from the physical disks and devices on which they reside. Storage virtualization provides administrators with incredible flexibility in terms of the location and provisioning of the rapidly growing data stores they must manage. More importantly, it can help ensure high availability and rapid disaster recovery for the data that no longer just needs to be stored somewhere for posterity, but rather must be readily accessible for analysis, transactional processing and reporting. For SMBs, every dollar counts. Storage virtualization allows for optimum utilization of the storage resources in which businesses invest and provides facilities for rapid replication and cloning of data. The Storewize V3700, in particular, includes proven IBM

4 4 The IBM Storwize V3700: Meeting the Big Data Storage Needs of SMBs Though once considered too complex and too costly for SMBs, storage virtualization is now well within reach of the small and medium businesses looking to leverage powerful virtualization technologies for server consolidation, increased efficiency and total flexibility. technologies for managing storage volumes, rapidly provisioning new volumes, and instantly cloning existing volumes for disaster recovery, seamless migrations, deploying new services and testing new applications. In the V3700, these capabilities are wrapped in a straightforward GUI that makes it easy for administrators to spin up on storage virtualization, remaining focused on its capabilities without getting bogged down in its potential complexities. Storewize V3700 New opportunities for the savvy partner Do the SMBs you serve want to be able to analyze data in near realtime without opening up production data to decision-makers? Do they want simple mechanisms for creating sandboxes for new applications and storage needs? Do they want a robust means for ensuring disaster recovery or remote replication? How about snapshot-based backups or data cloning for protection against system or user errors? The V3700 can provide all of these capabilities at price points that can let them begin exploring storage virtualization now. The V3700 and Storewize systems, in general also, integrate very well into VMware and Microsoft HyperV environments. As you help SMBs roll out virtualized server environments and VDI, the Storewize V3700 provides an ideal complement. You ll appreciate the additional sales opportunities while your customers will appreciate the increased flexibility and native thin-provisioning capabilities that allow them to use storage resources far more fully than they would in a nonvirtualized environment. Conclusion: Storage virtualization built for SMBs Though once considered too complex and too costly for SMBs, storage virtualization is now well within reach of the small and medium businesses looking to leverage powerful virtualization technologies for server consolidation, increased efficiency and total flexibility. The Storewize V3700 brings unheard of capabilities to SMBs just as their technology partners are introducing them to the world of virtualization. New opportunities for SMBs new opportunities for resellers. The V3700 deserves to be on the short list for every SMB looking to realize the potential of storage virtualization. Want to learn more about what IBM can help you do for your customers? Find out about IBM channel partner incentives and support programs: Get additional details on IBM s x86 server lines: Learn more about all of IBM s hardware offerings: Discover IBM s commitment to SMBs: ABOUT IBM IBM is the worldwide leader in server market share (IDC) and has topped hardware reliability and quality ratings for th last 10 quarters (TBR). Introduce your SMB customers to the world of storage, server, and application virtualization with IBM s robust portfolio of server products.

5 5 The IBM Storwize V3700: Meeting the Big Data Storage Needs of SMBs Copyright IBM Corporation 2012 IBM Corporation Software Group Route 100 Somers, NY U.S.A. Produced in the United States of America October 2012 All Rights Reserved IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Rational, and Rational Team Concert are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. If these and other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first occurrence in this information with a trademark symbol ( or ), these symbols indicate U.S. registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the time this information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or common law trademarks in other countries. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the web at Copyright and trademark information at: ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml This whitepaper is co-produced by UBM Channel and IBM.