IBM announces IBM i 7.2

 

Today, IBM announces the release of IBM i 7.2, the first new IBM i release in four years. This release provides significant new function in DB2 for i, systems management and security as well as enhancing many other integrated components and licensed programs. IBM i 7.2 includes support for and takes advantage of the latest Power Systems server family running on new POWER8 technology. 

 

IBM i 7.2 new enhancements include:

• Enhanced security options in DB2 for i
• Many new functions for programmer productivity and expanded function in DB2 for i
• Improved ease of use with IBM Navigator for i
• Enhancements to iAccess Client Solutions
• Extension of security to more applications through new single sign-on (SSO) environments
• Liberty Core as the base for Integrated Application Server
• Support for Zend Server 6.0 on IBM i 7.2
• Performance improvements for the IFS
• Extensions to the printing environments
• Expanded Hub functions for Backup, Recovery, and Media Services (BRMS)
• PowerHA SystemMirror for i Express Edition with new HyperSwap capability
• Support for new Power Systems built with POWER8 architecture and processor
• Additional I/O capabilities including support for WAN over LAN
• Rational tools enhancements to support Free Format RPG
• Support for the open-source file-serving solution Samba

IBM i 7.2 is supported on Power Systems servers and PureFlex systems with POWER8 processors, Power Systems servers and blades and PureFlex systems with POWER7/7+ processors, and Power Systems servers and blades with POWER6/6+ processors. Clients using POWER5/5+ servers or earlier servers must move to newer systems to take advantage of the new features in IBM i 7.2.

Clients running IBM i 7.1 or IBM i 6.1 can easily upgrade to IBM i 7.2, which will be available May 2, 2014, to benefit from the additional features and performance provided with the latest technologies included in the operating system.

To learn more, visit the IBM i 7.2 Knowledge Center website, and look for the May issue of IBM Systems Magazine, Power Systems edition, where IBM i Chief Architect Steve Will shares his thoughts on the new release.

By: Tami Deedrick

Link: http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/ibmi/trends/ibmannouncements/i72_announce/?sf25525622=1

IBM FlashSystem 840 for Legacy-free Flash

Flash storage is at an interesting place and it’s worth taking the time to understand IBM’s new FlashSystem 840 and how it might be useful.

 

A traditional approach to flash is to treat it like a fast disk drive with a SAS interface, and assume that a faster version of traditional systems are the way of the future. This is not a bad idea, and with auto-tiering technologies this kind of approach was mastered by the big vendors some time ago, and can be seen for example in IBM’s Storwize family and DS8000, and as a cache layer in the XIV. Using auto-tiering we can perhaps expect large quantities of storage to deliver latencies around 5 millseconds, rather than a more traditional 10 ms or higher (e.g. MS Exchange’s jetstress test only fails when you get to 20 ms).

Some players want to use all SSDs in their disk systems, which you can do with Storwize for example, but this is again really just a variation on a fairly traditional approach and you’re generally looking at storage latencies down around one or two millseconds. That sounds pretty good compared to 10 ms, but there are ways to do better and I suspect that SSD-based systems will not be where it’s at in 5 years time.

The IBM FlashSystem 840 is a little different and it uses flash chips, not SSDs. It’s primary purpose is to be very very low latency. We’re talking as low as 90 microseconds write, and 135 microseconds read. This is not a traditional system with a soup-to-nuts software stack. FlashSystem has a new Storwize GUI, but it is stripped back to keep it simple and to avoid anything that would impact latency.

This extreme low latency is a unique IBM proposition, since it turns out that even when other vendors use MLC flash chips instead of SSDs, by their own admission they generally still end up with latency close to 1 ms, presumably because of their controller and code-path overheads.

• 2u appliance with hot swap modules, power and cooling, controllers etc
• Concurrent firmware upgrade and call-home support
• Encryption is standard
• Choice of 16G FC, 8G FC, 40G IB and 10G FCoE interfaces
• Choice of upgradeable capacity

Nett of 2-D RAID5	4 modules	8 modules	12 modules
2GB modules	4 TB	12 TB	20 TB
4GB modules	8 TB	24 TB	40 TB

• Also a 2 TB starter option with RAID0
• Each module has 10 flash chips and each chip has 16 planes
• RAID5 is applied both across modules and within modules
• Variable stripe RAID within modules is self-healing

I’m thinking that prime targets for these systems include Databases and VDI, but also folks looking to future-proof their general performance. If you’re making a 5 year purchase, not everyone will want to buy a ‘mature’ SSD legacy-style flash solution, when they could instead buy into a disk-free architecture of the future.

But, as mentioned, FlashSystem does not have a full traditional software stack, so let’s consider the options if you need some of that stuff:

• IMHO, when it comes to replication, databases are usually best replicated using log shipping, Oracle Data Guard etc.
• VMware volumes can be replicated with native VMware server-based tools.
• AIX volumes can be replicated using AIX Geographic Mirroring.
• On AIX and some other systems you can use logical volume mirroring to set up a mirror of your volumes with preferred read set to the FlashSystem 840, and writes mirrored to a V7000 or (DS8000 or XIV etc), thereby allowing full software stack functions on the volumes (on the V7000) without slowing down the reads off the FlashSystem.
• You can also virtualize FlashSystem behind SVC or V7000
• Consider using Tivoli Storage Manager dedup disk to disk to create a DR environment

Right now, FlashSystem 840 is mainly about screamingly low latency and high performance, with some reasonable data center class credentials, and all at a pretty good price. If you have a data warehouse, or a database that wants that kind of I/O performance, or a VDI implementation that you want to de-risk, or a general workload that you want to future-proof, then maybe you should talk to IBM about FlashSystem 840.

By: Jim

Link: http://storagebuddhist.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/ibm-flashsystem-840-for-legacy-free-flash/

Made in IBM Labs: Enabling dynamic prioritization of data in the Cloud

As more and more companies take advantage of applications, processes and services delivered via the cloud, vendors are struggling with increased complexity and challenges associated with ensuring uninterrupted data availability. IBM's patented technique creates a cloud environment in which Quality of Service priorities can be modified according to real-time or expected conditions, to reduce data bottlenecks in the cloud, thereby ensuring that clients receive the level and quality of service they expect.

The new invention will help alleviate problems that cloud providers face when they need to provide simultaneous, efficient and uninterrupted service to a range of clients for applications, including online banking and shopping, real-time video, supply-chain management, enterprise resources planning and more. 

"Since companies are relying upon the cloud to manage and process critical business data and interactions, guaranteeing and delivering quality, reliable service is an imperative for cloud vendors," said IBM Cloud Offering Evangelist Rick Hamilton. "This patented invention will enable cloud service providers to dynamically respond to potential data choke points by changing quality of service priorities to ensure the free flow of data for their clients." 

IBM received U.S Patent #8,631,154 "Dynamically modifying quality of service levels for resources in a networked computing environment," for the invention. 

Since beginning work with clients and partners around cloud computing in 2007, IBM continues to focus building clouds for enterprise clients. IBM provides cloud services and collaborates with clients to create new opportunities to reach more of the market or extend their services leveraging cloud delivery.

For 21 consecutive years, IBM has been the leading recipient of U.S. patents. IBM inventors have patented thousands of inventions that will enable significant innovations that will position IBM to compete and lead in strategic areas, such as IBM Watson, cloud computing, Big Data analytics – and advance the new era of cognitive systems where machines will learn, reason and interact with people in more natural ways.

About IBM Cloud Computing 

IBM has helped more than 30,000 clients around the world with 40,000 industry experts. Today, IBM has 100+ cloud SaaS solutions, thousands of experts with deep industry knowledge helping clients transform and a network of 40 data centers worldwide. Since 2007, IBM has invested more than $7 billion in 17 acquisitions to accelerate its cloud initiatives and build a high value cloud portfolio. IBM holds 1,560 cloud patents focused on driving innovation. In fact, IBM for the 21st consecutive year topped the annual list of US patent leaders. IBM processes more the 5.5M client transactions daily through IBM's public cloud. 

By: Pr Newswire
Link: http://cloudcomputing.ulitzer.com/node/3054837