On Wednesday, IBM is expected to announce the third generation of its high-end, grid-based XIV Storage System, which offers improved performance for virtualized server environments, analytics and cloud computing.
IBM claims the new IBM XIV Storage System is up to four times faster than the previous Gen.2 model and features improved management software that makes it easier to use, allowing XIV to support more workloads for a broader set of enterprises.
With this release, IBM moves from Intel Nehalem processors to the latest Westmere chips. It also upgraded from a gigabit Ethernet backbone to an InfiniBand interconnect and moved from 4Gbit/sec Fibre Channel to 8Gbit/sec Fibre Channel (FC) front-end ports.
Each XIV Gen.3 system has two InfiniBand switches with redundant inter-module connectivity for 600Gbit/sec total internal bandwidth.
IBM also increased the number of iSCSI ports from six to 22.
“We’re starting to see demand pick up for IP connectivity, though I’d still say it’s slower than what we in the industry predicted it would be by this point in time,” said Bob Cancilla, vice president of enterprise disk storage at IBM. “But this will help [customers] get prepared for that future transition into greater workload for IP connectivity.”