IBM unveils storage products

Because of a rapid growth of information from the explosive growth of Web 2.0 data and social networking, each individual's "information footprint" is expected to grow from 1 terabyte per year to more than 16 terabytes by 2020.

Consumers currently seem to take their information with them around the globe in real time causing businesses to struggle with outdated data centres, which are unable to handle the increased information-management demands.

It was time that information infrastructures were adapted to meet this demand. Therefore, IBM sought to help its clients handle the information-infrastructure challenges with the introduction of the New Enterprise Data Center strategy, IBM Enterprise Systems Division general manager Jim Stallings said.

The strategy is to offer key elements of information infrastructure including availability, compliance, retention and security together with the launch of more than 30 new and upgraded products and services across the IBM portfolio to meet these critical needs - including Internet-scale availability, consolidation and retention, as well as security.

IBM System Storage general manager Andy Monshaw said during the past three years, IBM had invested US$2 billion (Bt………..) in research and development and building a global team of more than 2,500 storage-technology professionals, engineers and researchers, as well as in the key acquisitions of more than 10 companies such as XIV, Diligent, Cognos, Arsenal, Optim, FilesX, Softek, and NovusCG, to add strategic pieces to IBM's strongest information infrastructure portfolio.

 "For example, XIV is a new enterprise disk that features a grid-based architecture. It offers easier management and greater performance scalability. While, a new disk storage system, DS5000 is designed to meet mid-range data centre requirements such as increasing performance, growing capacity at Internet-scale demands," Monshaw said.

Moreover, the new storage-virtualisation software, SVC, helps clients manage and consolidate volumes of business data more efficiently, while helping to improve utilisation rates and energy efficiency.

IBM information infrastructure allows clients to streamline their data centres with integrated storage to help clients deliver information as a service to their customers, who seek access to information at any time and from any device. 

He also mentioned that the world was re-tooling its underlying information-technology infrastructure in a dramatic shift away from a decades-old client-server model to a radically more efficient Internet-style architecture. 

"There is no bigger opportunity for our clients than to unlock the value they have hidden in their data centres and help them create smart, innovative offerings for their consumer. These tools and technology resources, which IBM has been developing and amassing, are open to new industry collaborations and on-demand storage technologies, which in turn are a key pillar in the emergence of cloud computing," Monshaw said.

The existing information infrastructure is not designed to efficiently manage the enormous information - estimated to be two billion people on the Web by 2011 and about one trillion connected objects such as cars, appliances, cameras, roadways, pipelines to connect to the Web. So, businesses must be prepared for this new phase of cloud computing and to give consumers access to data and systems remotely, from any device, anywhere.