Engineers and researchers at the IBM Hursley development lab in England and Almaden Research Center in California have set a record in storage speed, outperforming the current rate by more than 250 percent. By combining Flash solid-state technology and IBM's storage virtualization technology, the researchers were able to transfer data at more than 1 million Input/Output (I/O) per second.
The results have profound implications, especially for businesses that rely on computational speed such as reservation systems and financial trading systems. Solid state storage is faster than traditional disk drives because it uses no moving parts. It also requires less floor space and energy. But experts say achieving gains will need more than new hardware.
"The ultimate benefits of solid state will require software, management and systems capabilities—with IBM being uniquely positioned, with its deep research and development capabilities and broad product and services experience, to unlock that potential," said Andy Monshaw, General Manager, IBM System Storage.
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IBM Breaks Performance Records Through Systems Innovation (press release)