What's new

Each release offers new functions and improvements. IBM is constantly updating the infrastructure, security, and stability of IBM Fusion to improve your experience. Review this information for a high-level summary of the new features and changes in each release.

AI enhancements

Content-Aware Storage (CAS) service
Simplified CAS deployment with native RBD support

In CAS v1.1.5, CAS backend leverages the native RADOS Block Device (RBD) support introduced in IBM Storage Scale CNSA v6.0.1 to provision local cache filesystems by using RBD disks from Data Foundation. Enhanced automated deployment script eliminates additional setup steps and provides a more streamlined deployment experience. For details on setting up local cache filesystem, see Installing CAS without a remotely mounted IBM Storage Scale filesystem.

Network File System (NFS) data source support with CAS

CAS introduces an NFS data source type, enabling you to bring enterprise data stored on NFS exports into your RAG applications. As with all other supported data source types, CAS leverages IBM Docling Multimodal services and NVIDIA NeMo Retriever Extraction microservices for optimized content processing. By utilizing IBM Storage Scale as a cache layer, CAS eliminates the need to maintain duplicate copies of data. This reduces storage costs and operational complexity while accelerating access to enterprise content for AI workloads. For more information, see Creating a data source.

Domain‑level file access control

CAS now supports domain‑level configuration for file permission checking, allowing users to enable or disable file‑level access control on a per‑domain basis. This enhancement removes the need for separate scripts by providing built‑in configuration through the user interface. With this capability, administrators can apply file‑level controls selectively across domains while continuing to use an integrated identity provider with IBM Storage Scale for enforcing access policies. For more information, see Modifying file-level access control for a domain.

Zero‑trust network policy enforcement

Content-Aware Storage (CAS) now automatically enforces a zero‑trust network communication model across its internal services by deploying and managing Kubernetes NetworkPolicies. This behavior is configurable through the CasInstall custom resource, allowing administrators to control policy enforcement as part of the deployment configuration. For more information, see Configuring network policies.

Installation and image mirroring precheck utilities

Improved image mirroring efficiency

IBM Fusion now simplifies the image mirroring process by removing the dependency on the ibm-pak tool. You can now complete mirroring by using only the oc-mirror utility. In addition, the mirroring process is more efficient, as it copies only the required release images, resulting in reduced image size and lower storage requirements.

Security enhancements

IBM Fusion now supports Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS)-certified cryptographic modules to ensure secure operations in regulated environments. This feature is optional and must be enabled before installing the OpenShift® cluster. For more information, see IBM Fusion FIPS capabilities (Optional).

Simplified upgrade path for IBM Fusion

The upgrade process for IBM Fusion is streamlined. Users currently on 2.11.x can now directly upgrade to 2.13.0 on specific configurations, bypassing the need for intermediate 2.12.x releases. For details on supported configurations, see Enhanced upgrade experience.

Service management

Automatic storage class selection

IBM Fusion now automatically configures storage classes for its data services based on best‑practice settings, reducing the need for manual setup and simplifying deployment. Manual configuration is required only when IBM Fusion storage is not used, providing flexibility for custom storage environments.

Serviceability enhancements

Simplified Call Home support
A new, simplified proxy configuration experience is available during setup, with support for multiple connectivity options:
  • Direct connection
  • Open proxy
  • Proxy with basic authentication
  • Proxy with certificate-based authentication

This ensures seamless connectivity in both restricted and unrestricted network environments from day one.

Enhanced log collection and automatic sanitization

IBM Fusion now supports targeted log collection for individual nodes and switches, reducing collection time and generating smaller, more relevant log packages for troubleshooting.

In addition, IBM Fusion includes automatic log package sanitization, which helps protect sensitive data when you collect diagnostic logs for troubleshooting and support. The system automatically omits or masks sensitive information from log packages, for example:
  • MAC addresses
  • IP addresses
  • Subdomains
  • Domains
  • Gateways
  • DNS and DHCP information

Automatic log sanitization is enabled by default, ensuring that diagnostic logs are safe to share with IBM Support without requiring manual cleanup. This capability reduces security risk while simplifying support interactions. For more information, see Automatic cleanup of log packages.

Reduced event noise and improved maintenance visibility

IBM Fusion now reduces event noise by automatically resolving compute, installation, and network‑related critical issues once they are fixed, while enhanced deduplication minimizes duplicate alerts. During planned maintenance operations such as OpenShift upgrades, node maintenance initiated from the IBM Fusion UI, or switch upgrades, the system suppresses unnecessary critical alerts and degraded health indicators. This results in fewer, more relevant events and improved operational clarity.

Backup & Restore enhancements

Enhanced error messaging
Error messages now clearly indicate the specific component that triggered the error, enabling you to quickly identify and troubleshoot issues. This improvement reduces resolution time and allows you to potentially resolve problems independently or provide support with precise information to expedite the resolution process.
Optimized Backup & Restore pod resources
The Pod Resource Recommendation Tool is now available, enabling you to optimize the resources that are allocated to Backup & Restore pods. This tool analyzes historical data from a specified reference period to recommend optimal resource levels, ensuring that cluster resources are used efficiently. For more information, see Pod Resource Recommendation and Patch Tool.

Fusion Data Foundation support

IBM Fusion now includes support for Fusion Data Foundation 4.21. Key highlights in Fusion Data Foundation 4.21 include:
  • Container Native Storage Access (CNSA) integration
  • IBM Fusion Access for SAN integration
  • Hybrid cloud support for disaster recovery
  • Multi-volume consistency groups for RBD and CephFS volumes
  • CephFS volumes support using non-default StorageClasses
  • Enhanced protected applications list view
  • Automatic resource cleanup for discovered VMs during DR operations
  • Minimal IAM support for Multicloud Object Gateway
  • Enhanced Multicloud Object Gateway database backup
  • Developer access to object browser
  • Internal mode RGW support with object browser
  • Improved Multicloud Object Gateway performance using secondary database instance
  • HCP clusters support enhancements
  • HCP clusters deployment support for AWS and IBM Z
  • Multus support for existing clusters
  • IPv6 support for Multus networks
  • IPv6 support for external mode
  • Performance Plus enabled for Azure deployments
  • Additional NooBaa bucket and replication metrics
  • Clearer NooBaa capacity alerting
  • New MDS xattr-latency alert
  • Enhanced vCPU requirements for IBM Z and LinuxONE

For more information, see New features and Enhancements topics in Fusion Data Foundation 4.21 release notes. For known issues and limitations, see Known issues in 4.21 topic.

IBM Data Cataloging enhancements

Enhanced data classification
AI-powered content-based tagging

IBM Data Cataloging introduces AI-powered content-based tagging to automatically classify unstructured data based on actual file content, rather than relying solely on metadata. By leveraging large language models (LLMs) and external GPU acceleration, the solution analyzes data at scale and suggests relevant business tags with minimal manual effort. This capability standardizes content organization across multiple data sources, improving data discovery and governance. For more information, see Content-based AI-enabled autotagging.

Improved data governance

IBM Data Cataloging enhances Content-Aware Storage (CAS) by propagating tags that are assigned to cataloged data. Tags, whether created manually, through auto-tagging policies, or through AI, are consolidated and propagated to the underlying data in CAS.

This enrichment enables CAS enrich content ingestion with tags attributes, resulting in more accurate semantic search and improved governance across domains. For more information, see Content-Aware Storage (CAS) APIs.

Simplified Integration with Content-Aware Storage
One click installation and enablement

Announcing new capability to ease IBM Data Cataloging and Content-Aware Storage integration. This capability simplifies the integration between IBM Data Cataloging and Content-Aware Storage with a one-click installation and enablement experience. Users can deploy and activate IBM Data Cataloging directly from the CAS interface in just two steps: Install and Enable.

This streamlined setup enhances operational efficiency and allows CAS to leverage advanced scanning and filtering capabilities for more granular data ingestion control. For more information, see One-click installation and enablement integration experience.

Data insights dashboards

Announcing new IBM Data Cataloging and CAS introduce data insights dashboards that provide immediate visibility into data once sources are connected and scanned. This experience is enabled when both IBM Data Cataloging and CAS are integrated. The provided insights surface key indicators of data composition on each established data source. For more information, see IBM Data Cataloging and Content-Aware Storage insights.

Security fixes and updates
Enhance IBM Data Cataloging service stability and protect against known vulnerabilities.

New currency support

For a complete list of currency support, see Support matrix for IBM Fusion versions.