IBM DS5020 and other announcements

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Well, it's Tuesday again, and that means IBM announcements!

We've got a variety of storage-related items today, so here's my quick recap:

DS5020 and EXP520 disk systems

The new [IBM System Storage DS5020] provides the functional replacement for DS4700 disk systems. These are combined controller and 16 drives in a compact 3U package. The EXP520 expansion drawer provides additional 16 drives per 3U drawer. A DS5020 can support upo to six additional EXP520, for a total of 112 drives per system. The DS5020 supports both 8 Gbps FC as well as 1GbE iSCSI.

New Remote Support Manager (DS-RSM model RS2)

The [IBM System Storage DS-RSM Model RS2] supports of up to 50 disk systems, any mix of DS3000, DS4000 and DS5000 series. It includes "call home" support, which is really "email home", sending error alerts to IBM if there are any problems. The RSM also allows IBM to dial-in to perform diagnostics before arrival, reducing the time needed to resolve a problem. The model RS2 is a beefier model with more processing power than the prior generation RS1.

New Ethernet Switches

With the increased interest in iSCSI protocol, and the new upcoming Fibre Channel over Convergence Enhanced Ethernet (FCoCEE), IBM's re-entrance into the ethernet switch market has drawn a lot of interest.

• The [IBM Ethernet Switch r- series] offers 4-slot, 8-slot, 16-slot, and 32-slot models. Each slot can handle either 16 10GbE ports, or 48 1GbE ports. This means up to 1,536 ports.
• The [c-series] now offers a 24-port model. This is either 24 copper and 4 fiber optic, or 24 fiber optic. The "hybrid fiber" SFP fiber optic can handle either single or multi-mode, eliminating the need to commit to one or the other, providing greater data center flexibility.
• The [IBM Ethernet Switch B24X] offers 24 fiber optic (that can handle 10GbE or 1GbE) and 4 copper (10/100/1000 MbE RJ45) ports.

Storage Optimization and Integration Services

[IBM Storage Optimization and Integration Services] are available. IBM service consultants use IBM's own Storage Enterprise Resource Planner (SERP) software to evaluate your environment and provide recommendations on how to improve your information infrastructure. This can be especially helpful if you are looking at deploying server virtualization like VMware or Hyper-V.

As people look towards deploying a dynamic infrastructure, these new offerings can be a smart fit.

technorati tags: IBM, DS5020, EXP520, DS-RSM, iSCSI, FCoE, FCoCEE, B04R, B08R, B16R, B32R, B24C, B24X, GbE, 10GbE, SFP, Hybrid Fiber, SERP, VMware, Hyper-V