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Abstract
Introduction
IBM Storage Ceph is software-defined storage that provides block, file and object storage from a single software-defined solution. It is highly scalable and flexible storage software built on industry-standard x86 server hardware which makes it very cost effective as an enterprise storage platform. To illustrate the potential total cost of ownership (TCO) savings of IBM Storage Ceph, below is an example of an achievable 5-year TCO savings based on IBM’s anecdotal experience with our clients.
Content
Client challenge
Many large global companies struggle with storing data across dozens of clusters worldwide. Their traditional NAS system is often difficult to expand, secure and manage while vendor maintenance costs were escalating. Storage efficiency was driven lower by local data sovereignty requirements while management time was climbing due to poor automation tools that could not allocate new users or capacity automatically.
Client solution
IT leaders need a scalable and cost-efficient global storage platform for over 100 petabytes of unstructured data that can deliver worldwide access to a variety of modern regional applications. Global data centers are often distributed across locations in the major continents, for example, Atlanta GA USA and the United Kingdom. Utilizing the open standard S3 APIs of IBM Storage Ceph, clients can significantly reduce the integration and management time of traditional NAS solutions. The extensive automation tools available in IBM Storage Ceph further decreased the management time while improving the user experience. Finally, having a single software-defined platform to maintain and build internal expertise across block, file, and object workloads secures a low TCO for future block workloads.
Client TCO assumptions
The following assumptions are entered into the IBM Storage Ceph TCO Calculator:
The global data storage market size was valued at USD 186.75 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow from USD 218.33 billion in 2024 to USD 774.00 billion by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 17% during the forecast period (2024-2032)
Source: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/data-storage-market-102991
The list price of the IBM Storage Ready Node above is $193590.
Monthly hardware maintenance = $84 and includes HDD repair cost (2.6% of 5-year hardware cost or 0.52% per year)
Installation services cost = $18,185
The list price of the IBM Storage Ceph software = $158,400/terabyte
Each storage administrator at a typical IBM client manages approximately 50 petabytes of data.
Atlanta area paid an average of 11.9 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for electricity
Source: https://www.bls.gov/regions/southeast/news-release/averageenergyprices_atlanta.htm
2024 UK electricity cost was £7.40 per kW per day which is $0.39 per kilowatt hour
Average cost of electricity across US and UK,= $0.254 per kilowatt hour
Cooling & Light = 68%
Source: 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report
USA Employer Costs for Employee Compensation for private Information industry workers = $76.71/hour = $160K
Source = US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Average system administrators' salary in the UK GBP = 42K/year = US$51K/year
Source: ITshifting
UK employer costs include NIC and pensions for a total of 16.8% (13.8%+3%)
Fully burdened employer cost for UK professional = $51K/(1-0.168) = $61K
Global average employer cost across US and UK= ($160+61)/2 = $111K
Data center rental costs per month in Atlanta = $75*42 U/rack = $3150/month
https://www.dscga.com/colocation-pricing-the-definitive-guide-on-what-to-expect-2019-report/
Data center rental costs per month per rack in the UK = $3410/12 = $284/month
https://www.servercolocation.uk/collections/home-packages/products/full-rack
Global average data center rental per month across US and UK= ($284+3150)/2 = $ 1717
Client TCO results
Based on the client TCO assumptions above, the IBM Storage Ceph TCO Calculator will produce the following output:
In summary, the transition from the client’s traditional NAS solution to IBM Storage Ceph reduced the client’s 5-year TCO by 66%.
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February 2025
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Modified date:
28 February 2025
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ibm17184593