Overview - IBM System x 3.5-inch 7200 rpm 6 Gbps and 12 Gbps 512e NL SAS G2 Hot-Swap hard drives and SEDs

Content

Planned availability dates

October 24, 2014

Overview

As the newest additions to the IBM System x family of 3.5-inch NL SAS hard drives and NL SAS SEDs, the 7,200 rpm, 6 Gbps and 12 Gbps 3.5-inch hot-swap drives offer the highest-density drive options and provide a broad selection of choices to satisfy a wide range of applications. The drives are 512 emulation (512e) hard drives and SEDs, a type of Advanced Format drive that is a new technology for increasing drive capacities while maintaining data integrity. These new drives are positioned at the top of the IBM NL SAS hard drive line.

The new 7,200 rpm 6 Gbps and 12 Gbps NL SAS drives are offered in a 3.5-inch form factor. The NL SAS drives are available as hot-swap versions.

The SED is designed to reduce the vulnerability of data at rest to potentially costly exposures of proprietary data resulting from hard drives being stolen, misplaced, or improperly disposed.

Key features and benefits include:

•Increased bandwidth. NL SAS hard drive/SEDs support 12 Gbps link rates.
•Higher density. 512e NL SAS drives meet client requirements for larger capacities - up to 6 TB.
•RoHS compliance. 7,200 rpm 3.5-inch NL SAS hard drives drives are RoHS compliant.

•Reliability. Outstanding reliability enables operation in RAID environments without compromising application performance or availability.

•Security. The self encrypting drives (SEDs) include drive-level AES 256 encryption. These drives are compatible with Security Key Lifecycle Manager (SKLM) for System x, which offers centralized, automated and simple encryption key management of SEDs in local and distributed System x environments.

You can increase your storage and data management effectiveness when you install these new high-density SAS drives in your IBM System x configurations.

Performance characteristics for the 2 TB, 4 TB, and 6 TB drives include:

•Formatted capacity of 2,000,000 MB, 4,000,000 MB and 6,000,000 MB.

•Drive-to-host interface that supports up to 12.0 Gbps burst rate in NL SAS drives. 12.0 Gbps burst rate NL SAS performance is possible when used on a System x server with 12 Gbps devices and infrastructure.

•Drive media to buffer interface that supports sustained interface data transfers of up to 194 MiB per second average.

•Spindle speed of 7,200 rpm.

•Hot-swap capability for NL SAS drives.

•SAS interface.

For optimal performance with 512e drives, the host system software stack must be 512e aware. For more information, reference IBM's Advanced Format Redpaper at http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/redp5119.html
Reliability

•NL SAS compliance enables these hard drives and SEDs to connect directly to selected System x systems.

•S.M.A.R.T. allows software utilities to alert you of certain impending drive failures so replacements can be made before a problem occurs.

•Rigorous testing through the ServerProven program instills confidence that your storage subsystem(2) is compatible and will function reliably.

•These hard drive and SED drives include a one-year, limited warranty(1).

At a glance

IBM 2 TB, 4 TB, and 6 TB 7,200 rpm 6 Gbps and 12 Gbps 3.5-inch hot-swap NL SAS hard disk drives (hard drive) and self-encrypting drives (SED) can provide the performance required for extensive storage capacity while providing the flexibility of hot-swap. These new drives are 512 emulation (512e), a type of Advanced Format drive, which is a new technology for increasing drive capacities while maintaining data integrity. All NL SAS drives are RoHS compliant.

hard drive features include:

• 7,200 rpm hard drives deliver NL SAS hard drive reliability and largest capacity performance in the IBM hard drive family.
• NL SAS drive-to-host interface supports up to 12.0 Gbps burst rate, which can be achieved when the drive is used on a System x server with 12 Gbps devices and infrastructure.
• 3.5-inch, slim-line form factor optimizes storage capacity
• Software utilities allow for Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) to alert you of certain impending drive failures so that replacements can be made.
• Hot-swap versions of the IBM NL SAS 3.5-inch hard drives are available.
• One-year warranty is included.
• For optimal performance with 512e drives, the host system software stack must be 512e aware. Note. For more information, reference IBM's Advanced Format Redpaper at http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/redp5119.html

SED features include:

• Drive-level AES 256 encryption
• Safeguard against costly security breaches and exposure of proprietary data if a hard drive is stolen or lost
• Rich security options to help ensure compliancy with data security, information disclosure, and privacy regulations for data at rest
• Ability to securely erase data for disk disposition, redeployment, or service calls
• Encryption functionality (supported when used in conjunction with supported ServeRAID controllers and optional Advance Feature Keys)
• MegaRAID Management Suite (MSM), which offers a quick and simple configuration path to disk encryption and also assists with local key management
• Compatible with Security Key Lifecycle Manager (SKLM) for System x, which offers centralized, automated and simple encryption key management of SEDs in local and distributed System x environments.

Key Prerequisites

IBM System x system with SAS capability. For optimal 12 Gbps NL SAS performance, an IBM System x system with 12 Gbps devices and infrastructure is required.

Part number information

Warranty

1 Year limited - customer replaceable unit (CRU).

compatibility

For latest compatibility information, visit

http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/info/x86servers/serverproven/compat/us/

 Note: Some configurations may not be compatible.

Limitations

Some operating system limitations have been found to exist when using drives with capacities greater than 2.2 TB in JBOD (just a bunch of disks) configurations on 6 Gbps controllers. With earlier release versions of some operating systems, the boot drive will have to be 2 TB, or smaller. However, those used as data drives may utilize the larger-capacity drives.

For optimal performance with 512e drives, the host system software stack must be 512e aware. For more information, reference IBM's Advanced Format Redpaper at http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/redp5119.html

Physical Specifications

IBM 7200 rpm NL SAS 3.5-inch 512e hard drivess and SEDs

Approximate shipping dimensions and weight:

• Approximate height: 95.3 mm (3.75 in.)
• Approximate width: 194 mm 7.64 in.)
• Approximate depth: 257 mm (10.12 in.)
• Approximate weight: 1780 g (3.92 lb)- 2TB 1850 g (4.07 lb)- 4TB 1950 g (4.30 lb)- 6TB