Storwize products

WWR2 : IBM Storage Virtualize family : Storwize products

Storwize products

Each of the IBM Storwize systems are virtualizing RAID storage systems. This set of systems includes the following device types:

▪V5000E (V5010E LFF/SFF; V5030E LFF/SFF)

▪V5000 (V5010 LFF/SFF; V5020 LFF/SFF; V5030 LFF/SFF; V5030F SFF; V5100F SFF)

▪V7000 Gen 3 and Gen 2

These devices offer a range of performance scalability and functional capabilities, which are summarized in this section.

Table 27 Orientation information for Storwize devices

Storwize device	Orientation information¹
V5000E and V5000	The IBM Storwize V5000E and V5000 are modular entry-level and midrange storage solution. They include the capability to virtualize their own internal Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) storage and existing external Storage Area Network (SAN)-attached storage. (Only the Storwize V5030 is capable to virtualize external SAN devices). The IBM Storwize V5000E and V5000 address the block storage requirements of small and midsize organizations. The IBM Storwize V5000 consists of one 2U control enclosure and, optionally, up to 10 2U expansion enclosures on the Storwize V5010 and Storwize V5020 systems and up to 20 2U expansion enclosures on the Storwize V5030 systems. The Storwize V5030 systems are connected by serial-attached Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) (SAS) cables that make up one system that is called an I/O group. With the Storwize V5030 systems, two I/O groups can be connected to form a cluster, which provides a maximum of two control enclosures and 40 expansion enclosures. With the High Density expansion drawers, you can attach up to 16 expansion enclosures to a cluster.
V7000	The IBM Storwize V7000 Gen3 (V7000 NVMe; V7000 SSF; V7000F SFF) consists of a set of drive enclosures. Control enclosures contain disk drives and two nodes (an I/O group), which are attached to the SAN fabric or 10-gigabit Ethernet (GbE) fast Ethernet. Expansion enclosures contain drives and are attached to control enclosures. The simplest use of the IBM Storwize V7000 Gen3 is as a traditional RAID subsystem. The internal drives are configured into RAID arrays, and virtual disks are created from those arrays. With IBM Storage Virtualize software, this usage is extended by the deployment of distributed RAID arrays, which shrink the reconstruction time of failed drives. IBM Storwize V7000 Gen3 supports spinning disks and drives. When different tiers are used, the IBM Storwize V7000 uses IBM Easy Tier to automatically place volume hot spots on better-performing storage. Even without the Easy Tier enabled, Storage pool balancing is available and enabled by default to distribute workload equally across all MDisks in that tier.

Storwize device

Orientation information¹

V5000E and V5000

The IBM Storwize V5000E and V5000 are modular entry-level and midrange storage solution. They include the capability to virtualize their own internal Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) storage and existing external Storage Area Network (SAN)-attached storage. (Only the Storwize V5030 is capable to virtualize external SAN devices).

The IBM Storwize V5000E and V5000 address the block storage requirements of small and midsize organizations. The IBM Storwize V5000 consists of one 2U control enclosure and, optionally, up to 10 2U expansion enclosures on the Storwize V5010 and Storwize V5020 systems and up to 20 2U expansion enclosures on the Storwize V5030 systems. The Storwize V5030 systems are connected by serial-attached Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) (SAS) cables that make up one system that is called an I/O group.

With the Storwize V5030 systems, two I/O groups can be connected to form a cluster, which provides a maximum of two control enclosures and 40 expansion enclosures. With the High Density expansion drawers, you can attach up to 16 expansion enclosures to a cluster.

V7000

The IBM Storwize V7000 Gen3 (V7000 NVMe; V7000 SSF; V7000F SFF) consists of a set of drive enclosures. Control enclosures contain disk drives and two nodes (an I/O group), which are attached to the SAN fabric or 10-gigabit Ethernet (GbE) fast Ethernet. Expansion enclosures contain drives and are attached to control enclosures.

The simplest use of the IBM Storwize V7000 Gen3 is as a traditional RAID subsystem. The internal drives are configured into RAID arrays, and virtual disks are created from those arrays. With IBM Storage Virtualize software, this usage is extended by the deployment of distributed RAID arrays, which shrink the reconstruction time of failed drives.

IBM Storwize V7000 Gen3 supports spinning disks and drives. When different tiers are used, the IBM Storwize V7000 uses IBM Easy Tier to automatically place volume hot spots on better-performing storage. Even without the Easy Tier enabled, Storage pool balancing is available and enabled by default to distribute workload equally across all MDisks in that tier.

¹ To access further information on the IBM Storwize FS5000, see “Accessing technical specifications for IBM Storage Virtualize devices”.