IBM launches new mid-range storage array
DS5020 Express system offers faster connectivity
By Lucas Mearian | Computerworld US | Published: 06:50, 26 August 2009
IBM has announced a new storage array, the System Storage DS5020 Express, which will support all current IBM premium features. These include partitioning, FlashCopy for point-in-time copies of logical volumes or data sets, VolumeCopy for data migration between arrays and enhanced remote mirroring for disaster recovery and business continuity applications, providing enterprise-class storage capabilities to for mid-sized organisations.
The System Storage DS5020 Express array comes with four 8Gbit/sFibre Channel ports along with four additional ports that can be either Fibre Channel or 1Gbit/s iSCSI, and supports up to 112 drives with EXP520 expansion units. Drive options include high-end Fibre Channel disk, self-encrypting Fibre Channel drives, and higher-capacity, lower performance serial ATA drives.
The company said the new array, available worldwide from 4 September, is targeted at mid-size companies in the the retail, health care, insurance, manufacturing and other industries along with government agencies dealing with the need to securely analyse analysing an ever-increasing flow of data.
IBM said that capacity can be added to the new storage array with no downtime to applications.
The system also supports a variety of virtualisation technologies, including IBM's PowerVM, Microsoft's 2008 Hyper-V and vSphere 4 from VMware.
"Mid-sized businesses are no different than their larger counterparts, as they are facing relentless data growth and shrinking budgets, which is why they're seeking storage solutions that will help reduce costs through efficiencies," said Bob Cancilla, IBM's vice president, disk systems. "The IBM System Storage DS5020 Express addresses those needs, while its full-disk encryption also makes it ideal for hosting business-critical applications."
