Johannesburg, 27 Mar 2014
Getting actionable insights from rapidly proliferating data volumes is challenging enterprise architectures, says Bevan Lock, PureFlex Product Manager at IBM South Africa.
Speaking at a media briefing on IBM's new X6 solutions for analytics, database and cloud in Johannesburg, Lock said enterprises dependant on databases, ERP, big data analytics and virtualisation for their future success needed to look to new ways of integrating and managing their IT systems, for greater cost efficiencies, optimised performance, agility and faster time to market on innovations. Now, he said, the enterprise systems must work holistically, in an agile way, and at a lower total cost of ownership, to deliver faster time to innovation, and instant decision-making.
To meet these changing market needs, IBM has launched new solutions for its X6 architecture for analytics, database and cloud deployment, including IBM System x Solution for DB2 with BLU Acceleration on X6 for accelerating analytics, IBM System x Solution for SAP HANA on X6 for analytics, and System x Solution for VMware vCloud Suite on X6 for infrastructure-as-a-service capabilities.
"Performance, availability, response time and return on investment are now critical to business, and these enhancements deliver," he said.
Featuring an industry-first integrated flash storage for high performance, a modular design for long life cycles to help reduce costs, and improved resiliency for increased uptime, the X6 system architecture is specifically designed to provide new levels of performance and resiliency for enterprise applications.
For memory-hungry applications, X6 delivers three times the scalable memory of current competitors' and IBM x86-based systems to support cloud and analytics. Its integrated eXFlash memory-channel storage provides up to 12.8 terabytes of ultrafast flash storage close to the processor, increasing application performance by providing the lowest system write latency available, essential for analytics applications.
X6 can provide significantly lower latency for database operations, which can lower licensing costs and reduce storage costs by reducing or eliminating the need for external SAN/NAS storage units. In addition, its modular, scalable design supports multiple generations of CPUs and can reduce acquisition costs, up to 28% in comparison to one competitive offering. X6 provides stability and flexibility through forthcoming technology developments, allowing users to scale up now and upgrade efficiently in the future.
New solutions for analytics, database and cloud deployments include IBM System x Solution for DB2 with BLU Acceleration on X6 for accelerating analytics, IBM System x Solution for SAP HANA on X6 for analytics, and System x Solution for VMware vCloud Suite on X6 for infrastructure-as-a-service capabilities.
"As enterprises seek faster, more agile and more resilient systems, we believe the solution lies in a modular architecture designed to deliver improved performance and reduced complexity and cost," said Lock. "The X6 modules, or 'books' allow for the replacement of 'books' for upgrades on the fly, simplified management and higher levels of availability. This modularity is resonating with local customers, who see it as a means to extend the system life cycle in a cost efficient way."
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