IBM FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R Ba5lecards
versus HP 3PAR, EMC XtremIO, NetApp SolidFire, InfiniDAT InfiniBox, PureStorage
FlashArray
Family comparison
Restricted distribution. For use by IBM and IBM business partners, education only. Not intended for distribution to third parties Updated 4/10/2017 1
FlashSystem A9000 and A9000 – Landscape Topic ExplanaKon
Challenges in Customer Environments
Ø Enterprise: v Get more producKvity from exisKng IT investment v Accelerate applicaKons: Databases for transacKon processing,
virtual machines v Meet enterprise requirements for business conKnuity and
protecKon. Ø Build private or service provider clouds with high-‐performance storage
and the ability to scale. Storage required Ø Performance-‐demanding block storage for enterprise
Ø Ability to scale with grid controllers and capacity seamlessly is required. Typical usages cited by customers
Ø High-‐performance, highly reliable block storage systems with low latency.
Ø CapabiliKes for data protecKon and business conKnuity for most data Ø Reliable storage building blocks with high performance
FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R Opportunity
Ø Performance for block storage to enable greater value from the overall system.
Ø Greater producKvity and flexibility for IT and overall economic gain. Ø High-‐performance, mature and reliable building block for cloud storage
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IBM FlashSystem A9000 versus PureStorage FlashArray //m and //x
Comparison – FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R
Restricted distribution. For use by IBM and IBM business partners, education only. Not intended for distribution to third parties Updated 4/10/2017 3
IBM FlashSystem A9000 versus PureStorage
ENTERPRISE CUSTOMER CHALLENGES:
PureStorage PosiKoning
SALES BATTLE CARD
Large enterprise with A9000R and building block for clouds using A9000
Performance Ø Extreme performance – IOPs Ø Latency 250μs Ø Scalable performance with A9000R Ø MulMple workloads simultaneously
Capacity Ø DeduplicaMon & Compression Ø A9000R scale to 6 Flash enclosures
Management Ø Next generaMon GUI advances Ø 144 system with Hyper-‐Scale
Resiliency Ø HyperSwap (2H2016) acMve-‐acMve
business conMnuity across metro distances, high availability with mulMple grid controllers
Ø Advanced data protecMon features with mature Accelerate so\ware
Economic Value Ø Greater acceleraMon with flash and
mulMple grid controllers – more value from deployments
Old-‐style dual controller – not a building block for clouds
Performance Ø Solid-‐state performance with
mulMple models for different levels, <1ms response Mme, 320K IOPs
Ø 4x performance with NVMe
Capacity Ø DeduplicaMon and compression to
increase effecMve capacity, pabern removal, post-‐storage 2nd pass
Management Ø Pure1 – cloud-‐based analysis and
reporMng
Resiliency Ø Snapshots Ø Asynchronous periodic remote
replicaMon
Economic Value Ø Solid state performance
acceleraMon for improved systems efficiency
Ø Evergreen Storage guarantee – transparent upgrade controllers forever with service contract
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ENTERPRISE CUSTOMER CHALLENGES:
Ø Accelerate applicaMons and server virtualizaMon to meet increasing demands
Ø Increase efficiency of storage environment by improving:
Ø Performance Ø Capacity uMlizaMon Ø AdministraMon – including
data protecMon
Ø Maximize value from economic investment in storage
Ø Building of clouds with stable, supported systems
ENTERPRISE CUSTOMER CHALLENGES:
FlashSystem A9000 & A9000R Value
CompeKtor Quick Spec Sheet – PureStorage
System CharacterisKcs PureStorage FlashArray IBM FlashSystem
Models //m20, //m50, //m70, //x70 A9000 A9000R
Number of Controllers 2 3 4 -‐ 12
Solid State Capacity Max (Raw) 10, 80, 176, 512 TB 3Q17 105.6 TB raw 300TB effecMve
633.6 TB raw 1.8 PB max
Warranty ConMnuous with support contract 7 years on MicroLatency Modules
SSD, PCIe Cards, or Flash modules
512 GB, 1, 2, 3.84 TB SSDs with SAS 2.2, 9.1, 18.3 TB NVMe DirectFlash
modules MicroLatency Flash Modules
Device ProtecKon type / Levels RAID 6 (dual parity RAID 3D) VSR Flash RAID
Interfaces 16 Gb/s Fibre Channel
10 Gb/s iSCSI 16 Gb/s FC 10 Gb/s iSCSI
16 Gb/s FC 10 Gb/s iSCSI
Redundant hot swap Yes Yes HA Type AcMve / Passive Act / Act / Act All acMve Data Cache Max -‐ per node 256 / 512 / 1,024 GB DRAM, 2 or 4
TB Mirrored NVRAM 192 GB 384 GB
EncrypKon Yes -‐ Inline Inline – AES-‐256 Snapshots Writeable, capacity limited number RoW – no limit
Data reducKon Inline deduplicaMon and
compression, pabern removal, 2nd pass post-‐storage deduplicaMon
Inline deduplicaMon and compression
Remote replicaKon Asynchronous Periodic, No
Synchronous Synchronous and asynchronous Updated 4/10/2017 5
IBM FlashSystem A9000 versus PureStorage
VPLEX SVC
IBM FlashSystem PureStorage FlashArray
Ø Simplicity: New, more advanced yet simple management with elegant GUI. Easy installaMon and configuraMon
Ø Appliance simplicity: Simple with few opMons indicates lack of enterprise features such as synchronous replicaMon, business conMnuity.
Ø Performance: FlashSystem has extreme performance with beber response Mme for both A9000 and A9000R when compared to the compeMMon. MicroLatency flash modules provide the fastest response Mme for storage
Ø Performance: Limited by one controller able to xfer data. Allows selecMon on both. No scale out Ø But – claims of 4x perf with NVMe
DirectFlash modules Ø Must counter with cost argument or
move to FlashSystem
Ø Data ReducKon: FlashSystem A9000 has inline deduplicaMon & compression with 5:1 reducMon and no performance impact.
Ø Data ReducKon: Inline deduplicaMon and compression with pabern removal and 2nd pass post-‐storage deduplicaMon – must use 2nd pass to keep from impacMng performance with inline.
Ø Data ProtecKon Integrated: Snapshot and remote replicaMon are mature features from Spectrum Accelerate/XIV.
CompeMMve Areas with High Customer Value or Visibility
Ø Data ProtecKon: Policy-‐controlled snapshot is a new implementaMon. Periodic Async remote replicaMon. No sync replicaMon.
FlashArray FlashSystem
A5ack
A5ack
A5ack
Updated 4/10/2017 6
A5ack
IBM FlashSystem versus PureStorage
VPLEX SVC
IBM FlashSystem
CompeMMve Areas with High Customer Value or Visibility
A5ack
A5ack
Defend
A5ack
Ø AnalyKcs and ReporKng: IBM Spectrum Control / Tivoli Storage ProducMvity Center is needed for storage analyMcs. Enterprises may not want operaMonal informaMon in cloud.
Ø Pure1 Cloud-‐based AnalyKcs and ReporKng: Network connected systems conMnuously analyzed with status and reports dynamically available.
Ø Maturity: The FlashSystem A9000 & A9000R come from a mature design with Spectrum Accelerate so\ware. It is a proven, reliable soluMon.
Ø Maturity: PureStorage is a startup company with new so\ware and commodity hardware. ConMnuing to add funcMon and modify hardware configuraMon. QuesMonable financials.
Ø Business ConKnuity: FlashSystem A9000 has HyperSwap (2H2016) for stretched cluster business conMnuity.
Ø No naKve business conKnuity: Not addressed with PureStorage – ignored as if system is for non-‐enterprise environments.
Ø Family Architecture: Common so\ware architecture for A9000 and A9000 with Spectrum Accelerate and XIV. Commitment to conMnued advances.
Ø Disjointed products: Original FlashArray focused on commodity components. Custom NVMe DirectFlash and FlashBlade NAS contradict message.
FlashArray FlashSystem
PureStorage FlashArray Updated 4/10/2017 7
IBM FlashSystem versus PureStorage
VPLEX SVC
IBM FlashSystem
CompeMMve Areas with High Customer Value or Visibility
A5ack
Ø Scale capacity and performance: FlashSystem A9000R -‐ scale out architecture to 12 grid controllers and 6 flash enclosures.
Ø Scale up capacity: PureStorage can scale capacity by adding more SSDs. To increase performance, a different model must be used – up to the largest model.
Ø Physical size: The FlashSystem A9000 is 8U and the A9000R is rack. The A9000R can scale for enterprises.
Ø Physical size: PureStorage base system is 3U but to increase capacity, 2U enclosures must be added. At scale, it is not really that small of a package.
Ø Transparent Technology Update: FlashSystem can scale and support different technologies as they become available. The flash wear guarantee provides long life for FlashSystem.
Ø Evergreen Storage: PureStorage has a clever approach – replacement controllers every 3 years with support contract or new controllers with capacity upgrade.
FlashArray FlashSystem
PureStorage FlashArray
Neutralize
Updated 4/10/2017 8
Neutralize
Ø A9000 as building block for private cloud or service provider.
Ø PureStorage is not building block: No alternaMve offered by PureStorage. A5ack
FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R Decision Makers
IT Director / Manager / Architect – Deep Technical Understanding Ø Technical Drivers -‐ Enterprise
v AcceleraMon of applicaMons and increase in number of virtual servers and desktops supported v Consolidate mulMple workloads to storage system with performance capable of handling increased
random I/O v TransiMon to solid state as primary storage as technical future v Scaling of performance and capacity to meet new requirements
Ø Technical Drivers – Private Clouds and Service Provider v Simplicity of scaling capabiliMes and seamless updaMng of technology v Workload data distribuMon to maximize performance without administraMve effort v Advanced features for data protecMon and disaster recovery – use with new and exisMng environment v EssenMal features of QoS, MulM-‐tenancy, simple administraMon
Ø Important Criteria v Performance – response Mme for transacMons and I/O parallelism v Economics – cost of effecMve capacity: exploiMng data reducMon v Resiliency – meet required availability and business conMnuity for applicaMon usage v Support from vendor v Efficiency – reduce administraMve costs: value in simplicity v Features such as R/W snapshots and replicaMon for protecMon v Ability to scale large to meet potenMal future needs
Updated 4/10/2017 9
FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R Decision Makers
Business Execu<ve / CxO – Business View with Nominal Technical Understanding
Ø Business Drivers – Enterprise v Increased economic value from IT investments – servers, applicaMons, storage v Resiliency for conMnued operaMons / access to informaMon – no down Mme v Rapid deployment to meet demands for capacity and performance and scale to adapt to
increasing requirements
Ø Business Drivers – Private Clouds and Service Providers v Economics in building a cloud or hyper-‐converged environment v Time to delivery – rapid iniMal deployment and addiMons for scaling as needed v Flexible licensing opMons
Ø Important Criteria v Guarantee of non-‐disrupMve operaMons and warranty for systems v Economics – seamlessly scale as capacity and performance demands increase v Long-‐term commitment from vendor – conMnued product advances and support v Low-‐risk soluMon with proven technology v Flexibility in deployment opMons – use in mulMple environments as needed
Updated 4/10/2017 10
QuesMons to Ask the Customer # QuesKon to Ask Why
1 What are your greatest demands on storing and managing informaMon?
This opens the door for a discussion about what issues the customer is facing for storing data. This may be a long and far ranging discussion about the impacts and challenges that IT is facing. This discussion will bring out different areas where FlashSystem can help the customer and may idenMfy other opportuniMes as well.
2 Is your need for enterprise environment or for building a cloud – private or as a service provider?
The A9000 is targeted as a building block for private and service provider clouds. A customer may be wanMng large-‐scale enterprise storage for workload consolidaMon which would fit the A9000R. Asking the quesMon may uncover more than one need and can help frame the conversaMon.
3 Are the requirements for business conMnuity and informaMon availability criMcal to operaMons?
The FlashSystem has enterprise features beyond many of the compeMMve products. Business conMnuity is an important one in the enterprise. HighlighMng the needs will help with disqualifying other compeMMve products.
4 How do you introduce advanced technology into the datacenter?
This quesMon is steering the conversaMon towards moving to use of solid state technology in the FlashSystem as primary storage. The technology evoluMon is underway and many IT operaMons have started or are planning their incorporaMon. The conversaMon starter here is pointed towards how FlashSystem is a risk-‐free way to move along that path.
5 What applicaMon areas are experiencing the greatest increase in demand?
ApplicaMons represent workloads and which ones are increasing is usually the ones that IT is worried about. Finding this out can open the discussion about how FlashSystem can accelerate the applicaMon and provide immediate relief to the customer.
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CompeKKve Engagement Links and Contacts
Subject Maber Expert: TBD TBD WW Porqolio MarkeMng Manager, IBM FlashSystem TBD IBM Techline Compete Center: SSI -‐ to be added PW – to be added IBM CompeMMve Project Office: SSI – to be added
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