IBM Shows off Speedy SSD Array

By Greg McNevin

September 1, 2008: Within the next 12 months IBM is hoping to introduce a new, high-performance solid state storage system that it claims is many times faster than current storage arrays.

Codenamed Project Quicksilver, the technology is not so much a hardware breakthrough, but rather a combination of a new controller for flash memory cards and software capable of pushing every last bit of performance out of the hardware.

The system IBM has build to showcase the tech is a 4.1 terabyte rack of solid state disk (SSD) storage that can achieve a sustained data transfer rate of upwards of 1 million IOPS, and do it with a response rate of under 1 millisecond.

IBM says that the new system is 250% faster than a traditional disk-drive storage system, offers one-twentieth of the response time, and does it with 55 percent less cooling and power in one-fifth of the floor space. However, right now the company says it is focussing on getting the system sorted rather than a performance crown.

“Right now we have a screaming [fast] system, but there's more work to be done in terms of long-term reliability and integration with systems applications,” Charlie Andrews, director of product marketing for IBM systems storage told cNet.com. “We don't want to get distracted with 'push the hardware.' We want to focus on the solution piece first.”

“Performance improvements of this magnitude can have profound implications for business, allowing two to three times the work to complete in a given time frame for classic workloads,” said IBM.

Comment on this story