Organizations of all sizes face the challenge of managing massive volumes of increasingly valuable data. But storing this data can be costly, and extracting value from the data is becoming more difficult. IT organizations have limited resources, but must stay responsive to dynamic environments and act quickly to consolidate, simplify, and optimize their IT infrastructures. IBM® FlashSystem 5010 and FlashSystem 5030 systems provide a smarter solution that is affordable, easy to use, and self-optimizing, which enables organizations to overcome these storage challenges. The IBM FlashSystem® 5010 and FlashSystem 5030 deliver efficient, entry-level configurations that are designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses. Designed to provide organizations with the ability to consolidate and share data at an affordable price, the system offers advanced software capabilities that are found in more expensive systems. This IBM Redbooks® publication is intended for pre-sales and post-sales technical support professionals and storage administrators. It applies to the IBM FlashSystem 5010 and FlashSystem 5030 and IBM Spectrum® Virtualize V8.3.1. This edition applies to IBM Spectrum Virtualize V8.3.1 and the associated hardware and software detailed within. Screen captures that are included within this book might differ from the generally available (GA) version because parts of this book were written with pre-GA code. On February 11, 2020, IBM announced that it was simplifying its portfolio. This book was written by using previous models of the product line before the simplification; however, most of the general principles apply. If you are in any doubt as to their applicability, work with your local IBM representative.

VersaStack, an IBM® and Cisco integrated infrastructure solution, combines computing, networking, and storage into a single integrated system. It combines the Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS) Integrated Infrastructure with IBM Spectrum VirtualizeTM, which includes IBM FlashSystem® storage offerings, for quick deployment and rapid time to value for the implementation of modern infrastructures. This IBM Redbooks® publication covers the preferred practices for implementing a VersaStack Solution with IBM FlashSystem 5030, Cisco UCS Mini, Hyper-V 2016, and Microsoft SQL Server. Cisco UCS Mini is optimized for branch and remote offices, point-of-sale locations, and smaller IT environments. It is the ideal solution for customers who need fewer servers but still want the comprehensive management capabilities provided by Cisco UCS Manager. The IBM FlashSystem 5030 delivers efficient, entry-level configurations that are designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses. Designed to provide organizations with the ability to consolidate and share data at an affordable price, the IBM FlashSystem 5030 offers advanced software capabilities such as clustering, IBM Easy Tier®, replication and snapshots that are found in more expensive systems. This book is intended for pre-sales and post-sales technical support professionals and storage administrators who are tasked with deploying a VersaStack solution with Hyper-V 2016 and Microsoft SQL Server.

This IBM Redbooks publication captures several of the preferred practices and describes the performance gains that can be achieved by implementing the IBM FlashSystem® products. These practices are based on field experience. This book highlights configuration guidelines and preferred practices for the storage area network (SAN) topology, clustered system, back-end storage, storage pools and managed disks, volumes, Remote Copy services, and hosts. It explains how you can optimize disk performance with the IBM System Storage Easy Tier® function. It also provides preferred practices for monitoring, maintaining, and troubleshooting. This book is intended for experienced storage, SAN, IBM FlashSystem, SAN Volume Controller, and IBM Storwize® administrators and technicians. Understanding this book requires advanced knowledge of these environments.

Organizations of all sizes face the challenge of managing massive volumes of increasingly valuable data. But storing this data can be costly, and extracting value from the data is becoming more difficult. IT organizations have limited resources but must stay responsive to dynamic environments and act quickly to consolidate, simplify, and optimize their IT infrastructures. The IBM® Storwize® V5000 Gen2 system provides a smarter solution that is affordable, easy to use, and self-optimizing, which enables organizations to overcome these storage challenges. The Storwize V5000 Gen2 delivers efficient, entry-level configurations that are designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses. Designed to provide organizations with the ability to consolidate and share data at an affordable price, the Storwize V5000 Gen2 offers advanced software capabilities that are found in more expensive systems. This IBM Redbooks® publication is intended for pre-sales and post-sales technical support professionals and storage administrators. It applies to the Storwize V5030, V5020, and V5010, and to IBM Spectrum VirtualizeTM V8.2.1.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication captures several of the preferred practices and describes the performance gains that can be achieved by implementing the IBM FlashSystem® products that are powered by IBM Spectrum® Virtualize Version 8.4.2. These practices are based on field experience. This book highlights configuration guidelines and preferred practices for the storage area network (SAN) topology, clustered system, back-end storage, storage pools and managed disks, volumes, Remote Copy services, and hosts. It explains how you can optimize disk performance with the IBM System Storage Easy Tier® function. It also provides preferred practices for monitoring, maintaining, and troubleshooting. This book is intended for experienced storage, SAN, IBM FlashSystem, SAN Volume Controller, and IBM Storwize® administrators and technicians. Understanding this book requires advanced knowledge of these environments.

Continuing its commitment to developing and delivering industry-leading storage technologies, IBM® introduces the IBM FlashSystem® solution that is powered by IBM Spectrum® Virtualize V8.3.1. This innovative storage offering delivers essential storage efficiency technologies and exceptional ease of use and performance, all integrated into a compact, modular design that is offered at a competitive, midrange price. The solution incorporates some of the top IBM technologies that are typically found only in enterprise-class storage systems, which raises the standard for storage efficiency in midrange disk systems. This cutting-edge storage system extends the comprehensive storage portfolio from IBM and can help change the way organizations address the ongoing information explosion. This IBM Redbooks® publication introduces the features and functions of an IBM Spectrum Virtualize V8.3.1 system through several examples. This book is aimed at pre-sales and post-sales technical support and marketing and storage administrators. It helps you understand the architecture, how to implement it, and how to take advantage of its industry-leading functions and features. Applicability: This edition applies to IBM Spectrum Virtualize V8.3.1 and the associated hardware and software that is detailed within. The screen captures included within this book might differ from the generally available (GA) version because parts of this book were written with pre-GA code. On 11 February 2020, IBM announced that it was simplifying its portfolio. This book was written by using previous models of the product line before the simplification; however, most of the general principles apply. If you are in any doubt as to their applicability, contact your local IBM representative. IBM Knowledge Center: In this book we provide links to Knowledge Center and a description of the relevant section that provides more information. Our starting point is the IBM FlashSystem 9200 family page, and the reader may have to select the product that applies to their environment.

Updated March 2019 - See Appendix B: IBM FlashSystem V9000 FlashCore Forever The success or failure of businesses often depends on how well organizations use their data assets for competitive advantage. Deeper insights from data require better information technology. As organizations modernize their IT infrastructure to boost innovation rather than limit it, they need a data storage system that can keep pace with several areas that affect your business: Highly virtualized environments Cloud computing Mobile and social systems of engagement In-depth, real-time analytics Making the correct decision on storage investment is critical. Organizations must have enough storage performance and agility to innovate when they need to implement cloud-based IT services, deploy virtual desktop infrastructure, enhance fraud detection, and use new analytics capabilities. At the same time, future storage investments must lower IT infrastructure costs while helping organizations to derive the greatest possible value from their data assets. The IBM® FlashSystem V9000 is the premier, fully integrated, Tier 1, all-flash offering from IBM. It has changed the economics of today's data center by eliminating storage bottlenecks. Its software-defined storage features simplify data management, improve data security, and preserve your investments in storage. The IBM FlashSystem® V9000 SAS expansion enclosures provide new tiering options with read-intensive SSDs or nearline SAS HDDs. IBM FlashSystem V9000 includes IBM FlashCore® technology and advanced software-defined storage available in one solution in a compact 6U form factor. IBM FlashSystem V9000 improves business application availability. It delivers greater resource utilization so you can get the most from your storage resources, and achieve a simpler, more scalable, and cost-efficient IT Infrastructure. This IBM Redbooks® publication provides information about IBM FlashSystem V9000 Software V8.1. It describes the core product architecture, software, hardware, and implementation, and provides hints and tips. The underlying basic hardware and software architecture and features of the IBM FlashSystem V9000 AC3 control enclosure and on IBM Spectrum Virtualize 8.1 software are described in these publications: Implementing IBM FlashSystem 900 Model AE3, SG24-8414 Implementing the IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller V7.4, SG24-7933 Using IBM FlashSystem V9000 software functions, management tools, and interoperability combines the performance of IBM FlashSystem architecture with the advanced functions of software-defined storage to deliver performance, efficiency, and functions that meet the needs of enterprise workloads that demand IBM MicroLatency® response time. This book offers IBM FlashSystem V9000 scalability concepts and guidelines for planning, installing, and configuring, which can help environments scale up and out to add more flash capacity and expand virtualized systems. Port utilization methodologies are provided to help you maximize the full potential of IBM FlashSystem V9000 performance and low latency in your scalable environment. This book is intended for pre-sales and post-sales technical support professionals, storage administrators, and anyone who wants to understand how to implement this exciting technology.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication provides an introduction and overview of the latest products in the IBM FlashSystem® 5000 Family, including their hardware and software features.

This IBM® RedpaperTM publication provides a broad understanding of IBM Spectrum VirtualizeTM software only and how it fits into to the IBM SAN Volume Control and IBM Storwize® families. It also provides use cases for cloud, Cloud Service Provider (CSP), and Managed Service Provider (MSP) implementations. This publication helps storage and networking administrators install, tailor, and configure IBM Spectrum Virtualize software only. It also provides a detailed description of supported hardware and troubleshooting tips. In April 2017, this paper was updated to include information about Version 7.8.1 and Supermicro SYS-2028U-TRTP+ server implementation.