IBM to Invest $1 Billion in Flash Storage R&D

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At an event in New York, IBM unveiled its plan to invest $1 billion dollars in research of Flash solid state drive (SSD) technology, and it announced a new line of storage appliances called “FlashSystem.” IBM argued that Flash technology has reached the “tipping point” where it makes economic sense to replace spinning disk hard drives with faster, more reliable Flash.

ZDNet’s Larry Dignan reported, “IBM on Thursday outlined its Flash storage plan, which includes a $1 billion investment in research and development and a series of systems that will use solid state drives. With the move, Big Blue is the latest on the bandwagon to push Flash into the data centers. Developments like big data are pushing Flash storage mainstream in the enterprise because companies need to tap into so-called hot data — information that needs to be used real-time. Fusion-io, EMC, NetApp and other storage players have also formulated Flash storage strategies. At an event in New York, IBM’s Steve Mills, head of IBM’s software and systems division, said Flash is at a key tipping point and IT will see all-solid state data centers sooner than later.”

eWeek quote IBM’s Ed Walsh, who said, “We’re announcing three things. We’re announcing a $1 billion investment in software and systems across IBM, 12 new Centers of Competency around flash and a new line of products called IBM FlashSystem.”

TechSpot’s Shawn Knight explained, “Solid state technology is able to process data much faster and more reliably than traditional hard drives with mechanical internals. IBM systems and technology group general manager Ambuj Goyal said the economics and performance of flash storage are now at a point where the technology can have a revolutionary impact on enterprise, especially with transaction-intensive applications.”

InformationWeek’s Doug Henschen added, “IBM on Thursday made the case that flash technology has reached an economic tipping point such that it’s already cheaper than most spinning disks when you take into account power, cooling, floor space and software costs. IBM also argued that by adding all-flash storage arrays as an option within storage area networks — a move that involves little more than plugging in racks — organizations can realize dramatic improvements in both application and database performance without changes to software.”