IBM Systems and Technology Data Sheet

System Storage

IBM DS8870
Enterprise-class storage delivers flash-optimized performance, industry-leading high availability
We all struggle to manage the exponential growth of data and the increasing complexity of our IT environments. Much of this is the result of the variety of server environments spread across multiple data centers, each typically with a distinct storage platform that must be managed separately. And as the amount and variety of data accelerates, the challenge to manage it, let alone to gain valuable insight from it, further complicates matters. Smarter storage, such as IBM DS8870, can help organizations simplify their storage environments to spend less time managing them and more time exploring ways to exploit data to grow their businesses. Quick and reliable data access is the driving force behind real-time business analytics, and this intelligent, high-end IBM system sets the standard for what an enterprise storage system should be with extraordinary performance, reliability and agility that allows users to make information available exactly where and when its neededeasily and effectively. As the latest model in IBM DS8000 series, DS8870 can bring simplicity to your storage environment with self-optimizing performance for both random and sequential application workloads on an extensive variety of distributed server platforms and the mainframe. And with the agility and automation to manage all these workloads simultaneously, DS8870 can greatly reduce the challenge of managing your increasingly complex storage environment as your business requirements change.

Highlights

Achieve extraordinary input/output operations per second (IOPS) and low response times with IBM POWER7+ controllers Optimize performance with all-flash and hybrid-flash systems for fast transaction processing and real-time operational analytics Deliver extreme system resiliency with full hardware redundancy and advanced business-continuity Maximize performance and costs with new drive options, IBM Easy Tier and other self-optimizing features Consolidate storage with high scalability, automated quality-of-service (QoS) management, self-tuning performance, drive tiering and support for many platforms and application workloads

IBM Systems and Technology Data Sheet

System Storage

The logical choice

To support your most demanding, mission-critical applications, DS8870 combines rock-solid resiliency and intelligent flash performance to deliver consistent sub-millisecond application response times.1 The ability to select from all-flash, hybridf lash or traditional disk configuration options enables users to feel confident about using this agile system to support more workloads. To that end, DS8870 delivers a range of self-tuning featuressuch as intelligent caching algorithms, automated QoS management and advanced storage tiering that can even optimize data placement between itself and the enterprise servers attached to it. DS8870 also boasts world-class high availability and exclusive integration with high-end enterprise servers. This is smarter storage for a smarter planetand for organizations seeking an ideal combination of performance, high availability and agility, DS8870 is the logical choice.

High-end performance
Designed for performance-hungry, mission-critical applications, DS8870 has multiple turbo-charged POWER7+ controllers that can scale from two to 16 processor cores each. These controllers can also support more than 1 terabyte of processor memory for cache performance acceleration. Supplementing these powerful high-end controllers are the purpose-built, front- and back-end controllers that together form the unique three-tiered architecture that helps balance system resources for optimal throughput. Intelligent caching algorithms accelerate performance even more, and with the ability to choose from allf lash and hybrid-flash configurations, users can feel confident that high-end performance will be there when they need it. DS8870 delivers exceptional throughput and extremely low application response times, verified by industry-standard Storage Performance Council (SPC) benchmarks.2 And with intelligent all-flash and hybrid-flash options, DS8870 delivers consistent response times well below one millisecond.1 With its

extraordinary flash performance and extreme high availability, DS8870 can help users make real-time operational analytics a reality. Furthermore, DS8870 delivers exceptional performance for sequential workloads such as large batch processing and database queries such as those driving todays business analytics applications. For the industry-standard SPC-2 benchmark, for example, DS8870 boasts more than 15,000 megabytes per second, a 60 percent increase over its predecessor,2 making DS8870 an ideal platform for analyticsas well as greatly reducing overnight batch windows.

IBM Systems and Technology Data Sheet

System Storage

Flash storage optimization

With options for both all-flash and hybrid-flash systems, users have more flexibility than ever to deploy high-end flash performance however they need it. All-flash systems are ideal for delivering dedicated extreme performance for applications that require it. For environments that support a variety of mixed workloads, such as in private or public clouds, hybrid systems that combine flash and traditional spinning drives might be preferred for a variety of economic and manageability reasons. Hybrid configurations enable consolidation of critical workloads with the flexibility to deliver the right performance exactly where and when it is needed. Intelligent, fifth-generation Easy Tier technology can help optimize application performance dynamically across any DS8870 configuration without requiring administrators to manually tune their applications. For hybrid systems, Easy Tier automates data placement across storage tiers to meet performance objectives at the most reasonable cost by identifying and moving less-frequently accessed data to the most economical drive tier without sacrificing performance. Similarly, frequentlyaccessed data for busy workloads is automatically migrated to f lash storage to ensure lower response times for those applications that need it. Easy Tier also rebalances data automatically within each tier to virtually eliminate hotspots or performance skewing across every tier, including all-flash configurations. This capability also helps when users add or remove capacity since Easy Tier distributes data across the storage pool to automatically maintain balanced performance. The innovative Easy Tier Server function helps boost performance further by caching the hottest, most frequently accessed data to the EXP30 and EXP24 Ultra SSD I/O Drawers on IBM Power servers. The ability to move data closer to the application means data can be read directly

from within the server, which overcomes the network latency associated with even the fastest storage area networks. This coordinated data caching with the server can boost performance by more than five times1 while ensuring data is fully protected with the advanced features users have come to expect from this high-end storage system. The Easy Tier Application feature includes an application programming interface (API) that software developers can use to have their applications direct Easy Tier data placement on DS8870. Through this API, applications can provide guidance to Easy Tier, enabling more effective data placement to meet unique performance requirements for particular applications. Administrators also have the flexibility to assign (pin) application volumes to a particular tier in a hybrid Easy Tier storage pool, effectively overriding the automated data migration feature of Easy Tier. This provides a sensible option for users who want to ensure that certain applications remain on a particular tier to meet performance and/or cost requirements. Users deploying hybrid systems, for instance, can keep the data for their most demanding applications on the flash tier at all times. Easy Tier also provides the flexibility to manually move entire volumes across tiers, to another storage pool or to a different RAID group using the dynamic volume relocation feature. In addition, users can nondisruptively restripe data to change a volumes RAID typefor example, from RAID 5 to RAID 10. Through all these capabilities, Easy Tier offers tremendous flexibility for both single-tier and hybrid systems. DS8000 Storage Tier Advisor Tool can help users easily determine which volumes are likely candidates for Easy Tier optimization by analyzing the performance of the current application workloads. Even without activating the Easy Tier feature on the system, the advisor tool can help identify which volumes in the system can benefit from additional flash capacity, which can

IBM Systems and Technology Data Sheet

System Storage

help prevent unnecessary and costly over-provisioning. The latest version of the advisor tool also provides views and reports that show performance skew and data migration trends for each application volume, which can help ensure the optimal mix of drives for all workloads. These advanced capabilities can help simplify burgeoning storage environments and greatly reduce the amount of time administrators spend tuning servers and storage systems. They enable DS8870 to quickly and easily deliver the high performance and availability required by even the most critical applications.

on System z servers. In terms of high availability, DS8870 delivers advanced integration with IBM HyperSwap and IBM Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex (GDPS), an advanced business-continuity solution based on IBM z/OS Parallel Sysplex. Other examples include DS8870 support for 1 TB Extended Address Volumes and z/OS Discovery and Auto Configuration, which helps administrators simplify management of mainframe environments. This is more than interoperabilitythis is deep integration between server and storage. In addition, DS8870 delivers unique performance and high-availability integration for Power servers running in IBM AIX and IBM i environments. For performance, DS8870 End-to-End I/O Priorities enables host adapters on the storage system to give preferential treatment to higher priority database I/Os with IBM DB2 database software. Another example is IBM DB2 Cooperative Caching, which enables DB2 to send cache management hints to DS8870 for more effective caching and database performance. For example, the server can advise that the data it just accessed is unlikely to be needed again soon, which can free up the DS8870 cache for other workloads. This level of cooperative caching can not only boost performance for critical applications, it can also make more efficient use of expensive cache on the storage system. Easy Tier Server is another feature designed to accelerate application response times by automatically putting data closer to applications running on Power servers in AIX environments. And for high availability, DS8870 copy services are tightly integrated with IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for AIX and IBM i, which adds another level of assurance for users who need extreme business continuity for their critical Power servers. Another example is the integration between DS8870 Metro Mirror and PowerHA HyperSwapsimilar to GDPS HyperSwap on the mainframewhere HyperSwap technology

Designed for enterprise-class servers

DS8870 supports a wide variety of enterprise server and virtual server platforms, and while this flagship IBM storage system offers exceptional value for all server environments, it offers special integration with IBM enterprise servers, primarily IBM System z and IBM Power Systems. Its no secret that IBM designs the System z mainframe server and the IBM z/OS operating environment, but it may come as a surprise that IBM mainframe disk storage has evolved over the years to become what we know today as DS8000 series. And at the heart of DS8870 is the advanced microcode that has been developed and enhanced in lockstep with the z/OS architecture over the past several decades. This is why DS8870 can offer extraordinary value compared to other storage systems and why it is the most trusted storage platform for mainframe environments. To that end, DS8870 offers a variety of performance, availability and scalability features that can help users maximize the potential of their System z environments. Performance examples include advanced support for IBM High Performance FICON and special integration between DS8870 I/O Priority Manager and Workload Manager for z/OS, which together automate QoS management for applications running

IBM Systems and Technology Data Sheet

System Storage

enables the server to transparently switch an applications I/O operation to the remote DS8870 system in the event the primary DS8870 system experiences a failure or during planned storage outages. This IBM-only integration is designed to provide the same level of six-nines3 availability that has made the integrated System z HyperSwap solution the gold standard for enterprise high availability. DS8870 also includes interoperability with VMware vStorage API for Array Integration, VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager and a VMware vCenter plug-in that allows users to off load storage management operations in VMware environments to DS8870. This enables virtual servers to focus their resources on computational workloads.

DS8870 also supports advanced multi-site business-continuity capabilities to give you the peace of mind of knowing your business-critical applications will be available when you need them during planned and unplanned outages. Metro Mirror is designed to provide a no-data-loss remote mirroring solution for distances up to 300 kilometers (186 miles). Global Mirror can be used to reduce data loss at the recovery site to as low as three to five seconds or less at virtually any distance. The Metro and Global Mirror option combines these two capabilities to support various multi-site configurations for added protection. In addition, the aforementioned deep integration between DS8870 copy services and IBM enterprise server clustering provides high-availability solutions available only from IBM. This integration is what defines extreme high availability and is the reason the majority of the worlds largest financial institutions rely on IBM System z and DS8000 business continuity solutions for their mission-critical environments. If you need a system designed for six-nines availability, DS8870 is an ideal choice.

Make business continuity a reality

DS8870 is designed to help address the needs of dynamic enterprise environments requiring the highest levels of availability. It is designed to support dynamic system changes such as online system microcode updates and online hardware upgrades, and includes redundant, hot-swappable components and sophisticated data integrity features to help support continuous operations. The system supports RAID-5, RAID-6 and RAID-10 configurations for data protection and monitors internal system functions, so it can call home automatically to alert service personnel if it detects a potential problem. And sophisticated light path diagnostics facilitate system maintenance, while secure audit logs can help with root-cause analysis, making this a highly available system. In addition to its exceptionally resilient architecture, the system offers an array of advanced functions for data backup, remote mirroring and disaster recovery. The IBM FlashCopy feature addresses a key requirement for continuous data availability by quickly and efficiently creating point-in-time copies without impeding the application server. That is, when a FlashCopy request is made, both the source data and its copy are available for use almost immediately.

Simplify systems management

DS8870 includes powerful management capabilities that can help IT administrators more effectively control their storage environments as capacity grows. DS8870 Storage Manager was inspired by the acclaimed IBM XIV Storage System graphical user interface (GUI) and includes intuitive navigation, streamlined configuration processes and helpful links to video tutorials for newcomers. In addition, it provides dynamic and customizable views, as well as interactive menus, tabs and charts, helping make your administrators more productive. DS8870 also supports a command-line interface (CLI) and a Storage Management Initiative Specification-conformant (SMI-S) API. Easy Tier and other self-tuning features simplify management further and accommodate real-time workload fluctuations, enabling administrators to easily add and delete storage capacity, dynamically expand and shrink volumes to address

IBM Systems and Technology Data Sheet

System Storage

sudden spikes in demand, and react to other environmental changes. In addition, the latest Easy Tier reports show performance skew and data activity trends for each application volume, which can help administrators provision the optimal mix of drives and tiers to address performance requirements. This can help eliminate the need for manual system tuning and give valuable time back to administrators, so they can focus on more important, higher-value IT initiatives. DS8870 thin provisioning also helps significantly reduce the time administrators spend provisioning new storage while keeping applications onlinea key requirement for mission-critical environments. IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center provides advanced management capabilities, such as performance reporting, for DS8870 and the extended storage environment by supporting a variety of storage systems and devices from IBM and many other vendors. In addition, it offers single sign-on capabilities for all the systems being managed, and it provides a comprehensive view of the storage topology that enables administrators to inspect the real-time health of the environment at an aggregate or in-depth view.

DS8870 has a variety of other security features, such as role-based administration, multi-level authentication and tamper-proof audit logging. It also is designed to comply with the US Government standards profile for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) and to support updated guidelines on cryptographic functions defined by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These and other advanced security capabilities make it an ideal choice to help keep sensitive data secure.

Smarter storage for a greener planet

DS8870 offers advanced energy-efficiency capabilities that can help lower operating costs by maximizing storage utilization and minimizing the power and cooling required to support critical enterprise applications. DS8870 includes an energy-efficient power supply that can reduce energy consumption by as much as 20 percent.4 In addition, deploying flash storage can have a tremendous impact on reducing energy costs further by replacing power-hungry spinning drives with more energy-efficient flash storage. And with Easy Tier, the story gets better, since Easy Tier helps optimize the combination of flash and spinning drives for both performance and cost. With this kind of energy efficiency, DS8870 is ready to meet emerging IT energy-efficiency standards as they become available. DS8870 also complies with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) standard, also known as 2002/95/ECa European Union directive being widely adopted around the worldwhich aims to restrict specific hazardous materials in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment. If green IT is your goal, DS8870 can help you get there.

Increase security and data protection

The unrelenting tide of data breaches continues to fuel an increasing interest in IBM self-encrypting storage, which automatically secures all information on a disk drive or tape cartridge when physically removed from a storage system. If a drive gets lost or stolen, storage encryption renders data inaccessible. IBM Full Disk Encryption also provides a simpler and more cost-effective method to remove sensitive data from systems that are being retired or repurposed through a cryptographic erasure. Full Disk Encryption drives are standard on every DS8870 system.

IBM DS8870 at a glance Models Shared SMP processor configuration Other major processors Processor memory for cache and nonvolatile storage (minimum/maximum) DS8870 (961, 96E) IBM POWER7/POWER7+ dual 2-core, 4-core, 8-core or 16-core* IBM PowerPC, ASICs 16 GB/1,024 GB

IBM Systems and Technology Data Sheet

System Storage

IBM DS8870 at a glance Host adapter interfaces Host adapters (minimum/maximum) Host ports (minimum/maximum) Drive interface Number of drives (minimum/maximum) Device adapters Maximum physical storage capacity Disk sizes 4- and 8-port 8 Gbps Fibre Channel/FICON 2/16 8/128 6 Gbps point-to-point switched SAS-2 connection to an 8 Gbps Fibre Channel backbone 8/1,536 (2.5-inch drives) 8/768 (3.5-inch drives) Up to 16 4-port, 8 Gbps Fibre Channel paths 3,072 TB 400 GB flash drives 146 GB (15k rpm) 300 GB (15k rpm) 600 GB (10k rpm) 900 GB (10k rpm) 1,200 GB (10k rpm) 3 TB (7.2k rpm and 3.5-inch form factor) 4 TB (7.2k rpm and 3.5-inch form factor) 5, 6, 10 193.4 cm 84.8 cm 122.7 cm (76.14 in. 33.39 in. 48.31 in.) per frame, up to four frames total 1,216 kg (2,675 lb) base frame 1,157 kg (2,545 lb) first expansion 1,068 kg (2,355 lb) additional frames 16C 32C (60F 90F) 20% 80% Configurations: single-phase or three-phase 50/60 Hz 20,800 (961 frame) 19,157 (96E frame) 6.1 (961 rack) 5.6 (96E rack) All models: customer-replaceable unit (CRU) and onsite service, same day, 247 4 years on type 2424 models 3 years on type 2423 models 2 years on type 2422 models 1 year on type 2421 models For more details on supported servers, visit: ibm.com/systems/storage/disk

RAID levels Dimensions (height width depth) Maximum weight

Dry bulb temperature Relative humidity Power supply Caloric value BTU/hr. (maximum) Electrical power kva (maximum) Warranty

Supported systems

Why IBM?
Whatever the requirements, IBM can help with a complete information infrastructure solution that includes storage hardware, application servers, software, services, support and equipment financing. DS8870 can also lower your total cost of ownership through the Enterprise Choice warranty, which allows you to select one-, two-, three- and four-year warranty options that cover not only the hardware, but all of the advanced software features, as well. This can help save thousands of dollars over the life of your system, compared to traditional warranties.

Copyright IBM Corporation 2013 IBM Corporation Systems and Technology Group Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 Produced in the United States of America November 2013 IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, System Storage, Tivoli, DS8000, Power, POWER7, PowerPC, Easy Tier, and FICON are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the web at Copyright and trademark information at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml This document is current as of the initial date of publication and may be changed by IBM at any time. Not all offerings are available in every country in which IBM operates. The performance data discussed herein is presented as derived under specific operating conditions. Actual results may vary. It is the users responsibility to evaluate and verify the operation of any other products or programs with IBM products and programs. THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED AS IS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF NON-INFRINGEMENT. IBM products are warranted according to the terms and conditions of the agreements under which they are provided. The client is responsible for ensuring compliance with laws and regulations applicable to it. IBM does not provide legal advice or represent or warrant that its services or products will ensure that the client is in compliance with any law or regulation. Statements regarding IBMs future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only. Actual available storage capacity may be reported for both uncompressed and compressed data and will vary and may be less than stated. * IBM POWER7 controller processors will be withdrawn December 6, 2013.

For more information

To learn more about IBM DS8870, please contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit:
ibm.com/systems/storage/disk/ds8000

For information on specific function availability, please contact your IBM storage specialist. Additionally, IBM Global Financing can help you acquire the IT solutions that your business needs in the most cost-effective and strategic way possible. Well partner with credit-qualified clients to customize an IT financing solution to suit your business goals, enable effective cash management, and improve your total cost of ownership. IBM Global Financing is your smartest choice to fund critical IT investments and propel your business forward. For more information, visit:
ibm.com/financing

Measurements taken from IBM internal performance benchmark results. Storage Performance Council, SPC-2 and SPC-2/E Benchmark Results, http://www.storageperformance.org/results/
benchmark_results_spc2

Five-nines and six-nines are terms used to denote that a piece of equipment is functioning with 99.999 and 99.9999 percent availability, on average. Based on internal IBM measurements comparing IBM DS8870 to DS8800 energy usage.

Usable capacity depends on factors such as data format, RAID level and spare disks configured. The 900 GB (10k rpm) and 3 TB (7.2k rpm) drive options will be withdrawn December 6, 2013. Please Recycle

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