VERSASTACK + IBM FLASHSYSTEM = UNPARALLELED VALUE

infrastructure solutions are catching on fast in today’s data centers. Equipped with pre-assem-bled, thoroughly tested compute, networking, storage, and management components, they’re dramatically simpler to buy, deploy, and maintain than traditional “best of breed” infrastructures.

In fact, integrated infrastructures offer so many benefits that the only hard thing about them is finding ways to make them even more powerful. Yet two giants of enterprise IT have found one just the same: Combine them with the fastest storage arrays on the planet. In a giant step forward for data center power and efficiency, IBM and Cisco have introduced a new VersaS-tack solution, which adds IBM FlashSystem all-flash storage to their jointly developed integrated infrastructure offering—and it’s about to make the age-old imperative to “do more with less” easier than ever before.

NO TIME FOR DO-IT-YOURSELFAnd just in time, too, because IT departments today are increasingly caught between two brutally conflicting forces. On the one hand, rapid-fire global competition and skyrocketing demand for new cloud computing, big data, and mobility solutions have made rolling out more infrastructure more quickly a constant priority. On the other hand, flat or declining technology budgets have made meeting those requirements a constant headache.

Worse yet, IT organizations are losing head-count as well as dollars. “As a result, they don’t want to spend a lot of time building infrastruc-tures themselves and need to minimize the risk involved in that process,” observes Erik Eyberg, IBM’s manager of worldwide enterprise storage strategy and business development. And that’s doubly true for the many line-of-business units, application development organizations, and other

A new solution from IBM and Cisco combines the simplicity and efficiency of integrated infrastructures with the extreme performance of IBM all-flash storage arrays.

WHITE PAPER

It’s not hard to understand why integrated

Advantages like those have businesses snap-ping up integrated infrastructure systems in big numbers. In fact, analyst firm IDC, of Fram-ingham, Mass., predicts that nearly 15 percent of all newly purchased server, storage, and networking resources will be housed in integrated infrastructure systems by 2017, and that outlays on integrated infrastructure solutions will rise at a 33 percent CAGR through that same year.

EFFICIENCY AND VERSATILITYVersaStack is likely to attract a hefty portion of that spending. Based on a set of Cisco Validated Designs that maximize reliability and minimize risk, VersaStack combines IBM storage with Cisco UCS Integrated Infrastructure, including the cutting-edge Cisco Unified Computing System and the consolidated UCS Director management inter-face. It’s also compatible with Application Centric Infrastructure, Cisco’s innovative software-defined networking architecture, and backed by compre-hensive services and support from IBM, Cisco, and their extensive partner ecosystems.

Together, those and other features enable busi-nesses to achieve unparalleled efficiencies. VersaStack cuts infrastructure design, deploy-ment, and administration overhead by up to 50 percent on average, yet is 59 percent cheaper to acquire than its leading competitor and offers 62 percent lower TCO. Its compact form factor also enables companies to save money on cooling, power, and floor space. In fact, according to Buskermolen, deploying VersaStack enabled i-Virtualize to shrink the infrastructure footprint in its hosting data center by a whopping 48 percent.

As its name implies, VersaStack is an extremely versatile system as well. It is not limited to single application environments. Users can scale it up, out, or both and seamlessly grow departmental implementations into enterprise environments. Unlike with competing products, moreover, users can also add compute, networking, or storage resources independently rather than buy a whole new chassis every time they require more capacity in a specific area. “You can expand based on what you need and what the customer needs versus what the manufacturer is pushing down on you,” Buskermolen says.

non-IT consumers buying infrastructure on their own these days. “They don’t have the skill sets to deploy and integrate those systems, so they want end-to-end solutions,” Eyberg explains.

That’s exactly what integrated infrastructure offer-ings like VersaStack provide, in a pre-engineered package that saves time and money by radi-cally streamlining procurement, implementation, and scalability. “[Companies] just can’t afford to spend time with the traditional do-it-yourself approach,” notes Jeff Kato, a senior analyst and consultant at analyst firm Taneja Group Inc., of Hopkinton, Mass.

Plus, integrated infrastructure solutions produce faster ROI because they’re pretested and validated. They also reduce downtime because they provide built-in redundancy features and simplify administration because they come with centralized management interfaces. “From one pane of glass you’re essentially controlling your compute, your storage, and your network,” notes John Buskermolen, co-founder of i-Virtualize Inc., a Toronto-based provider of hosted and on-prem-ises infrastructure services. “That’s a leap ahead of what we could do before.”

2 WHITE PAPER ➔ VersaStack + IBM FlashSystem = Unparalleled Value

“From one pane of glass you’re essentially controlling your compute, your storage, and your network. That’s a leap ahead of what we could do before.”

— John Buskermolen co-founder of i-Virtualize Inc.

3 WHITE PAPER ➔ VersaStack + IBM FlashSystem = Unparalleled Value

Perhaps best of all, VersaStack is backed by two of the most respected names in IT: Cisco, a worldwide leader in networking, server, and management technology; and IBM, a worldwide leader in storage. “It’s a marriage of two of the best enterprise manufacturers in the world,” Busk-ermolen says. “That’s a huge differentiator.”

EXTREME PERFORMANCEAdding IBM FlashSystem storage to VersaStack makes the industry’s most sophisticated inte-grated infrastructure solution even more powerful. For starters, the IBM MicroLatency technology in FlashSystem products empowers businesses to run big data, e-commerce, and other perfor-mance-sensitive applications on integrated

infrastructure for the first time. In addition, the exceptional flexibility of FlashSystem products makes for an excellent fit for hosting different kinds of applications on common underlying resources. “Mixed workloads can be tough on integrated solutions optimized for a single scenario,” Eyberg notes. “FlashSystem-based integrated infrastructures adapt easily to a wide range of different use cases.”

Thanks to its market-leading energy efficiency and density and built-in Real-time Compression functionality, furthermore, FlashSystem delivers superior economics, enabling companies to pack up to five times more data in the same space without driving up power costs or other opera-tional expenses. Hot-swappable components and Variable Stripe RAID technology enable FlashSystem to provide best-in-breed availability as well. In addition, the FlashSystem V9000 products used in new VersaStack solutions offer data services based on IBM Spectrum Virtualize technology shared with the IBM Storwize prod-ucts used in other VersaStack solutions today, so there are no surprises for clients looking to expand their VersaStack estates to address flash use cases.

Put all of that together with the already impressive strengths of today’s VersaStack solutions and the end result is a cost-effective tool for rolling out more—and more powerful—infrastructure more rapidly, without breaking the bank in the process. “It’s a very rare scenario where you do more with less and you provide more with less,” Busker-molen says. VersaStack and IBM FlashSystem storage have put that long-sought goal squarely within every company’s reach. n

For more information, visit ibm.com

VersaStack solution is a giant step forward for data center power and efficiency. Deploying VersaStack enabled i-Virtualize to shrink the infrastructure foot-print in its hosting data center by a whopping 48 percent.

EXECUTIVEVIEWPOINT

In a case of the best getting better, IBM and Cisco

have created a new edition of their joint VersaStack

integrated infrastructure solution featuring IBM

FlashSystem all-flash storage arrays. In this executive

Q&A, Ian Shave, an IBM executive and recognized

thought leader in the storage industry, provides the

back story for that initiative and explains why the new

system represents a breakthrough for the integrated

infrastructure market.

Q: Why did Cisco and IBM come together

to create VersaStack?

A: IBM and Cisco actually have a long history of

working together to deliver innovative solutions.

VersaStack is simply how we’re addressing one of the

hottest market segments in IT. Integrated infrastruc-

ture solutions are a major trend right now, because

they lower acquisition costs and administrative

overhead, reduce downtime, and improve resource

utilization. They also reduce risk, because they’re

pretested for compatibility and have a track record of

success in real-world environments. By combining our

strengths and expertise, IBM and Cisco have created

an integrated infrastructure system that offers higher

performance and greater flexibility at a lower cost than

any comparable product out there.

Q: How do all-flash arrays make integrated

infrastructure solutions an even more compel-

ling option for today’s businesses?

A: Adding high-speed, purpose-built flash storage

to an integrated infrastructure brings the system’s

storage side much closer to the compute side from a

performance perspective, which enables companies

to run a wider range of mission-critical applications on

cost-effective, powerful solutions like VersaStack.

Better Infrastructure and Lower Cost, an Unbeatable Pairing

Q: What makes IBM FlashSystem arrays

in particular a great fit for integrated infra-

structure solutions?

A: For workloads that demand maximum perfor-

mance, efficiency, and reliability at large scale, there’s

simply nothing better than IBM FlashSystem. And

that’s not just IBM talking. Both IDC and Gartner have

recently released market analyses confirming that IBM

shipped more flash capacity last year than both of

our nearest competitors combined. When you put the

industry’s best storage together with its best server

and networking technologies, you end up with the

industry’s best integrated infrastructure solution.

The IBM Storwize hybrid storage previously available

with VersaStack is perfect for lots of workloads, and

expanding to cover more with the new Storwize V5000

for smaller deployments. But adding FlashSystem to

the mix expands the use cases for VersaStack into

areas requiring extreme, microsecond performance,

such as big data and real-time security monitoring.

Q: What differentiates the combined

VersaStack/IBM FlashSystem solution from

other integrated infrastructure offerings?

A: The VersaStack and IBM FlashSystem solution

is backed by a Cisco Validated Design that provides

faster solution delivery, greater reliability, and greater

confidence for our clients. It’s also the most flexible

integrated infrastructure system available, so IT archi-

tects can more easily tailor it to their specific needs

and environments. We really believe that combining

FlashSystem and VersaStack is a big win for our

customers and business partners, because they can

now capitalize on both the extraordinary performance

of IBM FlashSystem and the extraordinary engineering

of an integrated solution developed and supported by

industry leaders.

IAN SHAVE is business line

executive for Spectrum

Virtualize and Converged

Solutions in IBM’s

storage organization.