Analyst(s): Camberley Bates, Steven Dickens
Publication Date: September 10, 2024
Overview:
IBM’s 10th generation DS8000, set for general availability in Q4 2024, delivers significant performance and security enhancements for high-end enterprise storage. With upgrades in PCIe, NVMe, and ransomware protection, IBM positions the DS8000 G10 as a critical solution for modern data-driven environments.
Key Points:
- Doubles throughput with PCIe gen4
- NVMe Flash drives boost performance
- Advanced ransomware protection via AI
- Enhanced RAID security and management
The News: IBM Unveils the Next Generation DS8000: Leading with NVMe and PCIe 4
IBM Unveils the Next Generation DS8000: Leading with NVMe and PCIe 4
Analyst Take: The high-end storage market is evolving rapidly to meet the demands of mission-critical workloads in heavily regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, and government. With the rise of regulations such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) in Europe, companies must prioritize data integrity, security, and operational continuity, driving a shift toward more resilient and compliant storage solutions. Cyber resilience is now a key focus as regulatory frameworks increasingly mandate robust data protection and disaster recovery capabilities to prevent business disruptions. Storage providers are integrating advanced encryption, immutable backups, and AI-driven ransomware detection to address both regulatory compliance and the growing sophistication of cyber threats. As a result, high-end storage solutions are becoming more secure, scalable, and aligned with the stringent requirements of modern regulatory landscapes.
Against this backdrop, IBM is a key player in the high-end storage market space with the venerable DS8000 and IBM has once again raised the bar in the high-end storage landscape with the announcement of the new DS8000, marking the 10th generation of their high-end mission-critical system.
The DS8000 G10, set to GA in Q4 2024, rolls out with the latest in storage technologies. The DS8000 moves from PCIe gen3 to PCIe gen4 technology, doubling the throughput. This shift is complemented by a move from SAS to NVMe technology with the Flash Core Models with up to 19.2TB per drive, raising the effective capacity to over 4PB usable. Overall IBM states it will deliver 2.5 times throughput with PCIe Gen4 and zHyperLink for write only compared to previous generation and 73% more IOPS for high volume transaction processing with new flash core models and flash enclosures.
The initial models shipping in 2024 include the A01 single frame and A05 multi-frame for over 1PB and 4PB usable, respectively. Note, the A05 is expected to be the primary choice for most deployments. IBM will follow in 2025 with the A00 rack mount and A08 multi-frame with more memory and write cache. All of these include a transition from the current 40U rack to the standard 42U rack.
IBM invested in developing custom flash devices called Flash Core Modules (FCM) for over 10 years. The custom modules allow them to strategically leverage compute technology to off load critical services while maintaining high performance of the system. Starting 2018, they have invested FCM with the DS8000 family and today deliver their always-on encryption and optional compression. Now adding the Fibre Channel Endpoint Security with zNext+1, customers can connect and manage encryption in flight and data at rest.
IBM continues to add on to the security capabilities with pre-announcing 2025 capabilities. This will include doubling safeguarded immutable copies from 500 to 1000. This allows enterprises to create additional copies, providing more point-in-time positions for restores, offering another tool to help prevent ransomware incidents. The second item IBM highlighted was the planned 2025 release of advanced ransomware protection and via a new software upgrade in Q3 2025. This replicates the functionality already available in IBM’s FlashSystem FCM, which analyzes incoming data at block-level granularity without affecting performance during write operations. It uses inline data corruption detection software and cloud-based AI to identify anomalies that could signal the onset of a cyberattack.
IBM has also transitioned from custom ASICs for RAID to software-based RAID, offering greater flexibility and scalability to better accommodate changing workload demands. This update supports RAID 6 and RAID 10 configurations, enhancing data protection and performance, with RAID 6 providing double parity for improved fault tolerance and RAID 10 combining speed with redundancy. The discontinuation of RAID 5 signifies a move toward more robust data protection standards. Additionally, the new Power-based hardware management console integrates Secure Boot, reinforcing security measures to prevent unauthorized access and tampering, ensuring a secure and reliable environment for managing critical data operations.
IBM Cyber Vault
With the rise of stringent regulations such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) in Europe and international banks that operate in Europe, businesses are under increasing pressure to ensure robust cyber resilience. These regulations mandate that organizations, especially in critical industries such as finance and healthcare, implement comprehensive measures to protect against cyber threats, ensure operational continuity, and swiftly recover from incidents.
IBM Cyber Vault is a comprehensive architectural infrastructure designed to enhance cyber resilience, focusing on protection from cyber threats such as ransomware and malware. It integrates IBM’s hardware, software, and services to provide robust mechanisms for data protection, recovery, and defense against logical data corruption. Particularly useful for organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks, the solution covers key areas including identification, protection, detection, response, and recovery.
A primary component of Cyber Vault is the isolation of the environment from production systems, ensuring data integrity and preventing unauthorized access. This isolation can be virtual or physical, further enhancing security. Central to the architecture is the IBM DS8000 storage system, which features Safeguarded Copy—a function that creates immutable, point-in-time snapshots. These snapshots cannot be modified or deleted by unauthorized users, providing an effective safeguard against data corruption caused by cyberattacks.
The recovery environment within Cyber Vault includes tools for data validation, forensic analysis, and efficient recovery processes. When initiated from a secure point-in-time image, it ensures the organization can restore operations quickly and securely after an attack.
The DS8000 storage system plays a pivotal role in this architecture, facilitating high-speed data access and minimizing downtime by storing the critical Safeguarded Copy snapshots. As mentioned above, these will double next year from 500 to 1000 copies. This integration allows organizations to quickly recover from cyber incidents, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations. Overall, IBM Cyber Vault offers a highly resilient and secure solution, allowing organizations to detect, protect against, and recover from cyber threats.
In summary, the DS8000 G10 is a key upgrade of IBM’s mission-critical enterprise storage – big performance increase, continued security upgrades, and of course delivering on their stated 8 -9”s high availability.
See the complete press release on IBM’s website.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
Other insights from The Futurum Group:
IBM Doubles Down on AI-Powered Storage Security
IBM Releases New Storage Technology and Life Cycle Management Program
Enhancing Critical Infrastructure Resilience: IBM Mainframe’s Approach
Author Information
Now retired, Camberley brought over 25 years of executive experience leading sales and marketing teams at Fortune 500 firms. Before joining The Futurum Group, she led the Evaluator Group, an information technology analyst firm as Managing Director.
Her career spanned all elements of sales and marketing including a 360-degree view of addressing challenges and delivering solutions was achieved from crossing the boundary of sales and channel engagement with large enterprise vendors and her own 100-person IT services firm.
Camberley provided Global 250 startups with go-to-market strategies, creating a new market category “MAID” as Vice President of Marketing at COPAN and led a worldwide marketing team including channels as a VP at VERITAS. At GE Access, a $2B distribution company, she served as VP of a new division and succeeded in growing the company from $14 to $500 million and built a successful 100-person IT services firm. Camberley began her career at IBM in sales and management.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in International Business from California State University – Long Beach and executive certificates from Wellesley and Wharton School of Business.
Steven engages with the world’s largest technology brands to explore new operating models and how they drive innovation and competitive edge.
