IBM has come to the conclusion that all enterprise Tier 1 storage should be completely flash-based, and will be making the transition as fast as possible for the company. They have announced they will be investing $1 billion to integrate flash into all its servers and storage systems, and has also introduced its own flash-only storage appliance.
The technology and consulting corporation is simply adapting to the recent advances in data storage. Cloud computing and big-data has meant that data centres demand the ability to process information much more quickly. Traditional computer data storage solutions like hard disk drives have only increased marginally in speed over the past few years, and though processors and network technology are still doing the job for many companies, flash based storage is thought to be the solution. IBM have claimed that flash-based solutions can speed up processing by around 90% for banking and trading applications, while those in business analytics and resource planning can see their processing times reduced by 85%. Energy consumption is also greatly decreased, and the flash systems require less maintenance and take up less space than the older counterparts.
Market research company IHS agrees with IBM’s predictions and their subsequent action. They say that flash based storage is challenging the hard disk drive in all markets, not just enterprise. SSD vendors had record-high profits in 2012, and not only because of their inclusion in many datacenters; they are also gaining popularity in the PC market. In 2017, it is predicted that SSDs will account for just over 33% of all data storage shipments; an increase of 700% from their current statistics.
On the PC market, it is ultra-thin notebooks and slim laptops which are contributing to the continued growth of SSDs. In the coming years, more and more devices will start to utilise touchscreens, which require slim flash based technology, boosting the demand for SSDs from manufacturers. The cost of SSDs will in turn decrease, making them even more attractive to consumers and manufacturers. This cyclical process will continue for the foreseeable future.
However, despite IBM’s insistence on using flash based storage options, and despite the rapid growth in sales and shipments that SSDs and similar flash memory units have experienced, the hard disk drive has not admitted defeat yet. Their lower price at higher capacities still gives them a cost advantage over flash memory, making them the go-to computer memory solution for domestic and commercial purposes which don’t require instant access to files. It is expected that they will dominate this arena even as flash storage grows ever more popular and viable as an everyday storage solution.
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About Data Memory Systems: The Data Memory Systems’ team wants to provide the best possible quality PC memory and Apple memory at the lowest prices. They offer great service and value for your money. Whether you have a Dell, HP, Sony, IBM or Apple Mac system, they have the compatible memory for your device.
