IBM makes storage push

By Shaun Nichols on Sep 9, 2008 3:15 PM
Filed under Storage

IBM is outlining its plans for the future of the storage industry.

On Monday, the company issued a massive product rollout, unveiling some 30 new services and products, along with a number of new research initiatives.

Among the key projects will be an effort to prevent what IBM termed a "digital dark age".

The company noted that as storage systems and methods progress, the ability to access data in older formats such as 5.25 inch floppy disks could become difficult.

To answer the problem, Big Blue is hoping to launch a campaign to update and archive data from those legacy formats in large cloud computing systems which could be remotely accessed.

The company also updated its efforts to develop new storage technologies.

IBM noted its work in developing nano-scale "racetrack" memory chips as well as its efforts to boost the speed of current solid state (SSD) storage through its "Project Quicksilver" virtualised SSD programme.

Additionally, IBM outlined its efforts in power and heat reduction, a field which the companies believes will see major growth and the number of devices in use grows and space in server rooms begins to tighten.

In addition to the projects and research efforts, the company unveiled some 30 new pieces of hardware and services.

The massive list of new releases includes storage and network appliances, as well as support and services aimed at storage, data protection, information backup, and regulatory compliance.

The company estimates that, in all, the new products and research programmes represent some US$2bn worth of research, development and corporate acquisitions.