IBM FlashSystem 9500

FlashSystem 9500 NVMe control enclosures feature:

• Two node canisters, each with two 24-core processors and options for up to 1.5 GB memory to deliver a system total of 3 TB memory
• Up to twelve (six per canister) I/O adapter features for 32 Gb Fibre Channel (FC) and 10/25 Gb and 100 Gb Ethernet connectivity
• Support for up to forty-eight NVMe flash drive options
• 4U, 19-inch rack mount enclosure

FlashSystem 9500 supports two 12 Gb SAS expansion enclosure models. FlashSystem 9000 small form factor (SFF) Expansion Enclosure Model AFF supports up to twenty-four 2.5-inch flash drives, while FlashSystem 9000 large form factor (LFF) High-Density (HD) Expansion Enclosure Model A9F supports up to ninety-two flash drives in a 3.5-inch carrier. SFF and LFF HD expansion enclosures can be intermixed within a FlashSystem 9500 system.

Model AH8 FlashSystem 9500 systems can scale up to 232 drives with the attachment of FlashSystem 9000 expansion enclosures. FlashSystem 9500 systems can be clustered with another FlashSystem 9500 system to help deliver high availability, greater performance, capacity, and connectivity. Attachment and intermixing of existing machine type 9846 or 9848 expansion enclosure models A9F and AFF with machine type 4666 FlashSystem 9500 controller and expansion models is supported, providing all components within a system have consistent service and support levels

FlashSystem 9500R is available as a precabled, preconfigured rack with a dedicated FC network for clustering. Available with a pair of clustered FlashSystem 9500 systems, it can be ordered as FlashSystem 9502R and added to in the field with additional expansion enclosures.

All FlashSystem 9500 function capabilities are provided through IBM Spectrum Virtualize software and licensed through IBM Spectrum Virtualize Software for FlashSystem 9500 (5639-011). For additional information about FlashSystem 9500 functional capabilities and software, see the materials listed in the Reference Information section.

FlashSystem 9500 utility models are intended for use where variable billing is required to meet a solution's requirements. IBM Storage Insights is used to monitor the system and is required in the utility model space. The local project office will work with the Storage Insights data to determine the actual physical data provisioned in the system. This data will be compared to the base system capacity subscription, and any provisioned capacity beyond that base subscription will be billed per terabyte, per month, on a quarterly basis.

Model abstract 4666-AH8

The IBM 4666 FlashSystem 9500 SFF NVMe Control Enclosure Model AH8 is a one-year warranty machine and features two node canisters and up to 3 TB cache (system total) in a 4U, 19-inch rack mount enclosure. It has the option of 32Gb FC, 25Gb, and 100Gb Ethernet connectivity. It holds up to forty-eight 2.5-inch NVMe FlashCore Modules or industry-standard flash drives and supports the attachment FlashSystem 9000 expansion enclosures.

Model abstract 4666-UH8

The IBM 4666 Model UH8 is the IBM FlashSystem 9500 with a one-year warranty, to be utilized in the Storage Utility Offering space. This model is physically and functionally identical to the IBM FlashSystem 4666-AH8, with the exception of target configurations and variable capacity billing. The variable capacity billing uses IBM Storage Insights to monitor the system usage, allowing allocated storage usage above a base subscription rate to be billed per TB, per month. Allocated storage is identified as storage that is allocated to a specific host (and unusable to other hosts), whether data is written or not. For thin-provisioning, the data that is actually written is considered used. For thick provisioning, total allocated volume space is considered used.

Model summary matrix