FlashSystem 5200 upgrade from V5000 provides huge performance improvement and advanced functions

I recently replaced a Gen1 V5000 with a FS5200 filled with 9.6TB Flashcore Modules(FCM). This is in an IBM iSeries environment. They are using the IBM FSFC Toolkit for backups. We went from 14u of rack space with 22TB useable to 1u of rack space with 77TB useable. The system cut 12 hours off their full system nightly backups. Performance improved from up to 6ms latency to 0ms. The FCM are also achieving 2.2/1 compression with zero performance penalty.

After replacing a 14u Gen1 V5000 system containing 15K spinning disks with a FS5200 containing 9.6TB Flashcore Modules, performance was such an improvement that it cut 12 hours off of the nightly full system backups. The 2.2/1 compression is just an added bonus.

We did not count on data reduction when configuring the system, but we are seeing 2.2/1 compression without any performance penalty. We did not implement deduplication with the system. Overall performance is amazing compared to where we were.

The organization uses both entry level and mid-range level system in their remote sites and main data centers. The systems are supporting both iSeries and Open Systems workloads. We haven’t combined the workloads on a single system, but the FlashSystem is more than up to the task.

We have used the FlashSystem virtualization feature to perform data migration from other systems, including IBM and non-IBM systems flawlessly.

I’m an IBM business partner for ..., and we have installed many of these systems for our major healthcare customers.