IBM FlashSystem
| Common manufacturers |
|
|---|---|
| Type | Storage controller |
| Processor | Intel Ice Lake, Gen 4 PCIe, Two 24-core CPUs for a total of 96-cores per system |
| Memory | Effective maximum capacity within single enclosure: 6.60 PBe (4U enclosure) |
| Slots | Dual-ported 2.5” NVMe Flash bays x 48 (Up to 38.4TB per drive) |
| Read-only memory | 3TB Cache |
| Ports | 12 PCIe G4 Interface Card Slots per enclosure. 32/64Gb Fibre Channel supports NVMe-oF and 25/100Gb RoCE Ethernet supports NVMe RDMA. Maximum front-end host ports: 48 |
| Speed | Maximum bandwidth (reads): 100 GB per second
Response times (reads): < 50 microseconds Max IOPS (4k read miss): 2.5 Million |
| Weight | Fully configured (48 drives): 70.5Kg |
| Dimensions | Height: 17.43 cm (6.8 in.)
Width: 44.6 cm (17.6 in.) Depth: 82.6 cm (32.6 in.) |
IBM FlashSystem is a family of high-performance, flash-based storage systems that form part of the IBM Storage enterprise portfolio. The platform integrates proprietary hardware and software, AI-powered management tools, and subscription-based service models. Recent developments have emphasized enhanced performance, scalable architecture, AI-driven analytics, multi-layer ransomware protection, data resilience, and non-disruptive data migration.
According to Gartner, IBM was the number one all-flash storage array vendor in 2014 selling over 2,100 FlashSystems totaling 62 petabytes (PB) of capacity. The IBM FlashSystem commanded 33% of the total all-flash capacity sold by all vendors for the year.
IBM FlashSystem products incorporate custom hardware based on technology from the 2012 IBM acquisition of Texas Memory Systems. As of February 12, 2020, the FlashSystem brand has replaced both the Storwize and XIV brands in IBM.
In February 2026, IBM announced a new generation of its FlashSystem storage portfolio that includes agentic artificial intelligence capabilities. According to IBM, the systems use AI agents to assist with storage management tasks such as performance optimization, threat detection, and recovery recommendations.