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IBM launches its software-defined storage play

Elastic Storage is based on the technology that enabled Watson to plow through information for the right answers in Jeopardy.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

IBM on Monday launched a series of software-defined storage technologies based on the approach that allowed Watson to comb through data.

The technologies, which originated in IBM's research labs, enabled Watson to process 200 million pages of data and 4 terabytes of content for its Jeopardy appearance. The storage technology pairs storage and memory to deliver instant results.

IBM said it will roll out a portfolio of IBM Software Defined Storage products. Software-defined storage manages data, provides quick access, utilizes virtualization and scales to cloud and on-premise infrastructure.

According to IBM, Elastic Storage can scan 10 billion files on a system in 43 minutes, pools information via virtualization and can use Flash on servers. Elastic Storage doesn't require central management.

Elastic Storage, which will be available as an IBM SoftLayer service, will support OpenStack access and application programming interfaces for Hadoop and other big data tools.

The first commercial product in the portfolio is called Elastic Storage, which moves data around to the most economical options, and is tailored to data intensive applications such as seismic data, financial analysis, and weather modeling.

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