IBM FlashSystem 9500

The IBM FlashSystem 9500 is a flagship all-flash enterprise storage system engineered for unmatched speed, ultra-low latency, and mission-critical resilience. Powered by IBM FlashCore® Modules, full NVMe architecture, and AI-infused predictive analytics from IBM Storage Insights™, it delivers extreme performance and robust data protection for the most demanding workloads—ranging from real-time analytics and AI pipelines to global financial transactions and hybrid multi-cloud environments.

Experience effortless scalability, intelligent automation, and enterprise-grade security

Offers top-tier throughput and capacity with a cost-effective architecture for large enterprises.
Utilises IBM’s latest innovations, including hardware-accelerated compression, multi-site HyperSwap®, and cutting-edge cyber resilience features.

The FlashSystem 9500 is designed to power modern enterprises with vast, complex data demands. By combining ultra-fast NVMe and Storage Class Memory (SCM) drives, it accelerates access times to under 50 microseconds, supporting up to multi-petabyte effective capacities within a compact 4U form factor.

Handling hybrid and multi-cloud integration with ease, it provides seamless data mobility, elastic capacity scaling, and transparent cloud tiering to public and private clouds. The system’s comprehensive encryption and AI-powered threat detection capabilities ensure data integrity and security across all environments.

In today’s landscape of constrained budgets and surging data volumes, the 9500 supports pay-as-you-grow flexibility via the IBM Storage Utility Offering—helping businesses optimize CAPEX while future-proofing their storage infrastructure.

Built around IBM Spectrum Virtualize software-defined storage (SDS), the 9500 extends advanced data services—including snapshot, remote replication, deduplication, and thin provisioning—across heterogeneous storage landscapes. Its scale-out cluster architecture allows growth from two-node configurations to four-node clusters, delivering unmatched availability and performance.

Unrivalled capabilities

The FlashSystem 9500 combines:

• End-to-end NVMe with IBM FlashCore Module 3 technology delivering inline hardware compression and deduplication.
• Storage Class Memory (SCM) tiering, placing hottest data on ultra-low latency SCM devices for speed optimization.
• Up to 100 GB/s throughput and 1.6 million IOPS from a single 4U system.
• Multi-site HyperSwap® for active-active data center resiliency and no downtime failover.
• Support for up to 48 NVMe drives per control enclosure with flexible expansion options.
• Transparent cloud tiering supporting S3-compatible object storage for hybrid cloud efficiency.
• Advanced encryption standards compliant with FIPS 140-3 Level 1 and integrated key management.

Simple to buy, simple to scale

Choose the IBM FlashSystem 9500 to integrate seamlessly into existing enterprise environments. The IBM Storage Utility Offering enables you to match capacity with demand, eliminating upfront over-purchasing and maximizing budget efficiency.

Effortless deployment and operation

Deploy in hours with AI-driven IBM Easy Tier® for dynamic data placement and IBM Storage Insights™ providing 24/7 monitoring, predictive analytics, and proactive alerts to maintain optimal performance and health.

Scales without limits

Scale from dual-controller pairs up to four-node clusters with up to 32 petabytes of effective capacity and massive throughput, supporting next-generation workloads running containerized, virtualized, and multi-cloud applications.

Extreme performance and massive scalability

The IBM FlashSystem 9500 is designed for the most demanding enterprise workloads, delivering unprecedented throughput, ultra‑low latency, and multi‑petabyte scalability. Leveraging full end‑to‑end NVMe architecture, IBM FlashCore® Module 4 (FCM4) technology, and Storage Class Memory (SCM) options, it provides sub‑50 microsecond latency and up to millions of IOPS in a compact 4U design.

At its core, IBM Spectrum Virtualize™ — the industry’s most trusted software‑defined storage platform — delivers consistent performance and simple management across heterogeneous environments. Applications remain online during infrastructure changes, and external systems benefit from the full IBM feature set, including:

• Hardware‑accelerated inline compression and deduplication with FCM4.
• Thin provisioning for optimised capacity use.
• Secure, always‑on encryption.
• AI‑powered Easy Tier® for automated, intelligent data placement.

Spectrum Virtualize on the 9500 also enables:

• HyperSwap® for active‑active data centre operation.
• Support for VMware, Microsoft Hyper‑V, and IBM PowerVM virtual environments.
• Interoperability with over 500 external storage systems from a multitude of vendors.
• Advanced data reduction pools with deduplication, compression, and thin provisioning.
• Local and remote replication with FlashCopy® and Remote Mirror.
• Three‑site replication for ultimate disaster recovery flexibility.
• Hybrid cloud tiering to and from public clouds such as AWS, Azure, and IBM Cloud®.

Engineered for ultra‑high availability

Achieve “six nines” (99.9999%) availability, ensuring continuous access for mission‑critical operations. The 9500’s architecture has no single points of failure, supports non‑disruptive updates, and offers multi‑site clustering. HyperSwap® technology enables automatic failover between geographically dispersed sites with zero downtime.

Advanced data protection and cyber resilience

Protect sensitive data with full‑volume data‑at‑rest encryption, immutable snapshots, and Safeguarded Copy technology. The 9500 supports “air‑gap” recovery options, enabling physically or logically isolated backups in the cloud or offline media like WORM tapes. AI‑powered anomaly detection identifies unusual behaviours early, helping mitigate the risk from ransomware and malicious attacks.

Boost application and infrastructure efficiency

The IBM FlashSystem 9500’s hardware‑level compression and deduplication deliver superior data reduction without impacting performance, increasing effective capacity and lowering operational costs.
Key capabilities include:

• Block‑level deduplication across all storage in a data reduction pool.
• Industry‑leading, always‑on hardware compression, sustaining 2:1 or better reduction ratios even for latency‑sensitive workloads.
• SCSI UNMAP for automatic reclamation of freed storage space.

AI‑optimised data placement

Easy Tier® uses artificial intelligence to automatically move mission‑critical data to the fastest storage tier — from SCM to NVMe FCM4 flash — based on actual workload patterns. This ensures the lowest possible latency for hot data while maximising the efficiency of all tiers.

Enterprise container and virtualisation integration

Through IBM Spectrum Virtualize and its container plug‑in framework, the 9500 delivers persistent enterprise‑class storage to platforms like Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShift, and Docker. It supports automated provisioning through CSI drivers and integrates with OpenStack Cinder, enabling dynamic, policy‑driven storage allocation for cloud‑native workloads.

Actionable insights and proactive monitoring

IBM Storage Insights™ offers cloud‑based AI analytics and a unified dashboard for real‑time monitoring, capacity management, and predictive maintenance. Storage Insights Pro provides deeper historical analysis, performance trend data, and best‑practice recommendations to maintain peak performance while minimising downtime.

Enhanced enterprise capabilities

• Cluster up to four control enclosures for massive scale‑out performance and capacity.
• Seamless hybrid cloud integration with IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud.
• Active‑active replication between data centres with HyperSwap®.
• Up to 32 PB effective capacity per cluster with multi‑petabyte expansion.
• Transparent cloud tiering to S3‑compatible object storage for backup and archive.
• Compliance‑ready encryption certified to FIPS 140‑3 Level 1 standards.

Safeguard your top data asset

Protect your most critical information with advanced, enterprise‑grade security. The IBM FlashSystem 9500 delivers full‑volume encryption, immutable Safeguarded Copy snapshots, and AI‑driven ransomware anomaly detection. Combined with cloud “air gap” snapshots and IBM FlashWatch guarantees, your data is secure, recoverable, and always available — even in the face of cyber threats.

Maximise Return on Investment (ROI)

Harness IBM Spectrum Virtualize to extend powerful data services — including high‑efficiency compression, intelligent tiering, multi‑site replication, and cloud integration — across all your storage systems. Consolidate workloads and scale seamlessly to protect and enhance your storage investment.

Maximise storage effectiveness

Gain predictive insights with AI‑powered IBM Storage Insights to boost utilisation, forecast capacity needs, and enable proactive support. Inline hardware compression and deduplication from IBM FlashCore Modules significantly expand usable capacity without impacting NVMe‑level performance.

Hybrid multicloud enabled

Simplify data mobility and disaster recovery across public, private, and on‑premises environments. Start at the scale you need and expand flexibly, powering your hybrid multicloud strategy for diverse workloads, geographies, and growth demands.

Affordable without sacrificing quality

Combine extreme enterprise performance, advanced data reduction, and cyber‑resilient design in a single, space‑efficient system. The 9500 delivers flagship capabilities while optimising operational costs through superior energy efficiency and pay‑as‑you‑grow options.

Sustained uptime of 99.9999%

Run mission‑critical operations with confidence, backed by industry‑leading “six nines” availability. Fully redundant architecture, HyperSwap® active‑active configurations, and non‑disruptive upgrades keep your essential workloads online without interruption.