IBM Spectrum Scale on ESS (Elastic Storage System)

Posted on 07 December, 2021

If you’re looking for a flexible, scalable storage system then look no further than IBM Spectrum Scale on Elastic Storage System (ESS). Designed for HPC, big data analytics and AI, the IBM Spectrum Scale is an enterprise-level parallel file system that supports the following:

  • Superior performance
  • Scalability
  • Data resilience


It is one of the leading choices for HPC and AI projects and is part of the IBM Spectrum Storage family of solutions.

Based on IBM GPFS (General Parallel File System), Spectrum Scale delivers scalable capacity and performance to handle demanding data analytics, content repositories and technical computing workloads. Storage administrators can combine flash, disk, cloud and tape storage into a unified system with higher performance and lower costs than traditional approaches.

The system’s highlights include:

Performance: remove data-related bottlenecks

  • with a parallel, scale-out solution
  • 2.5 TB/s demonstrated throughput

Ease of management: enable global collaboration

  • with unified storage and global namespace              
  • Data Lake serving HDFS, file, and object storage across sites

Economics: optimise cost and performance

  • with automated data placement
  • thin-provisioning preview and TRIM support, QOS on project preview

Robust: ensure data availability, integrity, and security

  • with erasure coding, replication, snapshots, and encryption
  • end-to-end checksum, Spectrum Scale RAID, NIST/FIPS certification


Spectrum Scale can be deployed by way of IBM Elastic Storage System (ESS), a storage building block designed as a unit of storage expansion within an IBM Spectrum Scale cluster. With this solution, storage can start off small and be expanded to meet business requirements, fully scalable from TBs to hundreds of petabytes, IBM ESS supports high-speed data networks, including 10 gigabit ethernet (10GbE) and platter-to-client data protection.

What can you look to expect when you choose ESS:

Optimal building block for high-performance, scalable,
reliable enterprise Spectrum Scale storage

  • Faster data access with the choice to scale-up or scale-out
  • Easy to deploy clusters with unified system GUI
  • Simplified storage administration with IBM Spectrum Control integration

One solution for all Spectrum Scale data needs

  • Single repository of data with unified file and object support
  • Anywhere access with multi-protocol support using
    protocol nodes: NFS 4.1, SMB, Object, and HDFS
  • Ideal for big data analytics including full Hadoop transparency

Ready for business-critical data

  • Disaster recovery with synchronous or asynchronous replication
  • Ensure reliability and fast rebuild times using Spectrum Scale RAID’s
    dispersed data and erasure code
  • Five 9s (99.999%) of availability and online scalability and upgrades


If you’re looking for a high-performance storage solution for HPC, AI, Analytics and more, then you need not look further. Vist our product page to find out more.

Or feel free to contact us for more information on 01727 876100, or email us at [email protected]

Innovated by IBM – Intelligently Applied® by Boston

Tags: ibm, storage, ess, spectrum scale

RSS Feed

Sign up to our RSS feed and get the latest news delivered as it happens.

click here

Test out any of our solutions at Boston Labs

To help our clients make informed decisions about new technologies, we have opened up our research & development facilities and actively encourage customers to try the latest platforms using their own tools and if necessary together with their existing hardware. Remote access is also available

Contact us

ISC 2024

Latest Event

ISC 2024 | 13th - 15th May 2024, Congress Center, Hamburg

International Super Computing is a can't miss event for anyone interested in HPC, tech, and more.

more info