IBM ES8N 387GB SFF-3 4k eMLC4 SSD Power9 AIX Linux VIOS
Brand:
IBM AS400 iSeries
Model Number:
ES8N-EMLC4
ES8N 387GB SFF-3 IBM Enterprise SSD 4k eMLC4 for Power AIX Linux VIOS
The IBM ES8N 387GB SFF-3 SSD 4k eMLC4 for IBM Linux server and AIX is a 2.5-inch SAS Solid State Drive (SSD) formatted with 4k byte sectors. The IBM ES8N SSD is supported in SFF-3 SAS bays of all IBM Power9 and Power8 system units, in expansion drawers for other Power system models, and reports as 5B13 CCIN with 00LY333 part number. The IBM ES8N and ES8P SSD are physically identical solid state drives, but have different feature codes to specify how the SSD is used. ES8N indicates usage by AIX, Linux server or VIOS, and ES8P indicates usage by IBM i. These SSD features are only available in refurbished condition as of January 18, 2019.
The IBM ES8N 387GB SFF-3 SSD 4k eMLC4 for IBM Linux server and AIX is a 2.5-inch SAS Solid State Drive (SSD) formatted with 4k byte sectors. The IBM ES8N SSD is supported in SFF-3 SAS bays of all IBM Power9 and Power8 system units, in expansion drawers for other Power system models, and reports as 5B13 CCIN with 00LY333 part number. The IBM ES8N and ES8P SSD are physically identical solid state drives, but have different feature codes to specify how the SSD is used. ES8N indicates usage by AIX, Linux server or VIOS, and ES8P indicates usage by IBM i. These SSD features are only available in refurbished condition as of January 18, 2019.
The IBM ES8N and ES8P SSD are supported in IBM Power9 and Power8 system unit SFF-3 SAS bays for the following models: 9009-41A, 9009-42A, 9009-22A, 9008-22L, 9223-22H, 9223-42H 8286-41A, 8286-42A, 8284-21A, 8284-22A, 8408-44E and 8408-E8E or in EXP24S SAS bays (SFF-2) attached to a Power8 or the following Power7 system models: 8231-E1C, 8231-E1D, 8268-E1D, 8202-E4D, 8231-E2C, 8231-E2D, 8205-E6C, 8205-E6D, 8408-E8D, 9109-RMD, 9117-MMC, 9117-MMD, 9179-MHC, 9179-MHD, 9119-FHB
As with earlier IBM enterprise SSDs, these solid state drives are designed to deliver great endurance and reliability. These 4th generation enterperise class eMLC SSDs were tested to provide 24x7x365 usage running write-intensive levels for about five years. Actual customer writes will be much lower, and thus the SSD life span will be much longer. Similar to the eMLC3 SSDs, the new SSDs provide a Drive Write Per Day (DWPD) rating of approximately "10", which estimates the number of times the SSD's capacity could be written per day over the projected life of the drive.
All IBM eMLC4 SSDs are run by the integrated SAS controllers in the IBM Power system unit or by a PCIe3 or PCIe2 SAS adapter. The PCIe3/2 adapters are:
- EJ14 - PCIe3 12GB Cache RAID PLUS SAS Adapter Quad-port 6GB x8
- EJ0L - PCIe3 12 GB Cache RAID SAS Adapter Quad-port 6Gb x8
- EJ0J - PCIe3 RAID SAS Adapter Quad-port 6Gb x8
- EL59 - PCIe3 RAID SAS Adapter Quad-port 6Gb x8
- EJ0M - PCIe3 LP RAID SAS Adapter Quad-port 6Gb x8
- EL3B - PCIe3 LP RAID SAS Adapter Quad-port 6Gb x8
- 5913 - PCIe2 1.8GB Cache RAID SAS Adapter Tri-port 6Gb
- ESA3 - PCIe2 1.8GB Cache RAID SAS Adapter Tri-port 6Gb CR
IBM System and Software requirements
- IBM i 7.1 TR11, or later; IBM i 7.2 TR4, or later; IBM i 7.3, or later
- AIX for 4k drives: AIX 7.2 TL0, or later; AIX 7.1 TL3 SP3, or later; or AIX 7.1 TL4, or later; AIX 6.1 TL 9 SP 3, or later.
- AIX for 5xx drives: All AIX levels that are supported on that server.
- PowerVM VIOS for 4k drives: PowerVM VIOS V2.2.3.3, or later; PowerVM VIOS V2.2.4.0, or later. 387 GB and 775 GB capacity points are supported across all these software levels.
- PowerVM VIOS for 5xx drives: All VIOS levels that are supported on that server.
- PowerVM VIOS for 4k drives: VIOS 2.2.3.3 or later, VIOS 2.2.4.0 or later.
- SLES 11 SP4, or later; SLES 12, or later.
- RHEL 6.7, or later; RHEL 7.2, or later; Ubuntu 16.04, or later; Ubuntu 14.04.4, or later.
Limitation: Due to physical differences in the carrier/tray on which the drive is mounted, the SSD only fits in POWER8 system unit SAS bays (SFF-3). It does not fit in EXP24S drawers (SFF-2) or in 5802 and 5803 I/O drawers (SFF-1) or in POWER7 system units (SFF-1) SAS bays. Also the drive was not tested with 4096 byte sectors and thus JBOD mode for AIX/Linux is not supported. Note 4k and 5xx byte sector drives cannot be mixed in the same array.
The fourth-generation IBM SSD with eMLC4 are available for Power Systems servers with v and Power7 technology. These SAS SSDs are 2.5-inch SFF drives that can be installed either in the Power8 system unit SAS bays (SFF-3) or in EXP24S SAS bays (SFF-2) attached to a Power8 or Power7 server. The new eMLC4 SAS SSDs provide significantly improved price/performance compared to previous eMLC3 SSDs. eMLC4 SSD performance is improved over previous generations of Power eMLC SSDs. Compared to the eMLC3 SSDs, the new eMLC4 drives offer improved input/output operations per second (IOPS), throughput, and latency. For example, measurements show:
Up to 50% higher maximum IOPS value for random mixed read/write workloads
Up to 750 MBps while reading from the drive or up to 470 MBps while writing to the drive
Up to 20% better latency running a random mixed read/write workload (down to a 0.12 ms latency)
Up to 750 MBps while reading from the drive or up to 470 MBps while writing to the drive
Up to 20% better latency running a random mixed read/write workload (down to a 0.12 ms latency)
Power eMLC flash memory provides enterprise-class performance and reliability characteristics. The new fourth-generation eMLC SSDs build upon a heritage of performance and endurance to provide a better value proposition to users of Power8 and Power7 servers. They provide SAS 6 Gbps capability, but are designed to be 12 Gbps compliant if future SAS adapters support 12 Gbps capability.
As with IBM's earlier eMLC SSDs, the new drives are designed to deliver great endurance and reliability. For example, the new eMLC SSD modules are designed to provide 24x7x365 usage running write-intensive levels for about five years. Typical client usage is expected to be much lower, especially regarding the average percentage of writes, and thus drive lifespan can be much longer. Similar to the eMLC3 SSDs, the new SSDs provide a Drive Write Per Day (DWPD) rating of approximately "10." This rating estimates the number of times the SSD's capacity could be written per day over the projected life of the drive.
The Power8 servers that support the new SAS SSDs in their system unit are the S812L (8247-21L), S814 (8286-41A), S822 (8284-22A), S822L (8247-22L), S824 (8286-42A), S824L (8247-42L), and E850 (8408-E8E). The SFF-3 SAS bay in these servers uses an SFF-3 carrier/tray, on which the SAS drive is mounted. Other model Power8 servers do not have SAS bays in their system units and therefore can not support eMLC4 SFF-3 SSDs. Earlier Power servers do not use the SFF-3 SAS bay. When attached to a Power8 or Power7 server, the EXP24S I/O drawers (#5887 or #EL1S) can hold up to 24 of the new SAS SSDs. The EXP24S SAS bays use an SFF-2 carrier/tray, on which the SAS drive is mounted. For Power8 servers, the Power S814 (6-core and 8-core), S822, S824, E850, E870, and E880 support the #5887 EXP24S. The S812L, S822L, and S824L support the #EL1S EXP24S. For Power7 and Power7+™ servers, the new SSDs are supported on: 8231-E1C, 8231-E1D, 8268-E1D, 8202-E4D, 8231-E2C, 8231-E2D, 8205-E6C, 8205-E6D, 8408-E8D, 9109-RMD, 9117-MMC, 9117-MMD, 9179-MHC, 9179-MHD, 9119-FHB.
The eMLC4 SSDs refresh the previously available 387 GB and 775 GB capacity points for Power7 and Power8 servers. The eMLC4 SSDs add a new 1550 GB (1.55 TB) capacity point for Power8 servers. These are 400 GB, 800 GB, and 1600 GB SSDs that are always formatted either to 4224 (4k) byte sectors or to 528 (5xx) byte sectors for additional protection, resulting in 387 GB, 775 GB, and 1550 GB capacities. The 4096 or 512 byte sectors or JBOD are not supported. 4k drives are supported only on Power8 servers.
