Not Just for Giants: Introducing the “Mini” version of IIAS
It can be easy to think of IBM as a large enterprise that simply serves the needs of other large enterprises. That’s an understandable mistake. IBM does have dozens and dozens of huge clients and it does pride itself on building deep stacks of robust, versatile technology — and then spending as much time as necessary to make sure that that technology makes its clients thrive. To small and medium-sized firms, all of that expertise and attention can sound awfully expensive and therefore out of reach.
The truth is that throughout its history IBM has strived to serve smaller or mid-tier businesses that also need powerful technology and service — but at lower cost. It’s the right thing to do, but that approach has the added benefit of building relationships today with the firms that will be the giants of tomorrow. For all those reasons, IBM strives to bring the benefits of its technology to as wide a market as it can.
An exciting case in point is the recent release of a Mini version of the IBM Integrated Analytics System (IIAS). Like the mainline version of IIAS, the Mini enablement is a purpose-built, rack-mountable, cloud-ready system for data warehousing and analytics — a powerful combination of hardware and software.
As with the mainline version, the Mini enablement includes Db2 Warehouse with BLU Acceleration, IBM’s industry-leading in-memory columnar database technology. Those familiar with BLU Acceleration will already know that it also provides actionable compression, CPU acceleration, and data skipping, and that requires no indexes, aggregates, or tuning. And like the mainline, the Mini enablement also includes the IBM Common SQL Engine with built-in data federation, as well as Apache Spark™ for driving advanced analytics. The whole system is built on X86 using Intel chips.
The result is a machine that can server perfectly for development, test, or full production. If you do already have mainline IIAS machines, the Mini is perfectly compatible. With the same containerization code, container orchestration, and UI as the mainline, you can move applications freely between the two.
One additional point: Like the IIAS mainline machine, the Mini comes with disk-based encryption, but unlike the mainline, the Mini offers the ability to turn self-encryption on or off. That’s particularly important because it allows the Mini to be installed and used in China and other markets where clients need the ability to enable or disable encryption on the fly.
The Mini provides all that while remaining extremely cost effective, whether as a purchase or a lease. It’s part of IBM’s ongoing effort to put its best technology in the hands of small, medium, and developing organizations, who (just like the giants) need to store, explore, and manage their data as they grow and thrive.
Visit IBM online to learn more.
