IBM Announces Plans To Buy Texas Memory Systems

IBM is planning on acquiring flash memory pusher Texas Memory Systems (TMS) for an undisclosed sum.

TMS sells its solid state solutions under the RamSan family of rackmount Flash storage systems and Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) cards, meaning it competes against a host of big-name players such as Fujitsu and Fusion-io.

The move will also take IBM into closer competition with EMC, which has been investing much of its R&D funds into flash, on both the server and storage sides of the data centre. At EMC World earlier this year, it showcased its all-flash array known as Project X, as well as Project Thunder, which lets users combine the power of PCIe cards in one box.

Smarter storage?

“The TMS strategy and solution set align well with our Smarter Computing approach to information technology by helping clients realize increased performance and efficiencies at lower costs,” said Brian Truskowski, general manager, Systems Storage and Networking, IBM.

“Solid state technology, in particular, is a critical component of our new Smarter Storage approach to the design and deployment of storage infrastructures, and part of a holistic approach that exploits flash in conjunction with disk and tape technologies to solve complex problems.”

IBM plans to integrate TMS technologies into a variety of solutions including storage, servers, software and its PureSystems offerings, which were launched earlier this year, combining compute, networking and storage.

“With the global reach of IBM, we expect to grow the engineering staff and product lines much faster than we could before,” added Holly Frost, founder and CEO of TMS.

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