This week at IBM Flash 2013, theCube sat down with Brad McCredie, CTO of IBM’s Server and Server Technology Division.  They tackled the important topic of end-to-end software and storage, converging in the datacenter. McCredie heralds how flash has eliminated the impediments in integrating servers with storage. After all, that’s what IBM Flash 2013 is all about.

“One of the things we’re here talking about today, Flash, really has lowered a lot of barriers into making a single entity out of the server and the storage,” McCredie says. “So much of what we talked about right now with what flash can do, we talk about how much power it can take out of the system, and how much lower floor space, less expense, no dollar pry up coming way down.”

But is it really the Flash device that’s enabling all of that? McCredie says “yes,” but there’s a catch. Sure, the Flash device plays a significant role, but it’s actually all about getting rid of the what’s in between storage and server that creates latency and delay.

“The flash device of course has a lot do with that but one the biggest things that’s causing that to be enabled is the fact that we put so much between the server and the storage to make that sequential access device to look like a random access device.

“If you really think about, ‘what is the storage controller?’ You got two servers there with a whole pile of DRAM to help make that sequential device look random. And you got to put two of them because its storage and you can’t have it fail. And then you have to go and put two power supplies behind it. With flash, you can take a lot of stuff that used to create latency, that used to create delay between the storage and server’s gone, and we pull it a lot closer. That’s enabling us to do a lot.”

When asked about how the process works at IBM and what SGT’s role is in the company, McCredie explains that it’s all about lowering overall costs for their customers by pulling server, storage, and network closer.

“Our role is to try ways where we can strategically go and take advantage of breadth in IBM. Certainly going across server, storage, network, and integrating them into a single product is a big advantage where a lot of the leverages today take cost off our customers’ installations. So my job is to bring those three things together to make them into a seamless presentation to the customer. Pulling server, storage and network together is probably the next big lever to take costs out of the data centers.”