NEC iStorage M5 All-Flash Storage Array
Brand: NEC | Category: Storage Systems
SKU: NEC-N8400198F | Part #: N8400-198F | MPN: N8400-198F
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About the NEC iStorage M5 All-Flash Storage Array
The NEC iStorage M5 is a high-end enterprise all-flash array (AFA) designed for mission-critical OLTP, virtualization, and tier-1 storage workloads demanding consistent ultra-low latency and five-nines availability. The architecture employs a dual-controller active-active design with NVMe-based internal interconnects, ensuring no single point of failure and non-disruptive operations during maintenance or failure events. The M5 achieves sub-0.5ms read latency and up to 3.2 million IOPS, positioning it for the most demanding financial, healthcare, and manufacturing database environments.
The array supports both NVMe SSDs internally and NVMe-oF (NVMe over Fabrics) host connectivity via FC-NVMe and iSCSI, enabling end-to-end NVMe performance from host to storage. Inline data reduction technologies including adaptive compression, deduplication, and thin provisioning are always-on, with typical effective capacity ratios of 4:1 or greater. The M5 scales from 46.08TB raw to over 2PB effective capacity within a single system through drive-shelf expansion.
NEC iStorage M5 includes advanced enterprise software features natively: synchronous and asynchronous replication (iStorage Remote Replication), snapshot (up to 65,535 per volume), thin provisioning, Quality of Service (QoS) per volume, and REST API for automation. Deep integration with VMware vSphere (VASA/vVols), Microsoft Hyper-V, and OpenStack Cinder makes it a versatile platform for software-defined data centers.
Ideal for
- Oracle RAC and SQL Server Always On tier-1 database storage
- VMware vSphere All-Flash vSAN and traditional VMFS datastores
- SAP HANA persistent storage layer
- Epic EHR and healthcare PACS storage
- Financial trading platform low-latency storage
- Disaster recovery with synchronous replication to secondary site
Technical specifications
| Manufacturer | NEC |
| Form Factor | 2U Controller Enclosure + 2U/4U expansion shelves |
| Controller Configuration | Dual-controller Active-Active |
| Drive Type | NVMe SSD (TLC/MLC enterprise-grade) |
| Raw Capacity (base) | 46.08TB (12 x 3.84TB NVMe SSD per controller enclosure) |
| Max Raw Capacity | Over 460TB per system (with expansion shelves) |
| Max Effective Capacity | 2PB+ with data reduction |
| Max IOPS | 3.2 million (100% random 4K read) |
| Read Latency | < 0.5ms (99th percentile) |
| Write Latency | < 1ms (99th percentile) |
| Max Throughput | 40GB/s |
| Host Interface | 16Gb/32Gb Fibre Channel, 10/25GbE iSCSI, FC-NVMe, NVMe-oF |
| Host Ports per Controller | 8 x FC / 8 x iSCSI (configurable) |
| Cache (per controller) | 512GB DRAM write cache (battery-backed) |
| Data Reduction | Always-on inline deduplication + adaptive compression |
| Replication | Synchronous and asynchronous remote replication |
| Snapshots | Up to 65,535 per volume |
| Protocols | FC, iSCSI, FC-NVMe, NVMe/TCP |
| Management | NEC iStorage Manager, REST API, SNMP, SMI-S |
| Power Supply | Quad hot-swap redundant PSU |
| Availability | 99.9999% (six nines) |
| OS/Hypervisor Support | VMware vSphere (vVols/VASA), Windows Server, RHEL, AIX, HP-UX, Solaris |
Available from Omnixon Global. Submit an RFQ and our team will confirm configuration and availability for your order.
Technical Specifications
| Brand | NEC |
| Category | Storage Systems |
| SKU | NEC-N8400198F |
| Part Number | N8400-198F |
| Condition | New |
| Form Factor | 2U Controller Enclosure + 2U/4U expansion shelves |
| Controller Configuration | Dual-controller Active-Active |
| Drive Type | NVMe SSD (TLC/MLC enterprise-grade) |
| Raw Capacity (base) | 46.08TB (12 x 3.84TB NVMe SSD per controller enclosure) |
| Max Raw Capacity | Over 460TB per system (with expansion shelves) |
| Max Effective Capacity | 2PB+ with data reduction |
| Max IOPS | 3.2 million (100% random 4K read) |
| Read Latency | < 0.5ms (99th percentile) |
| Write Latency | < 1ms (99th percentile) |
| Max Throughput | 40GB/s |
| Host Interface | 16Gb/32Gb Fibre Channel, 10/25GbE iSCSI, FC-NVMe, NVMe-oF |
| Host Ports per Controller | 8 x FC / 8 x iSCSI (configurable) |
| Cache (per controller) | 512GB DRAM write cache (battery-backed) |
| Data Reduction | Always-on inline deduplication + adaptive compression |
| Replication | Synchronous and asynchronous remote replication |
| Snapshots | Up to 65,535 per volume |
| Protocols | FC, iSCSI, FC-NVMe, NVMe/TCP |
| Management | NEC iStorage Manager, REST API, SNMP, SMI-S |
| Power Supply | Quad hot-swap redundant PSU |
| Availability | 99.9999% (six nines) |
| OS/Hypervisor Support | VMware vSphere (vVols/VASA), Windows Server, RHEL, AIX, HP-UX, Solaris |
Frequently Asked Questions about NEC iStorage M5 All-Flash Storage Array
What does the NEC iStorage M5 All-Flash Storage Array do?
the NEC iStorage M5 All-Flash Storage Array suits enterprise data-center storage tiers — all-flash arrays, hyperconverged storage pools (vSAN, Ceph), database backends, and high-throughput backup repositories. It is supported by major server platforms.
What are the headline specs of the NEC iStorage M5 All-Flash Storage Array?
Key specifications for the NEC iStorage M5 All-Flash Storage Array: new condition; manufacturer NEC; form factor 2U Controller Enclosure + 2U/4U expansion shelves; controller configuration Dual-controller Active-Active; drive type NVMe SSD (TLC/MLC enterprise-grade); raw capacity (base) 46.08TB (12 x 3.84TB NVMe SSD per controller enclosure); max raw capacity Over 460TB per system (with expansion shelves). Manufacturer part number N8400-198F. For the full datasheet with electrical, environmental, and compliance details, contact our pre-sales engineering team.