FlashCore Module (FCM)

A FlashCore Module (FCM) is a purpose-built NVMe drive IBM designs for its FlashSystem and Storage Virtualize based storage arrays. Unlike a commodity NVMe SSD, a FlashCore Module performs compression and encryption inside its own drive controller rather than relying on the storage system's general-purpose processors. IBM has released four FlashCore Module generations to date (FCM1 through FCM4), each cataloged across a capacity range from 4.8 TB to 38.4 TB usable, with its own IBM part numbers and feature codes per generation and capacity. Buyers comparing enterprise flash storage resellers should ask which FlashCore Module generation a quoted FlashSystem array uses, since older and newer generations are not always interchangeable within the same array.