Big Blue has licensed Fusion-io's core NAND flash ioMemory technology.

The plan is to use the SSD storage gear exclusively in IBM's System x server line. Apple co-founder and recently discovered Dancing Queen Steve Wozniak is now chief scientist for Fusion-io.

A new appliance, dubbed IBM High IOPS Adapter, is aimed at eliminating storage I/O bottlenecks and opening up storage bandwidth for transaction-heavy database applications, such as those used in banking, financial services, scientific research, medical imaging, social media, and online retail.

Fusion-io's main product is the ioDrive. It is the first direct-attached, solid-state server storage array that uses PCI-Express (PCIe) connectivity. It is capable of 120,000 random read/write IOPS—about and is about 100 times faster than a typical SATA (serial ATA) drive.

The new IBM High IOPS Adapter can be purchased through IBM no word on price yet.