IBM announced new e-business tools for storing data which all base on IBM's Seascape Storage Enterprise Architecture. The powerful new hardware and software storage solutions will enable companies to transform the way they manage and share information throughout their organisations. The products just announced include a completely new series of Storage Management Software for the entire enterprise, the Versatile Storage Server and a new, advanced generation of the Virtual Tape Server. Also today, IBM announced to include emerging fibre channel technologies and published a roadmap for Storage Area Networks.
With businesses becoming more reliant on data-driven applications like e-business and business intelligence to maintain a competitive edge, they must have reliable and ready access to stored information. Today's new IBM solutions incorporate a range of technologies and storage designs that help reduce overall storage costs and improve business efficiencies for customers.
"More and more companies are realising the strategic importance of managing their data by turning information from a static to a dynamic asset," said Jean-Marie Mathiot, Director of Storage, IBM Europe, Middle East & Africa. "Instead of simply storing data, companies need to move information, share it, manage and secure it. Indeed, storage matters for the electronic business. And we believe our Seascape blueprint is the most complete - and compelling - portrait of the storage environment of the future."
Today's new storage solutions are designed to deliver the requirements needed for data-intensive applications in a connected world. They include:
* IBM StorWatch, a family of enterprise storage resource management software products integrated with storage hardware. The StorWatch family is designed so that one person can manage storage resources centrally from anywhere in the global enterprise using a standard web browser.
* IBM Versatile Storage Server, a centralised, shared disk storage solution to support multiple UNIX, Windows NT and AS/400 servers. It is designed to consolidate, share and centrally manage storage across mixed-server environments; and
* The IBM Enhanced Virtual Tape Server designed to optimise tape storage resources, significantly improve performance and lower the total cost of ownership. Also announced are plans to expand this cost-effective tape storage solution for System/390 servers to include UNIX servers, for greater enterprise use of the storage solution;
IBM also announced it will introduce products that implement fibre channel technology for connecting servers with storage systems. IBM also outlined its vision for storage area networks (SANs). SANs are networks optimised for, and dedicated to, storage traffic.
One customer already riding the Seascape wave is Caribbean International Cruise Lines.
"Royal Caribbean International is constantly looking for ways to enrich the vacation experience for each of the guest son our ships", said Ron Sieman, Vice President of Royal Caribbean's Information Technology Department. "Using IBM's Seascape storage technologies, we will be better able to determine what our more than two million guests each year want from onboard activities and port-of-call visits so that their preferences are built into our new ships."
From Paper to Data - From Business to e-business - Industry Projections up to $44-billion by 2002
94% of all business information is still stored on paper - a tremendous growth opportunity for electronic storage systems, as now the cost of electronic data storage are significantly lower than all other data storage costs. The storage market is so expected to represent an opportunity of more than $44-billion by 2002, according to projections from International Data Corporation and Dataquest, leading market research firms. IBM Seascape solutions are designed around a common storage architecture. The architecture provides a blueprint so that various elements of the storage infrastructure can work together to create a comprehensive enterprise-wide storage environment. Seascape solutions can help companies consolidate, centralise and connect storage resources, manage the entire storage enterprise from a single central location, contain storage costs and share data across their organisations.
Resellers bullish on IBM Storage Strategy
IBM intends to heavily involve business partners to fulfil the customer's strongly increasing demand for cross-platform storage solutions. Business partners like Computer Gross have strongly invested into education and training of people for the IBM storage marketplace. "The storage market is increasing very quickly. The IBM Seascape Storage Architecture brings the right answers to the marketplace requirements," states Paolo Castellacci, President & CEO of Italy's storage distributor, Computer Gross. "IBM now delivers a very competitive price/performance ratio, from small to high end server environments where Compaq, HP, Sun or Digital server hardware are still dominant," Castellacci adds.
Customers in favour of IBM Seascape Strategy
For many customers, the prime requirement is that a new storage system should offer access for all existing platforms. Germany's DLW AG, a large European manufacturer of floor covering and office furniture, was faced with consolidating their storage. "In the future we want to separate the mass storage units from the processor. A central storage pool is to serve as a data platform for all existing servers," explains Peter Beckel, IS manager of DLW AG. The usual way of keeping dedicated disks for each server platform today can no longer be maintained from the business perspective. In addition new disks are currently needed with each processor upgrade. Therefore, the decision to choose SSA and Seascape was the only right one also from perspectives of investment protection."
IBM delivers the Next Wave in Storage Innovation - More details
IBM StorWatch Family
The StorWatch family is a powerful set of software products that allows companies to manage all the storage resources throughout their enterprise from a single point using a common interface.
The IBM StorWatch family lays the foundation to solve the problems of non-integrated storage management tools and reduce associated management costs. This new Seascape family addresses needs resulting from a history of unorchestrated industry development of storage hardware and software products. As a result, storage management tools have had little integration and operability, and broadly different interfaces. Administrators have needed to learn how to use multiple tools and develop specific skills for each new resource deployed. This has resulted in management costs that now far exceed initial purchase prices of storage hardware.
"Network administrators report two great personal benefits that derive from centralisation. They are centralised backup and central administrative control," said Michael Petersen, President of Strategic Research Corp. "IBM's StorWatch family for enterprise storage resource management specifically addresses the needs of administrators operating centralised networks who want to achieve continuous operations." According to Petersen, a typical decentralised, distributed LAN-based business operates with 90% to 96% server availability. The resulting downtime costs range from $20 000 to $75 000 per hour.
StorWatch management across the mixed-server storage enterprise will include management of storage assets, capacity, configuration and performance. From a common point of control, an administrator will be able to plan and manage storage capacity from anywhere in the enterprise without disrupting operations. This helps to limit system downtime and ensures the most efficient use of storage capacity as user requirements shift.
IBM plans to ship several StorWatch products this year, with others introduced in 1999 and beyond. IBM is planning future releases that will include management of removable media storage like tape libraries, integration with systems management products like Tivoli network systems management, and support of fibre channel attached products.
IBM Versatile Storage Server
As storage administrative costs continue to climb and management becomes increasingly complex, companies are consolidating their storage enterprises into more compact, manageable operations in record numbers. The IBM Versatile Storage Server is a Seascape solution of integrated storage building blocks designed to let companies more easily manage and share storage resources, and to give them more flexibility when centralising and consolidating UNIX, Windows NT and AS/400 servers. The Versatile Storage Server also provides dynamic management of disk storage and allows true data sharing among like servers.
With the Versatile Storage Server, companies can protect their existing storage investments by incorporating IBM 7133 Serial Disk Systems directly into the new solution when convenient. Centralised management is simplified with the IBM StorWatch Versatile Storage Specialist that lets companies use a standard web browser to directly monitor and define system operational characteristics and reallocated disk storage space. The Versatile Storage Server is the first Seascape solution to use two intelligent, independent storage servers within the storage/server complex. Two servers can improve performance by potentially doubling data throughput. The dual-server design can also increase the availability of data in the enterprise, as the second server provides a functional backup in case of problems.
A number of advanced features have been incorporated into the Versatile Storage Server to prevent data loss and data corruption. It is designed to preserve the highest levels of data integrity available today with a one-of-a kind function that verifies data accuracy at every operational step. Other features, such as automatic failover technologies, can help keep data highly available for business use.
The Versatile Storage Server may be ordered for a wide range of open systems servers, including IBM RS/6000* and AS/400, Hewlett-Packard, DEC, Sun Microsystems and servers running Windows NT. It is planned to be generally available in August.
IBM Enhanced Virtual Tape Server
The IBM Virtual Tape Server (VTS) is a highly successful Seascape solution introduce din 1997 with over 500 units shipped to date. VTS is a completely integrated tape storage solution for S/390 server data. It integrates high-performance Magstar tape drives and libraries with robust IBM storage management software, powerful processors, and fault-tolerant RAID disks into a storage server solution that maximises customers' tape investments and improves tape processing operations.
By stacking multiple data files onto individual Magstar 3590 tape cartridges, the Virtual Tape Server greatly reduces hardware storage requirements. As a result, the floor space occupied by cartridges, tape drives, and automation systems is dramatically reduced, as well as the cost in operations handling to process the workload. In addition, the integrated cache and virtual drives/volumes greatly improve response times, while reducing batch windows.
Today, IBM is delivering significant improvements to the VTS that will give customers even greater improvements in performance and capacity, while lowering cost of ownership. Enhancements include a more powerful processor, additional ESCON* connection options and an increase in disk cache of up to 864 GB (with 3:1 compression). IBM also announced plans to connect the enhanced VTS to UNIX servers. This will give companies broader use of their tape storage, and increased efficiency in managing storage resources.
Fibre Channel and Storage Area Network Plans
IBM Seascape architecture provides support for a wide variety of options for connecting servers to storage. IBM announced the intention to expand these options to include emerging fibre channel technologies and Storage Area Networks. Included in this are plans to use industry standard fibre channel technology for key Seascape-based storage systems and building blocks, including the IBM Versatile Storage Server, IBM Virtual Tape Server, and IBM Magstar tape subsystem, for IBM and non-IBM servers. IBM also intends to provide additional connectivity solutions for the IBM 7133 Serial Disk System.
Adding this support will enable companies to locate servers and storage at grater distances from one another (a requirement for remote operations) to improve sharing of storage systems and to increase data throughput for many applications. Storage Area Networks will help move much of the data traffic off overloaded systems networks into dedicated storage networks.
In addition, IBM is announcing plans to provide fibre channel connectivity for both SSA and SCSI-based storage systems, and support for fibre channel hubs and switches. This will let customers protect their investments in the high-performance SSA technology. Availability for fibre channel-to-SCSI solutions is planned for the fourth quarter. IBM plans for the IBM RAMAC storage family, including the RAMAC Virtual Array with ESCON channels, to be supported through S/390 G5 server fibre channel architectures in the first quarter of 1999, to be followed by FICON switches.
Share
Editorial contacts