IBM and StorageTek have announced plans for major performance and functional improvements to the IBM Ramac Virtual Array (RVA) in 1999. This is a leading high-end storage system supporting a virtual architecture that provides innovative functions.
Planned developments include improving performance and providing four times the number of addressable volumes. These improvements will allow customers to improve their capability to maintain online transaction processing (OLTP) response time, and to meet the demands of increasing business application workloads.
More volumes (increased from 256 to 1 024), coupled with the planned introduction of 3390-9 device emulation, will enable customers to leverage their use of SnapShot software, and enable increased storage capacity for the RVA.
SnapShot provides near-instantaneous point-in-time copies that consume minimal additional storage space. By increasing the number of addressable volumes, customers can exploit the use of SnapShot.
"Our partnership agreement with StorageTek continues to translate into benefits for the high-end storage user," says Michael Harrison, director of worldwide marketing, IBM Storage Systems Division. "This relationship exemplifies the advantages that can be brought to customers of combining forces to meet the high demand for robust storage requirements."
Planned performance improvements will be delivered in several ways. The effective size of cache will be increased from 4GB to 6GB. Also planned are faster microprocessors. These enhancements, coupled with the volume increase to 1 024, will improve storage management by enabling users to consolidate their storage needs onto higher capacity RVA systems.
IBM market projections indicate that nearly every customer of the almost 6 000 installed RVAs worldwide needs to exploit functional enhancements planned for delivery early next year. An independent survey further indicates that more than half of SnapShot users have increased their online windows by four or more hours a day. This sets a new performance standard by shifting the focus from how fast an individual record can be processed, to adding up to an additional 20% of processing time for all business applications every day.
These new plans follow a year of rapid technology introduction from IBM, focused on availability, performance and functional enhancements in order to maximise business impact through IBM storage system`s capabilities. IBM is also reporting excellent progress with its early installations of the much anticipated remote copy capability on the RVA.
StorageTek products are distributed in South Africa by CMS, a company in the MGX Holdings group.
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