IBM FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R, IBM XIV, and IBM Spectrum Accelerate with IBM SAN Volume Controller Best Practices


Book Description

This IBM® RedpaperTM publication describes preferred practices for attaching members of the IBM SpectrumTM Accelerate family, including the IBM XIV® Gen3 Storage System, IBM FlashSystem® A9000, IBM FlashSystem A9000R, and other IBM Spectrum AccelerateTM based deployments, to either an IBM System Storage® SAN Volume Controller or IBM Storwize® V7000 system. The paper also explains what to consider for data migration when done in combination with a SAN Volume Controller or a Storwize V7000 system. In addition, this publication describes data reduction, and where it is appropriate to enable data reduction.




IBM FlashSystem A9000R Product Guide (Version 12.3.2)


Book Description

This IBM® Redbooks® Product Guide is an overview of the main characteristics, features, and technology that are used in IBM FlashSystem® A9000R Model 415 and Model 425, with IBM FlashSystem A9000R Software V12.3.2. Software version 12.3.2, with Hyper-Scale Manager version 5.6 or later, introduces support for VLAN tagging and port trunking.. IBM FlashSystem A9000R is a grid-scale, all-flash storage platform designed for industry leaders with rapidly growing cloud storage and mixed workload environments to help drive your business into the cognitive era. FlashSystem A9000R provides consistent, extreme performance for dynamic data at scale, integrating the microsecond latency and high availability of IBM FlashCore® technology. The rack-based offering comes integrated with the world class software features that are built with IBM SpectrumTM Accelerate. For example, comprehensive data reduction, including inline pattern removal, data deduplication, and compression, helps lower total cost of ownership (TCO) while the grid architecture and IBM Hyper-Scale framework simplify and automate storage administration. The A9000R features always on data reduction and now offers intelligent capacity management for deduplication. Ready for the cloud and well-suited for large deployments, FlashSystem A9000R delivers predictable high performance and ultra-low latency, even under heavy workloads with full data reduction enabled. As a result, the grid-scale architecture maintains this performance by automatically self-optimizing workloads across all storage resources without manual intervention.




Using the IBM Spectrum Accelerate Family in VMware Environments: IBM XIV, IBM FlashSystem A9000 and IBM FlashSystem A9000R, and IBM Spectrum Accelerate


Book Description

This IBM® RedpaperTM publication is a brief overview of synergistic aspects between various VMware offerings and the IBM SpectrumTM Accelerate family, including IBM XIV® and IBM FlashSystem® A9000 and IBM FlashSystem A9000R servers. After reviewing different integration concepts and explaining general implementation aspects for attaching the IBM Spectrum AccelerateTM family to VMware ESXi deployments, the paper focuses on components that are enabled by IBM Spectrum Connect v3.4. This paper is intended for planning to use or implementing the IBM Spectrum Accelerate family of storage systems in a VMware environment.




IBM Hyper-Scale Manager for IBM Spectrum Accelerate Family: IBM XIV, IBM FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R, and IBM Spectrum Accelerate


Book Description

This IBM® Redbooks® publication describes storage management functions and their configuration and use with the IBM Hyper-Scale Manager management graphical user interface (GUI) for IBM XIV® Gen3, IBM FlashSystem® A9000 and A9000R, and IBM SpectrumTM Accelerate software. The web-based GUI provides a revolutionary object-centered interface design that is aimed toward ease of use together with enhanced efficiency for storage administrators. The first chapter describes general features of the GUI and installation of the IBM Hyper-Scale Manager server. Subsequent chapters illustrate some typical GUI actions, among many other possibilities, to manage and configure the storage systems, to define security roles, and to set up multitenancy. For most of the GUI-based actions that are illustrated in this book, the corresponding XIV Storage System command-line interface (XCLI) commands are also shown. This edition applies to IBM Hyper-Scale Manager V5.4. IBM Hyper-Scale Manager based GUI information regarding host attachment and replication is covered in IBM FlashSystem A9000, IBM FlashSystem A9000R, and IBM XIV Storage System: Host Attachment and Interoperability, SG24-8368 and IBM FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R Business Continuity Solutions, REDP-5401. See also IBM HyperSwap and Multi-site HA/DR for IBM FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R, REDP-5434.




IBM FlashSystem A9000, IBM FlashSystem A9000R, and IBM XIV Storage System: Host Attachment and Interoperability


Book Description

This IBM® Redbooks® publication provides information for attaching the IBM FlashSystem® A9000, IBM FlashSystem A9000R, and IBM XIV® Storage System to various host operating system platforms, such as IBM AIX® and Microsoft Windows. This publication was last updated in May 2019 to cover the VLAN tagging and port trunking support available with software version 12.3.2 (see in particular section 2.4, "VLAN tagging" on page 67. The goal is to give an overview of the versatility and compatibility of the IBM SpectrumTM Accelerate family of storage systems with various platforms and environments. The information that is presented here is not meant as a replacement or substitute for the IBM Storage Host Attachment Kit publications or other product publications. It is meant as a complement and to provide usage guidance and practical illustrations. This publication does not address attachments to a secondary system used for Remote Mirroring or data migration. These topics are covered in IBM FlashSystem A9000 and IBM FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R Business Continuity Solutions, REDP-5401.




iSCSI Implementation and Best Practices on IBM Storwize Storage Systems


Book Description

This IBM® Redbooks® publication helps administrators and technical professionals understand Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) and how to implement it for use with IBM Storwize® storage systems. iSCSI can be used alone or with other technologies. This publication provides an overview of the iSCSI protocol and helps you understand how it is similar to and different from Fibre Channel (FC) technology. It helps you plan and design your network topology. It explains how to configure your IBM Storwize storage systems and hosts (including IBM AIX®, Linux, VMware, and Microsoft Windows hosts) to interact with it. It also provides an overview of using IBM Storwize storage systems with OpenStack. This book describes configuring iSCSI for IBM Storwize and SAN Volume Controller storage systems at Version 7.6 or later. In addition to configuration, this publication provides information about performance and troubleshooting.




IBM SAN Volume Controller Best Practices and Performance Guidelines for IBM Spectrum Virtualize Version 8.4.2


Book Description

This IBM® Redbooks® publication captures several of the preferred practices and describes the performance gains that can be achieved by implementing the IBM SAN Volume Controller powered by IBM Spectrum® Virtualize Version 8.4.2. These practices are based on field experience. This book highlights configuration guidelines and preferred practices for the storage area network (SAN) topology, clustered system, back-end storage, storage pools and managed disks, volumes, Remote Copy services and hosts. It explains how you can optimize disk performance with the IBM System Storage Easy Tier® function. It also provides preferred practices for monitoring, maintaining, and troubleshooting. This book is intended for experienced storage, SAN, IBM FlashSystem®, IBM SAN Volume Controller, and IBM Storwize® administrators and technicians. Understanding this book requires advanced knowledge of these environments.




Data-at-rest Encryption for the IBM Spectrum Accelerate Family


Book Description

With the ever-growing landscape of national, state, and local regulations, industry requirements, and increased security threats, ensuring the protection of an organization's information is a key part of operating a successful business. Encrypting data-at-rest is a key element when addressing these concerns. Most storage products offer encryption at an additional cost. The IBM® Spectrum Accelerate family, which includes IBM XIV® Storage System, IBM FlashSystem® A9000, IBM FlashSystem A9000R system(s), and IBM SpectrumTM Accelerate Software provides data-at-rest encryption at no charge. Clients can take advantage of encryption and still benefit from the lower total cost of ownership (TCO) that the IBM Spectrum AccelerateTM family offers. For IBM FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R, clients now have a choice between an external key manager-based implementation or a local key based encryption implementation. The local key solution offers a simplified deployment of data-at-rest encryption. This IBM RedpaperTM publication explains the architecture and design of the XIV and IBM FlashSystem A9000 and A9000R encryption solutions. Details are provided for configuring and implementing both solutions.




IBM Software-Defined Storage Guide


Book Description

Today, new business models in the marketplace coexist with traditional ones and their well-established IT architectures. They generate new business needs and new IT requirements that can only be satisfied by new service models and new technological approaches. These changes are reshaping traditional IT concepts. Cloud in its three main variants (Public, Hybrid, and Private) represents the major and most viable answer to those IT requirements, and software-defined infrastructure (SDI) is its major technological enabler. IBM® technology, with its rich and complete set of storage hardware and software products, supports SDI both in an open standard framework and in other vendors' environments. IBM services are able to deliver solutions to the customers with their extensive knowledge of the topic and the experiences gained in partnership with clients. This IBM RedpaperTM publication focuses on software-defined storage (SDS) and IBM Storage Systems product offerings for software-defined environments (SDEs). It also provides use case examples across various industries that cover different client needs, proposed solutions, and results. This paper can help you to understand current organizational capabilities and challenges, and to identify specific business objectives to be achieved by implementing an SDS solution in your enterprise.




IBM SAN Volume Controller Best Practices and Performance Guidelines


Book Description

This IBM® Redbooks® publication describes several of the preferred practices and describes the performance gains that can be achieved by implementing the IBM SAN Volume Controller powered by IBM Spectrum® Virtualize V8.4. These practices are based on field experience. This book highlights configuration guidelines and preferred practices for the storage area network (SAN) topology, clustered system, back-end storage, storage pools, and managed disks, volumes, Remote Copy services, and hosts. Then, it provides performance guidelines for IBM SAN Volume Controller, back-end storage, and applications. It explains how you can optimize disk performance with the IBM System Storage Easy Tier® function. It also provides preferred practices for monitoring, maintaining, and troubleshooting IBM SAN Volume Controller. This book is intended for experienced storage, SAN, and IBM SAN Volume Controller administrators and technicians. Understanding this book requires advanced knowledge of the IBM SAN Volume Controller, IBM FlashSystem, and SAN environments.