Software helps extend virtual storage capacities.
Press Release Summary:
TotalStorage® SAN Volume Controller Storage Software v3.1 provides flexibility and extended storage virtualization for multiple environments. It lends clustering, SAN boot, and OS support to host server functions and allows up to 1,024 host attachments per SAN Volume Controller cluster for selected SAN fabrics. It can converge up to 4 independent, heterogeneous SAN fabrics into one common virtualized pool of storage as well as configure specific virtual disks individually.
Original Press Release:
IBM TotalStorage SAN Volume Controller Storage Software V3.1 Expands Host Support and Array-Based Copy Services
At a glance
Are your storage requirements growing too fast? Are the costs of managing this growth taking more and more of your IT budget? IBM TotalStorage SAN Volume Controller Storage Software V3.1 can help deliver the benefits of storage virtualization that can make your storage environment more flexible and cost effective, by:
Enhancing the host server functions with clustering, SAN boot, new operating systems, and increased numbers of host attachments
Enabling increased configuration flexibility with use of underlying array copy services on a per-vdisk basis
Complementing these software enhancements with an updated hardware platform, the SAN Volume Controller is positioned to manage your more demanding and more diverse customer workloads.
For ordering, contact:
Your IBM representative, an IBM Business Partner, or IBM Americas Call Centers at 800-IBM-CALL (Reference: YE001).
Overview
New capabilities support expanded host environments with IBM TotalStorage® SAN Volume Controller Storage Software V3.1. IBM offers scalability updates and interoperability enhancements that are intended to provide greater flexibility and to extend the benefits of storage virtualization into more of your environments.
SAN Volume Controller Storage Software V3.1 continues to increase customer support with additional operating systems' environment support including support for a new version of Veritas Dynamic Multipathing (DMP) for Solaris hosts, and newly supported versions for HP-UNIX® and SUSE SLES LINUX. Clustering support for Sun Solaris operating systems is broadened in SAN Volume Controller Storage Software V3.1 to now include Sun Cluster 3.
SAN Volume Controller Storage Software V3.1 also offers extended host environment support with the capability to attach up to 1024 hosts per SAN Volume Controller cluster for selected SAN fabrics. New convergence capability of joining up to four independent, heterogeneous SAN fabrics into one common virtualized pool of storage under SAN Volume Controller Storage Software V3.1 also enhances SAN management support.
To more fully support storage controller environments, SAN Volume Controller Storage Software V3.1 now provides the ability to configure specific Virtual Disks (vdisks) individually to utilize the advanced copy services of underlying controllers, for selected arrays. This can help enable you to realize the benefits of storage pooling and data migrations while continuing to use the copy services from their underlying disk arrays on a vdisk-by-vdisk granularity.
New GUI operations, available now in SAN Volume Controller Storage Software, are designed to help improve the storage administrator's productivity by further simplifying the product.
In conjunction with this new software, IBM is also offering a new hardware upgrade to the IBM TotalStorage SAN Volume Controller storage engine platform, which is designed to help improve overall input/output throughput. This new storage engine will be the hardware platform shipped with all new SAN Volume Controller cluster orders. The new storage engine can be added in pairs to existing SAN Volume Controller clusters, after upgrading the existing cluster software to the new V3.1, up to the maximum cluster size of eight.
For specific models and host environments supported, refer to our support Web site at http://www.ibm.com/storage/support/2145
Planned availability dates
November 18, 2005: New orders and Web eGA by entitled AAS customers
November 18, 2005: Web availability from Passport Advantage®
December 2, 2005: Physical media availability from Passport Advantage
