Cloud Storage Solutions (Host Software Group)

Good news, everyone! Our IBM XIV Storage Replication Adapter (SRA), version 2.3.0 is fully certified to operate with the following releases of the VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager: 5.5, 5.5 Update1, 5.8, 6.0 and 6.1. In addition, this release brings support for synchronous mirroring, using the newest IBM's all-flash storage offerings: ultra-fast IBM FlashSystem A9000 and IBM FlashSystem A9000R.

Details are in the VMware Compatibility Guide at https://ibm.biz/Bdrby2. The product documentation is available on IBM Knowledge Center at https://ibm.biz/BdrpBb.

IBM Spectrum Control Base Edition has been upgraded to a new version - 3.0.1. This release replaces the previous version (3.0.0). It brings significant enhancements in the application performance and stability. These include:

• Vital improvement of memory utilization by IBM Storage Enhancements for VMware vSphere Web Client on the vCenter server.  
• Optimization of the vCenter object population procedure, enabling the application to use the VIM API for fetching only differences in configuration instead of populating the whole inventory.

For nearly a year in development, a new version of IBM Storage Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM), 2.5.0, is out. This release brings support for the latest IBM's all-flash storage systems: super-fast IBM FlashSystem A9000 and IBM FlashSystem A9000R with microcode 12.0.x. In addition, it supports the newest releases of the following IBM storage products:

• Storwize Family and SVC 7.7
• DS8880 8.1

Note: FlashSystem V9000 will be supported in Q3 of 2016.

OpenStack Mitaka is upon us, and with it - a new IBM Storage Driver to support this release. This time it is version 1.7.0. This release brings support for the newest IBM's all-flash storage offerings: ultra-fast IBM FlashSystem A9000 and IBM FlashSystem A9000R. In addition, it brings the following exciting features:

• Support for high-availability and disaster recovery of applications running on top of OpenStack clouds, using volume replication version 2.1, introduced in OpenStack Mitaka.
• Utilization of OpenStack volume QoS on FlashSystem A9000 and FlashSystem A9000R storage systems.
• Adoption of image-volume caching on DS8000 storage systems.

Install and enjoy!

A new version of the IBM XIV Provider for Microsoft Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS), version 2.8.0, joins the ranks of the IBM's cloud storage solutions that support the newly introduced all-flash IBM FlashSystem A9000 and IBM FlashSystem A9000R.

A new version of the IBM Storwize Family Storage Replication Adapter is here. It's version 3.2.0, which adds support for the local HyperSwap for IBM SVC and Storwize systems, running IBM Spectrum Virtualize software. This new topology is used with VMware vSphere to enable transparent VMware vMotion migration and automatic VMware HA failover of virtualized workloads between physical data centers. This update:

• Introduces application consistency, maintaining a useful DR image (with RPO > 0), even in the case of a rolling disaster (a storage failure before an inter-site link or replication is established).
• Ensures replication between four nodes for greater resiliency in the case of a site failure.

A new milestone for IBM Spectrum Control Base Edition - version 3.0.0. This release brings support for the newest IBM's all-flash storage offerings: ultra-fast IBM FlashSystem A9000 and IBM FlashSystem A9000R. In addition, the web management interface of the package has been enhanced and improved to support the abstracted storage provisioning method. This release can be installed on RHEL 7.0–7.2.
In general, IBM Spectrum Control Base Edition became a more robust, user-friendly and safe solution for managing multiple IBM storage platforms.

We are proud to announce a new HAK release - version 2.6.0. Starting from this version, IBM XIV Host Attachment Kit has been renamed to IBM Storage Host Attachment Kit to indicate support for additional storage systems, including the newly announced all-flash IBM FlashSystem A9000 and IBM FlashSystem A9000R. In addition, this version introduces support for RHEL 7.2, SLES 12 and SLES 12 SP1. Moreover, selected Linux releases can now be run on IBM Power Systems servers, as detailed in the HAK release notes.

The new and improved OpenStack Cinder driver for IBM SVC, Storwize Family, and FlashSystem V9000 storage systems has been released!  This release complies with the OpenStack Mitaka specifications, enabling IBM storage customers to fully utilize the cutting-edge OpenStack data storage enhancements.

The new features include:

• Support for multi-pool configuration within a single backend, solving the SSH limitation for Storwize Family products.
• Support for multiple management IP addresses, enabling a switch-over to the secondary IP, if the primary management IP fails.

Moreover, the new SVC and Storwize Family microcode version (7.7) will be supported at its release on June 1, 2016 without any driver code change.

Upgrade and enjoy!

VMware administrator, provision new datastores for your applications yourself, using IBM Storage Enhancements for vSphere Web Client. Use abstracted storage services, provided by your storage administrator. The services are consistent with application requirements with extendable storage space and VVol support. IBM Storage Enhancements for vSphere Web Client come packaged with IBM Spectrum Control Base Edition, a nifty storage provisioning tool integrated with a variety of VMware solutions for automation, monitoring, orchestration and native support of VVols and VASA API. Check the solution overview on YouTube at https://youtu.be/tf-0LGABZK8.

To make this happen, IBM has teamed up with VMware, creating a better experience for administrators and end users. We are proud to be one of the first partners in VMware's Web Client Plug-in certification program.
Learn more about the VMware program here: http://vmw.re/1S2FF7B.

We worked hard and it finally happened! Our own IBM XIV Storage Replication Adapter (SRA), version 2.2.2 is fully certified to operate with the following releases of the VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager: 5.5, 5.5 Update1, 5.8, 6.0 and 6.1. Although this version is considered a minor release, making the SRA work with all the latest SRM versions was a challenging goal, involving a battery of compatibility tests and closely tied cooperation between the IBM and VMware interoperability teams.

Details are in the VMware Compatibility Guide at https://ibm.biz/BdHuPj. The product documentation is available on IBM Knowledge Center at https://ibm.biz/BdHL7A.

Time to do some XIV mirroring :).

We're pleased to announce the release of the new IBM DS8000 Storage Replication Adapter version - 2.3.1. As you know, IBM DS8000 Storage Replication Adapter is a software add-on that integrates with VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM) solution. It enables SRM to perform failovers together with IBM DS8000 storage systems.

This release brings the following new features:

• Adding support for the Extent Space Efficient (ESE) volumes, offering customers an option of producing an ESE volume when SRA creates flash copies.
• Removing the GM Flashcopy on the source site after successful re-protect. This prevents consumption of the pool capacity at the source site and improves overall system efficiency.

In addition, version 2.3.1 introduces support of the all-new member of the DS8000 family, DS8880 (v.8.0), enhancing its industry-leading disaster recovery capabilities.

We are proud to announce that the IBM Storage Driver for OpenStack has been recently upgraded to a new version - 1.6.0. This version brings support for OpenStack Liberty release, as well as for DS8870 microcode version 7.5 SP3 and DS8880 version 8.01. In addition, this release introduces the XIV and Spectrum Accelerate support for the OpenStack consistency groups. It also brings in the RESTful API that replaced the Java-based ESSNI driver in DS8000 storage systems.

A new version of IBM Storage Support for Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service and Virtual Disk Service has been released. This is version 4.11.0, which introduces support for the following storage system microcodes:

• Storwize Family, SVC and FlashSystem V9000, ver. 7.6.0
• DS8800, ver. 8.0

Also, version 4.11.0 adds support for temporary (non-persistent) read/write access to a snapshot.