z/OS Distributed Data Backup (zDDB)

The z/OS I/O subsystem communicates with the disk controller by sending out Channel Command Words (CCWs). These disk devices are setup for Extended Count Key Data (ECKD™) format.

zDDB is an optional licensed feature introduced in 2010 for DS8700 storage controllers (and subsequent models) that allows devices on hosts attached through FICON® interfaces to access data on fixed block (FB) volumes. Typically, FBA disk devices are connected to Linux, UNIX®, and Windows® operating systems.

With zDDB, two views of the disk devices are presented, one for z/OS and one for the distributed system.

For more information about the zDDB feature of the DS8700 storage controller, see the DS8K information center.