Technical overview

IBM® DS8880 is a high-performance, high-capacity storage system that supports continuous operation, data security, and data resiliency. It is the latest and most advanced storage system in the IBM DS8000® series. The storage system consists of a base frame, and depending on the configuration, up to four expansion frames. For high-availability, the hardware components are redundant.

DS8880 adds a base frame and expansion frame to the 283x machine type family.

The base frame contains the processor nodes, I/O enclosures, Ethernet switches, and the Hardware Management Console (HMC), in addition to power and storage enclosures. The HMC is a small form factor computer and uses a keyboard and monitor that are stored in the base frame. An optional secondary HMC is also available in the base frame. A secondary HMC can provide high-availability, particularly for important processes such as encryption, Copy Services, and the HMC storage management functions.
Depending on the system configuration, you can add up to four expansion frames to the storage system. Only the first expansion frame contains I/O enclosures, which provide more host adapters, device adapters, and flash RAID adapters.

The DS8880 features two model types, DS8884 and DS8886.

The DS8884 storage system includes 6-core processors and is scalable with up to 120 flash cards, up to 768 standard drives, up to 256 GB system memory, and up to 64 host adapter ports. The DS8884 includes a base frame (model 980), up to two expansion frames (model 98B), and a 40U capacity in each frame.
The DS8886 storage system is scalable with up to 24-core processors, up to 240 flash cards, up to 1,536 standard drives, up to 2048 GB system memory, and up to 128 host adapter ports. The DS8886 includes a base frame (model 981), up to four expansion frames (model 98E), and an expandable 40-46U capacity in each frame.
Note: You can convert a DS8870 system to a DS8886 configuration.

The DS8880 features standard 19-inch wide frames and energy efficient DC-UPS modules that provide 8 KW of single-phase power.

Licensed functions are available in three groups:

Base Function: The Base Function license is required for each DS8880 storage system. The licensed features include Database Protection, Encryption Authorization, Easy Tier®, I/O Priority Manager, Thin Provisioning, and the Operating Environment License.
Copy Services: Copy Services features help you implement storage solutions to keep your business running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by providing data duplication, data migration, and disaster recovery functions. The licensed features include Global Mirror, Metro Mirror, Metro/Global Mirror, Point-in-Time Copy/FlashCopy®, z/OS® Global Mirror, and z/OS Metro/Global Mirror Incremental Resync (RMZ).
z-synergy Services: The z-synergy Services include z/OS licensed features that are supported on the storage system. The licensed features include High Performance FICON® for z Systems™, HyperPAV, PAV, and z/OS Distributed Data Backup.

DS8880 integrates high-performance flash enclosures and flash cards to provide a higher level of performance.

DS8880 also includes features such as:

POWER8® processors
Power-usage reporting
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-131A enablement

Other functions that are supported in both the DS8000 Storage Management GUI and the DS command-line interface (DS CLI) include:

Easy Tier
Data encryption
Thin provisioning

You can use the DS8000 Storage Management GUI and the DS command-line interface (DS CLI) to manage and logically configure the storage system.

Functions that are supported in only the DS command-line interface (DS CLI) include:

Point-in-time copy functions with IBM FlashCopy
Remote Mirror and Copy functions, including
- Metro Mirror
- Global Copy
- Global Mirror
- Metro/Global Mirror
- z/OS Global Mirror
- z/OS Metro/Global Mirror
- Multiple Target PPRC
I/O Priority Manager

DS8880 meets hazardous substances (RoHS) requirements by conforming to the following EC directives:

Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2011 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. It has been demonstrated that the requirements specified in Article 4 are met.
EN 50581:2012 technical documentation for the assessment of electrical and electronic products regarding the restriction of hazardous substances.

The IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager stores data keys that are used to secure the key hierarchy that is associated with the data encryption functions of various devices, including the DS8000 series. It can be used to provide, protect, and maintain encryption keys that are used to encrypt information that is written to and decrypt information that is read from encryption-enabled disks. IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager operates on various operating systems.