Updates in previous versions

Learn about updates in previous versions of IBM Storage Defender.

Release Date: March 25, 2025

Version: 2.0.12

Aid the user to group assets based on information from backup sources

This feature leverages many environmental cues to automatically group assets into applications, or recovery groups. In earlier versions, information from the client's vCenter was used, which did not utilize all available metadata from sources like IBM Storage Protect and IBM Storage Defender Data Protect. In the version 2.0.12, all relevant metadata is incorporated to suggest groups, specifically related to Oracle and SAP HANA, from IBM Storage Defender Data Protect. This enhancement provides clients with more confidence in cyber resiliency.

For more information, see Automatic generation of recovery groups and governance profiles

Enhancements to Data Resiliency Service app awareness for Microsoft Active Directory and IBM® Db2®

In the earlier version of IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service (Data Resiliency Service), you could collect the inventory of databases Oracle and SAP HANA from IBM Storage Defender Data Protect. Starting with the version 2.0.12, there are enhancements that include the ability to gather inventory of Microsoft Active Directory or IBM Db2 instances.

Data Resilience Service awareness for IBM Fusion

With considerations of the client’s need to protect a wide variety of assets, Data Resiliency Service support extended beyond VMware and few databases. In this release, Data Resiliency Service started to extend the support to other devices such as containers delivered through IBM Fusion. In this release, clients can harness the inventory of containers from their IBM Fusion instance.

For more information, see Adding sources.

Recovery of virtual machines from registered IBM Storage Protect sources

In the earlier version, Data Resiliency Service gathered information from IBM Storage Protect for Virtual Environments to build out the systems understanding of assets being protected. This 2.0.12 version allows the user to go beyond understanding the clients’ VM assets through IBM Storage Protect for Virtual Environments to be able to recover the assets through IBM Storage Protect.

For more information, see Recovery group and IBM Storage Protect.

Data Resiliency Service Resource Based Access Control (RBAC) based on location

In the earlier version, Data Resiliency Service supported the ability to adjust access control at an individual user level. From 2.0.11, clients can process access more quickly by using groups. In this release, the ability to group according to the asset location is added.

For more information, see Access points.

Sensor on Linux® can detect ransomware attacks that utilize memory-mapped files

With this release, the sensor on Linux has been enhanced to provide more robust and adaptive protection against ransomware attacks. Specifically, the sensor can now detect ransomware attacks that utilize memory-mapped files.

Removal of the trial version limitations to see the full value of IBM Storage Defender

In the earlier versions, the trial version of IBM Storage Defender was limited for users to receive and send notifications about encryption events on their service. In this release, such limitations are eliminated.

For more information, see Licensing.

Release Date: February 24, 2024

Version: 2.0.11

Changes to allow Data Resiliency Service to keep the connection manager software up to date for the client

Each month when Data Resiliency Service is updated, the on-premise connection manager software also gets updated. This update process can lead to challenges and extra time for our clients to keep their instance(s) up to date. This release introduced a feature that allows the user to opt in to let the system automatically keep their connection manager software up to date.

For more information, see Connection managers in IBM Documentation.

Enhancements to the Data Resiliency Service app awareness for Oracle and SAP HANA

In the previous release of Data Resiliency Service, users were able to collect the inventory of databases Oracle and SAP HANA from IBM Storage Defender Data Protect. In this release, the ability to manually group the resources has been introduced to understand your resilience posture.

For more information, see Recovery group and Automatic generation of recovery groups and governance profiles.

Enhanced Data Resiliency Service Resource Based Access Control (RBAC) for User Groups

In an earlier release of Data Resiliency Service, one can adjust access control at an individual user level. As the number of users grows, this can become more complex and time consuming. To address that challenge, in this release, Data Resiliency Service has the concept of user groups. Users can be assigned to those groups and access to resources and assets can be modified in bulk at the group level.

For more information, see Access in IBM Documentation.

The first phase of work around an interaction record

The best practice for SaaS solutions is to maintain a record of user interactions with the system and make that record available to clients. In this release, as a first phase of the work, the Data Resiliency Service captures those interactions and allows the user to download them in a JSON format. The audit log is immutable and records the time, user, user action, and IP.

For more information, see Audit log in IBM Documentation.

Additional 'Get Help' links

In this release of Data Resiliency Service, the UI has expanded the ways for clients to get help with the service. In addition to a direct link to the documentation, the client now has a direct link to the known issues. They are also provided with a direct link to the support ticket creation page to get help from the IBM Storage Defender service team.

The introduction of a ‘What’s new’ pop up in the UI

When new features of Data Resiliency Service are released, the IBM Documentation page is updated. To save clients’ time, though the features will now be identified at a high level within the UI, by using a link an user can get into detailed changes.

IBM Storage Defender sensors serviceability work

One of the core values of IBM Storage Defender is its early threat detection. IBM Storage Defender sensors are key to that work. In this release, IBM Storage Defender sensors serviceability is improved to continue securing that asset.

For more information, see Threat detection in IBM Documentation.

Release Date: December 17, 2024

Version: 2.0.10

Register IBM Storage Protect as a source with IBM Storage Defender

You can register IBM Storage Protect as a source with IBM Storage Defender to help you define, plan, and secure your data by using IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service (Data Resiliency Service). Data Resiliency Service also provides cyber-resiliency capabilities to manage your data and workloads.

For more information about registering IBM Storage Protect as a source, see Adding sources.

Register Dell PowerMax as a source with IBM Storage Defender

You can register Dell PowerMax as a source with IBM Storage Defender by using Data Resiliency Service to govern the PowerMax snapshots against defined governance policy for the resources that are created on PowerMax volumes. Data Resiliency Service also provides cyber-resiliency capabilities to manage your data and workloads on PowerMax volumes.

For more information about registering Dell PowerMax as a source, see Adding sources.

IBM Storage Defender automatically generate recovery groups

IBM Storage Defender can automatically generate recovery groups for you by using capabilities in Data Resiliency Service. This significantly reduces an effort to configure Data Resiliency Service for your environment. All virtual machines in your environment are categorized and grouped in meaningful recovery groups. Furthermore, automatically generated governance profiles are added to the groups.

For more information, see Generating a recovery group and Automatic generation of recovery groups and governance profiles.

IBM Storage Defender displays connected and disconnected sources

IBM Storage Defender displays the overview of connected and disconnected sources along with the detailed list of the various types of sources including Dell PowerMax.

For more information, see Sources.

IBM Storage Defender sensor support on Windows

Now IBM Storage Defender sensors support also on Windows operating system. IBM Storage Defender sensors implement a real time detection mechanism for anomalous operations on file system objects by using Data Resiliency Service. When the sensors are deployed, the sensors automatically sends metadata to Data Resiliency Service.

For more information about implementing IBM Storage Defender sensors, see Sensor control nodes.

IBM Storage Defender support for Database Workloads

Now you can see support for Oracle and SAP HANA databases, which are added as a source and protected by Data Protect. You can view the Oracle and SAP databases and protection information in bubble view and detail list view of the Dashboard.

For more information about the supported environments and restrictions, see IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service: Workload requirements.

Improved IBM Storage FlashSystem Recovery

Data Resiliency Service supports various configurations of Recovery Groups, Datastore, and Volume Groups in a IBM Storage FlashSystem, so that you can use Data Resiliency Service to prioritize which data is important to you. When you assign a virtual machine to a recovery group, Data Resiliency Service will automatically detect the underlying IBM Storage FlashSystem storage configuration and apply governance validation based on the governance profile assigned to the recovery group.

For more information, see Recovery group and IBM Storage FlashSystem volume groups.

New Access menu to simplify user access management for Data Resiliency Service
The Access menu under Data Resiliency is the central place for managing user access. The menu uses the concept of Access points to manage the access of resources, actions, and integration in Data Resiliency Service. Access points are predefined collections of actions, resources, and integrations which are managed as a single unit to simplify the access management in Data Resiliency Service.

For more information, see Access.

General Enhancements

In this release, improvements for overall scale, performance, and platform resilience are implemented.

Release Date: October 30, 2024

Version: 2.0.9

Data Resiliency dashboard enhancements
IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service (Data Resiliency) dashboard is enhanced for user experience by adding the following information tiles:
  • Resiliency monitoring
  • Governance profiles
  • Recovery posture
  • Actions
For more information about tiles, see Data Resiliency dashboard.

Streamlined method for updating connection manager version 2.0.8 and later
Now you can directly update your previously installed connection manager 2.0.8 and later to the latest version of connection manager by using ISO-based update. The ISO-based update supports regardless of whether the old connection manager is either ISO or OVA. The newly introduced update method also eliminates the backup and restore procedure for the old connection manager.
For more information, see Updating connection manager version 2.0.8 and later manually.

Protection tile
The Protection tile displays aggregated percentage for the number of various data sources or clusters that are protected by IBM Storage Defender Data Protect and IBM Storage Protect.
For more information, see Protection tile.

Download Splunk® app for seamless integration
Now you can download IBM Storage Defender App for Splunk® for seamless integration with IBM Storage Defender. The IBM Storage Defender App for Splunk® helps you by generating automatic alerts for Potential Threat Events and visualize events into Splunk® for real-time monitoring, analysis, and reporting.
For more information about Splunk® integration with Data Resiliency, see Integrating Data Resiliency to Splunk® SIEM.

IBM Storage Defender documentation is available in languages other than English
Now you can see IBM Storage Defender documentation in languages other than English. To switch to other languages, scroll down to the documentation page and from the drop-down menu at the end of the page, select the language of your choice.

General Enhancements

In this release, improvements for overall scale, performance, and platform resilience are implemented.

Release Date: September 23, 2024

Version: 2.0.8

Connect on-premises resources that are on bare metal server with Data Resiliency
In addition to connecting your on-premises resources from VMware environment with IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency (Data Resiliency), now you can also connect the on-premises resources on a bare metal server with Data Resiliency by using connection manager.

For detailed information, see Connecting Data Resiliency to on-premises resources on a bare metal server.

Data Resiliency Service integrates with Splunk® SIEM
You can integrate Data Resiliency with Splunk® SIEM to detect, analyze, and respond to security threats before they harm business operations. Integrating Data Resiliency with Splunk® SIEM helps you to improve the coverage of your organization's cybersecurity.
For more information about integrating with Splunk® SIEM, see Integrating Data Resiliency to Splunk® SIEM.
Update the installed connection manager to new version
You can update your connection manager to the latest version to get the latest fixes and enable it to continue monitoring your connections.
For instructions, see Updating connection manager version 2.0.7 and earlier manually.
Technology preview for a new Data Resiliency dashboard
Explore a preview of the new Data Resiliency dashboard concept. This dashboard is featured with a new idea of bringing together data from all storage systems that are registered with the Data Resiliency Service.
Note: This is a functional prototype that uses test data and is not representative of data in your environment.
To explore more, navigate from the IBM Storage Defender dashboard to the Preview a new Defender Data Resiliency Dashboard tile.
General Enhancements

In this release, improvements for overall scale, performance, and platform resilience are implemented.

Release Date: August 26, 2024

Version: 2.0.7

General Enhancements

In this release, improvements for overall scale, performance, and platform resilience are implemented.

Release Date: July 29, 2024

Version: 2.0.6

IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service is available for licensing with Trial and Essential service
Now you can register IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service (Data Resiliency Service) for the Trial and Essential service. The Trial service is valid for 60 days after activation to learn the capabilities of Data Resiliency Service. Whereas the Essential service is a paid subscription with extra functional advantages than the Trial service.

For more information about the licensing for Trial and Essential service, see Licensing.

General Enhancements

In this release, improvements are implemented for overall scale, performance, and platform resilience.

Release Date: June 26, 2024

Version: 2.0.5

IBM Storage Defender sensors can be installed by using user interface (UI)

You can install an IBM Storage Defender sensor on one or multiple systems by using the IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service (Data Resiliency)UI. The sensors observe the systems that they are installed on and can detect cyberattacks like ransomware attacks in real time.

For more information about installing the sensor by using UI, see Installing an IBM Storage Defender sensor through the UI. To uninstall the sensor, see Uninstalling an IBM Storage Defender sensor through the UI.

Multi-Factor authentication (MFA) is required to log into IBM Storage Defender connection manager

The login process to IBM Storage Defender connection manager (connection manager) is enhanced with Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP). This enhancement adds an extra layer of security for connection manager. While logging in, you are prompted to verify your identity by using a trusted device associated with your account. This enhancement helps to protect your account from unauthorized users who try to gain access.

The Defender connection agent now supports use of an HTTPS proxy to connect with IBM Storage Defender Data Management Service

The HTTPS proxy support enables a Defender connection agent to communicate with a IBM Storage Protect server that does not have direct access to internet and requires a proxy for internet access.

Download support logs for IBM Storage Defender connection manager

You can collect the logs of your connection manager when requested by IBM Support from the connection manager user interface with a convenient button. The logs help in resolving or troubleshooting problems that are associated with an environment.

For more information, see Downloading support logs.

IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service integrates with QRadar SIEM
You can integrate Data Resiliency with QRadar SIEM to detect, analyze, and respond to security threats before they harm business operations. Integrating Data Resiliency with QRadar SIEM helps you to improve the coverage of your organization's cybersecurity.
For more information about integrating with QRadar SIEM, see Integrating Data Resiliency to QRadar SIEM.

Release Date: May 21, 2024

Version: 2.0.4

IBM Storage Defender now integrates with IBM Storage FlashSystem
  • Enhanced threat detection: IBM Storage Defender can detect operational threats on your production data. You can use threat detection for the following system level detections:
    • Detection on file system level that is using IBM Storage Defender Sensor technology. For more information, see IBM Storage Defender sensor.
    • Detection on storage block level that is using IBM Storage FlashCore Module technology and statistical analysis to identify threat patterns. For more information, see IBM Storage FlashSystem threat detection.
  • Recovery: IBM Storage Defender can recover your recovery groups from IBM Storage FlashSystem when Safeguarded Snapshots are used for protection.
  • Alerting: IBM Storage Defender integrates with IBM Storage FlashSystem through IBM Storage Insights and reports threat alerts when raised from IBM Storage FlashSystem.
Register IBM Storage FlashSystem as a data source with IBM Storage Defender

Now you can register IBM Storage FlashSystem as a data source with IBM Storage Defender. To connect with IBM Storage FlashSystem, you must have either the Security Administrator role or Administrator role that is assigned to your user ID in the local user management in the connection manager.

For more information on how to register IBM Storage FlashSystem as a data source, see Adding sources.

Create governance profiles to configure recovery objectives of recovery groups

You can create governance profiles to achieve recovery objectives of a recovery group for both recovery from Data Protect and recovery from IBM Storage FlashSystem. The recovery objectives are the preset point in time of recovery points and the preset minimum retention time for the recovery points. Also, in the governance profile you can specify a threshold time that can be elapsed until the next recovery test to be performed for the recovery group.

For more information, see Governance profiles.

Create clean room profiles to configure recovery target environments
You can create clean room profiles to define the target environment for recovery from both Data Protect and IBM Storage FlashSystem. The definitions in the clean room profile allow you to specify the target environment and details for the desired behavior after the recovery.

For more information, see Clean room profiles.

Access to the clean room blueprint for IBM Storage Defender simplified

The access to the blueprint documentation that can guide you to setup a clean room for IBM Storage Defender is now simplified.

You can find the document in the following link: IBM Storage Defender technical support documents.

Terminologies are updated in IBM Storage Defender
The following terminologies are updated in this release:
Old terminology New terminology
Recovery profile Clean room profile
Defender policy Governance profile

Release Date: April 05, 2024

Version: 2.0.3

Clean room blueprint is available for IBM Storage Defender

The blueprint documentation that can guide you to setup a clean room for IBM Storage Defender is now available. By using this documentation, you can learn about the key aspects of an isolated recovery environment, which is called as clean room. Furthermore, you can use the blueprint information to identify the right capacity of a clean room in your environment. Also, you can follow the step-by-step setup guide to implement your own clean room environment.

You can find the new document in the following link: IBM Storage Defender technical support documents. Alternatively, use the following direct link to the document: IBM Storage Defender clean room environments.
Note: Accessing the clean room document requires IBM Storage Defender entitlement on your IBMid.
Added new user roles in Data Resiliency Service
New roles are added for the users of Data Resiliency Service as in the following list:
  • Recovery group operator – As a recovery group operator, you can create, archive, and perform all actions that are associated with recovery groups except for managing Defender sensors.
  • Resource operator – As a resource operator, you can download the connection manager package and API keys. You can also create and manage recovery profiles.

Release Date: March 08, 2024

Version: 2.0.2

Manage recipients for the notifications that are generated from IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service
With the notification dashboard that is added for a recovery group, you can now manage the recipients to receive the notifications that are generated by IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service.
For more information, see Notification.
Register Data Management claim by using the dcli claim register command
You can now register a Data Management claim for an IBM Storage Protect server by using dcli claim register command.
For more information, see dcli claim register
Backing up and restoring connection manager
When you redeploy an OVA for a connection manager, you lose existing data such as database and other configuration information. To avoid that, now you can backup information by using the dabackup.sh bash script before you redeploy OVA. After redeploying OVA, you can restore the backed up information by using the datarestore.sh bash script for the redeployed OVA.
For more information on how to backup and restore a connection manager, see Backing up and restoring Connection Manager.

Release Date: February 09, 2024

Version: 2.0.1

Consumption tile in IBM Storage Defender Data Management Service

The Consumption tile is added in the home page of IBM Storage Defender Data Management Service (Data Management Service). The Consumption tile presents aggregated data from both IBM Storage Defender Data Protect and IBM Storage Protect clusters that are claimed and managed through Data Management Service.

For more information, see Consumption tile.

New and updated information
The Managing IBM Storage Protect connections section of IBM Documentation is improved by adding the following new topics:

Release Date: December 11, 2023

Version: 2.0.0

IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service updates

You can make data resiliency business as usual. Plan, secure, and safely recover the data that is most important to you and your enterprise. For more information, see IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service.

The following new features are available:
  • IBM Storage Defender Data Resiliency Service (DRS) introduces several new concepts. With these concepts you can plan, secure, test, and recover the data that you declare is most important to you.
  • The Data Resiliency dashboard provides you with a high-level overview on the existing recovery groups that you have created before. It also provides you with a summary of the connected resources like virtual machines, data sources, recovery locations, and connection managers.
  • From Data Resiliency, the IBM Storage Defender connection manager (connection manager) is used to connect your local primary and secondary data environment and your Data Protect cluster to Data Resiliency. The connection manager is provided in OVA format and can be deployed in your local VMware vCenter.
IBM Storage Defender Data Protect updates
The following table shows the updates for IBM Storage Defender Data Protect:
Supported Applications Benefits Description
Oracle Instant Restore to Original Server (stand-alone and RAC Database) IBM Storage Defender Data Protect now supports disaster recovery for Oracle stand-alone and RAC databases. Enabling the disaster recovery option creates a clone of the database by using the same database name, ID, and parameters as the original database. After migration, all database files are restored to the original location of the source database.
MS Exchange Support for MS Exchange Database Recovery IBM Storage Defender Data Protect now supports recovering MS Exchange databases.
SAN Safeguarded Copy Snapshot Creation for IBM Storage FlashSystem Volumes and Volume Groups IBM Storage Defender Data Protect now supports creating Safeguarded copy snapshots for IBM Storage FlashSystem volumes and volume groups.
Cassandra Support for Live Cassandra Table Restore In multi-data center Cassandra deployments comprising Cassandra nodes and the IBM Storage Defender Data Protect cluster, restoring data between different data centers is time-consuming. IBM Storage Defender Data Protect now supports live Cassandra table restore, enabling you to minimize the data movement across data centers that was previously performed by Cassandra.
SAP HANA Support for Multi-Node SAP HANA Scale-Out Deployment IBM Storage Defender Data Protect now supports data protection for multi-node SAP HANA scale-out deployments.
Support for SAP HANA Log Backups SAP HANA automatically schedules log backups, and you can now:
  • View the SAP HANA log backups on the IBM Storage Defender Data Protect cluster.
  • Archive the SAP HANA log backups.
  • Replicate the SAP HANA log backups across the IBM Storage Defender Data Protect clusters.
IBM Db2 Support for IBM Storage Defender Data Protect View-based Archival for IBM Db2 IBM Storage Defender Data Protect now allow you to use IBM Storage Defender Data Protect Views to store archives of IBM Db2 log backups.
Virtual Servers Use IBM Storage FlashSystem Snapshots for VMware Backups IBM Storage Defender Data Protect can now use IBM FlashSystem® storage snapshots for VMware backups. Register the IBM FlashSystem as a snapshot provider with the IBM Storage Defender Data Protect cluster to use this function.
Kubernetes Include or Exclude PVCs from the Kubernetes Namespace Early Access You now have the flexibility to include or exclude Persistent Volume Claims (PVCs) within Kubernetes Namespace by using the Enable PVC Inclusion/Exclusion option in Protection Groups.
Note: This is an early access feature. Contact your IBM Storage Defender Data Protect account team to enable the feature.
Control CSI Driver Snapshots Usage for Kubernetes Namespace Backups Early Access You can now enable or disable the option to use snapshots of Container Storage Interface (CSI) drivers on CSI volumes to protect your Kubernetes cluster. This enhanced capability allows you to have complete control over the usage of snapshots on your IBM Storage Defender Data Protect cluster.
Note: This is an early access feature. Contact your IBM Storage Defender Data Protect account team to enable the feature.
IBM Storage Defender Data Management Service updates
The following table shows the updates for IBM Storage Defender Data Management Service:
Supported Application Benefits Description
Cluster Management Maintenance Mode for Registered Sources You can now enable maintenance mode for registered sources on the IBM Storage Defender Data Protect cluster. Enabling maintenance mode for a source prevents any scheduled or manual activities, such as protection runs, restores, and upgrades, from starting. Ongoing backups are canceled while ongoing restores continue without any interruptions.
Claim IBM Storage Defender Data Protect Clusters Through Tokens Early Access IBM Storage Defender Data Protect now allows you to claim a cluster through a token generated in IBM Storage Defender Data Management Service. IBM Storage Defender Data Management Service validates this token and claims the cluster if it passes all checks. Each account can have up to 32 valid tokens concurrently. Tokens automatically expire after 15 minutes or upon successful claiming. The streamlined process reduces complexity and enhances the user experience.

Release Date: September 29, 2023

Version: 1.4.0

Use IBM Storage Protect tape storage as an external target for archiving your data
You can now archive data in your IBM Storage Defender Data Protect cluster to IBM Storage Protect tape media. By using tape to store monthly archives of Data Protect cluster data, you can take advantage of existing IBM Storage Protect tape environments, which can provide longer term retention than cluster disk space allows. For more information, see Archiving IBM Storage Defender Data Protect data to IBM Storage Protect tape.
Back up IBM Storage FlashSystem volume data to Data Protect clusters
Use an IBM Storage Defender Data Protect cluster to back up IBM Storage FlashSystem volumes and volume groups in a protection group that can run repetitively on a schedule. For more information, see Backing up IBM Storage FlashSystem volumes.
IBM Storage Protect server health alerts
View IBM Storage Protect server health alerts in Data Management by navigating to the All Clusters > System > Health page and viewing the Alerts tab.
View detailed information about your IBM Storage Protect server
View IBM Storage Protect server details from the Cluster management view (All Clusters > Settings > Clusters) in Data Management.
New and updated information
The following sections of the documentation have been updated or added:

Release Date: June 30, 2023

Version: 1.1.0

Multifactor authentication (MFA) is required for all users when logging in to IBM Storage Defender.

Multifactor authentication (MFA) provides an extra layer of protection by requiring users to specify a password and an additional verification method to log in. When you log in to IBM Storage Defender for the first time, you must configure MFA. You can choose from various verification methods, including time-based one-time password (TOTP) and authenticator apps. After MFA is successfully configured for your user account, you are required to authenticate by using a second verification method every time you log in. The additional layer of protection ensures that only you, the rightful owner, can access your account. For more information, see Configuring multifactor authentication.

New and updated information
The following sections of the documentation were updated or added: