IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud overview

IBM Spectrum® Virtualize for Public Cloud is enabled to run on cloud environments. The software can be deployed on IBM® Cloud, Microsoft Azure, or Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructures.

Note: Release 8.5.4 of IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud only supports deployment on Amazon web services (AWS).

AWS upgrade from 8.3.1 to 8.5.4 release is not supported. You must deploy 8.5.4 or above releases for the new upgrades on the AWS. For more information about 8.3.1 release, see the 8.3.x IBM documentation for IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud.

IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud software

IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud enables the transition of existing IT architecture to a hybrid-cloud or cloud-based model, where servers, storage, and network infrastructure are delivered in a cloud environment. IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud licensed software can be installed and deployed in the following cloud environments:
IBM Cloud®
IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud software can be deployed on supported, pre-provisioned bare metal servers and is configured to use and manage block storage in IBM Cloud.
AWS EC2 C5 Instances
AWS EC2 is a web service that provides computing capacity in the private or public cloud through a selection of instance types that are optimized to fit different use cases. C5 is an AWS EC2 instance type that is optimized for compute-intensive workloads. IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud software can be deployed on specific C5 instances and is configured to use and manage Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) as storage on the private or public cloud. The IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud installation is available through AWS Marketplace. During the installation through AWS Marketplace, you can select your instance type and cloud-based storage.
Microsoft Azure Virtual Machine (VM) instances
Microsoft Azure provides various web services that provide computing capacity in the cloud through a selection of instance types that are optimized to fit different use cases. IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud software can be deployed on specific D-series virtual machines and is configured to use and manage as storage. The IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud installation is available through Azure Marketplace. During the installation through Microsoft Azure Marketplace, you can select your VM type and cloud-based storage.
As this table shows, IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud provides many benefits to storage administrators, including simplified storage administration, outstanding flexibility and efficiency, and enterprise-class performance, function, and reliability.
Table 1. IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud functions and benefits
Function Benefits
Provides a single point of control for block storage resources.
  • Increases management efficiency.
  • Supports availability of applications.
Pools the capacity of multiple storage resources.
  • Overcomes limitations of storage size.
  • Manages storage as a resource more efficiently.
  • Increases the use of storage resources.
  • Protects application operations from maintenance or changes to block storage resources.
Implements pairs of cloud compute resources that are configured as IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud nodes.
  • Installs directly on cloud compute resources
  • Avoids single point of failures for hardware.
Manages tiered storage.
  • Balances performance needs against infrastructures costs in a tiered storage environment.
  • Supports policy-driven storage management that moves data automatically among different storage tiers to enhance performance and workload balancing.
Provides an easy-to-use management GUI.
  • Supports a single interface for storage configuration, management, and service tasks.
  • Helps administrators use storage resources more efficiently.
Supports dynamic data migration.
  • Supports data migration among storage resources without taking applications that use that data offline.
  • Supports managing and scaling storage capacity without disrupting applications.
Provides advanced Copy Services through IP network connections.
  • Supports data copies with IBM FlashCopy®
  • Supports IP replication to create high-availability solutions between multiple data centers with Metro and Global Mirror.
Supports thin provisioning, data reduction pools, and snapshot replication.
  • Supports thin-provisioning in both standard and data reduction pools, which reduces capacity requirements by using storage only when data changes.
  • Supports data reduction pools with native data reduction features like host unmap and reclaiming usable capacity.
  • Supports deduplicated and compressed volumes in data reduction pools for additional capacity savings. For more information, see planning data reduction pools and deduplication.
  • Improves productivity through automated on-demand storage provisioning.
  • Supports snapshots on lower tier storage.
Uses native IP replication.
  • Optimizes use of network bandwidth.