IBM® Spectrum™ Accelerate, a member of the IBM Spectrum Storage™, is an agile software-defined storage solution for enterprise and cloud that builds on the customer-proven and mature IBM XIV® storage software. The key characteristic of Spectrum Accelerate is that it can be easily deployed and run on purpose-built or existing hardware chosen by the customer. IBM Spectrum Accelerate enables rapid deployment of high-performance and scalable block data storage infrastructure over commodity hardware, either on-premises or off-premises. This IBM Redbooks® publication provides a broad understanding of IBM Spectrum Accelerate. The book introduces Spectrum Accelerate and discusses planning and preparation that are essential for a successful deployment of the solution. The deployment itself is explained through a step-by-step approach, using either a graphical user interface (GUI) based method or a simple command-line interface (CLI) based procedure. Subsequent chapters explain the logical configuration of the system, host support and business continuity functions, and migration. Although it makes many references to the XIV storage software, the book also emphasizes where IBM Spectrum Accelerate differs from XIV. Finally, a substantial portion of the book is dedicated to maintenance and troubleshooting to provide detailed guidance for the customer support personnel.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication describes the concepts, architecture, and implementation of the IBM XIV® Storage System. The XIV Storage System is a scalable enterprise storage system that is based on a grid array of hardware components. It can attach to both Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) and IP network Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) capable hosts. This system is a good fit for clients who want to be able to grow capacity without managing multiple tiers of storage. The XIV Storage System is suited for mixed or random access workloads, including online transaction processing, video streamings, images, email, and emerging workload areas, such as Web 2.0 and storage cloud. The focus of this edition is on the XIV Gen3 hardware Release 3.2, running Version 11.2 of the XIV system software. With this version, XIV Storage System offers up to five times the iSCSI throughput with new 10 GbE ports, a performance boost with new CPUs, and enhanced caching with optional solid-state drives (SSDs). The IBM XIV software Version 11.2 also offers support for Windows Server 2012, including space reclamation. And, the software enables drive rebuild times as fast as 26 minutes for a fully utilized 2 TB hard disk drive under heavy load. In the first few chapters of this book, we describe many of the unique and powerful concepts that form the basis of the XIV Storage System logical and physical architecture. We explain how the system is designed to eliminate direct dependencies between the hardware elements and the software that governs the system. In subsequent chapters, we explain the planning and preparation tasks that are required to deploy the system in your environment. A step-by-step procedure is presented that describes how to configure and administer the system. Illustrations are provided about how to perform those tasks by using the intuitive, yet powerful XIV Storage Manager GUI or the XIV command-line interface (XCLI). We describe the performance characteristics of the XIV Storage System and present options that are available for alerting and monitoring, including an enhanced secure remote support capability. This book is intended for IT professionals who want an understanding of the XIV Storage System. It also targets readers who need detailed advice on how to configure and use the system.

This IBM® Redbook®s publication provides a practical understanding of theI BM XIV® Storage System copy and migration functions. The XIV Storage System has a rich set of copy functions suited for various data protection scenarios, which enables clients to enhance their business continuance, data migration, and online backup solutions. These functions allow point-in-time copies, known as snapshots and full volume copies, and also include remote copy capabilities in either synchronous or asynchronous mode. These functions are included in the XIV software and all their features are available at no additional charge. The various copy functions are reviewed in separate chapters, which include detailed information about usage, and also practical illustrations. This book also explains the XIV built-in migration capability, and presents migration alternatives based on the SAN Volume Controller (SVC). Finally, the book illustrates the use of IBM Tivoli® Storage Productivity Center for Replication to manage XIV Copy Services. This book is intended for anyone who needs a detailed and practical understanding of the XIV copy functions.