This IBM® Redbooks® publication describes the concepts, architecture, and implementation of the IBM Storage DS8900F family. The book provides reference information to assist readers who need to plan for, install, and configure the DS8900F systems. This edition applies to DS8900F systems with IBM Storage DS8000® Licensed Machine Code (LMC) 7.9.30 (bundle version 89.30.xx.x), referred to as Release 9.3. The DS8900F systems are all-flash exclusively, and they are offered as three classes: DS8980F: Analytic Class: The DS8980F Analytic Class offers best performance for organizations that want to expand their workload possibilities to artificial intelligence (AI), Business Intelligence (BI), and machine learning (ML). IBM DS8950F: Agility Class: The Agility Class consolidates all your mission-critical workloads for IBM Z®, IBM LinuxONE, IBM Power, and distributed environments under a single all-flash storage solution. IBM DS8910F: Flexibility Class: The Flexibility Class reduces complexity while addressing various workloads at the lowest DS8900F family entry cost. The DS8900F architecture relies on powerful IBM POWER9™ processor-based servers that manage the cache to streamline disk input/output (I/O), which maximizes performance and throughput. These capabilities are further enhanced by High-Performance Flash Enclosures (HPFE) Gen2. Like its predecessors, the DS8900F supports advanced disaster recovery (DR) solutions, business continuity solutions, and thin provisioning.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication helps you plan, install, configure, and manage Copy Services on the IBM DS8000® operating in an IBM Z® or Open Systems environment. This book helps you design and implement a new Copy Services installation or migrate from an existing installation. It includes hints and tips to maximize the effectiveness of your installation, and information about tools and products to automate Copy Services functions. It is intended for anyone who needs a detailed and practical understanding of the DS8000 Copy Services. This edition is an update for the DS8900 Release 9.1. Note that the Safeguarded Copy feature is covered in IBM DS8000 Safeguarded Copy, REDP-5506.

This IBM® Redbooks Product Guide provides an overview of the features and functions that are available with the IBM Storage DS8900F models that run microcode Release 9.3.2 (Bundle 89.32/Licensed Machine Code 7.9.32). As of February 2023, the DS8900F with DS8000 Release 9.3.2 is the latest addition. The DS8900F is an all-flash system exclusively, and it offers three classes: IBM DS8980F: Analytic Class: The DS8980F Analytic Class offers best performance for organizations that want to expand their workload possibilities to artificial intelligence (AI), Business Intelligence, and Machine Learning. IBM DS8950F: Agility Class: The agility class is efficiently designed to consolidate all your mission-critical workloads for IBM zSystems, IBM LinuxONE, IBM Power Systems, and distributed environments under a single all-flash storage solution. IBM DS8910F: Flexibility Class: The flexibility class delivers significant performance for midrange organizations that are looking to meet storage challenges with advanced functionality delivered as a single rack solution.

This IBM® RedpaperRedbooks® publication describes the concepts, architecture, and implementation of the IBM DS8900F family. The WhitepaperRedpaperbook provides reference information to assist readers who need to plan for, install, and configure the DS8900F systems. This edition applies to DS8900F systems with IBM DS8000® Licensed Machine Code (LMC) 7.9.20 (bundle version 89.20.xx.x), referred to as Release 9.2. The DS8900F is an all-flash system exclusively, and it offers three classes: DS8980F: Analytic Class: The DS8980F Analytic Class offers best performance for organizations that want to expand their workload possibilities to artificial intelligence (AI), Business Intelligence (BI), and machine learning (ML). IBM DS8950F: Agility Class all-flash: The Agility Class consolidates all your mission-critical workloads for IBM Z®, IBM LinuxONE, IBM Power Systems, and distributed environments under a single all-flash storage solution.. IBM DS8910F: Flexibility Class all-flash: The Flexibility Class reduces complexity while addressing various workloads at the lowest DS8900F family entry cost. . TThe DS8900F architecture relies on powerful IBM POWER9™ processor-based servers that manage the cache to streamline disk input/output (I/O), which maximizes performance and throughput. These capabilities are further enhanced by High-Performance Flash Enclosures (HPFE) Gen2. Like its predecessors, the DS8900F supports advanced disaster recovery (DR) solutions, business continuity solutions, and thin provisioning. The IBM DS8910F Rack-Mounted model 993 is described in IBM DS8910F Model 993 Rack-Mounted Storage System Release 9.1, REDP-5566.

This IBM Redbooks publication describes the concepts, architecture, and implementation of the IBM DS8900F family. The book provides reference information to assist readers who need to plan for, install, and configure the DS8900F systems. This edition applies to DS8900F systems with IBM DS8000® Licensed Machine Code (LMC) 7.9.10 (bundle version 89.10.xx.x), referred to as Release 9.1. The DS8900F family offers two classes: IBM DS8910F: Flexibility Class all-flash: The Flexibility Class is designed to reduce complexity while addressing various workloads at the lowest DS8900F family entry cost. IBM DS8950F: Agility Class all-flash: The Agility Class is designed to consolidate all your mission-critical workloads for IBM Z®, IBM LinuxONE, IBM Power Systems, and distributed environments under a single all-flash storage solution. The DS8900F architecture relies on powerful IBM POWER9™ processor-based servers that manage the cache to streamline disk input/output (I/O), which maximizes performance and throughput. These capabilities are further enhanced by High-Performance Flash Enclosures (HPFE) Gen2. Like its predecessors, the DS8900F supports advanced disaster recovery (DR) solutions, business continuity solutions, and thin provisioning. The IBM DS8910F Rack-Mounted model 993 is described in a separate publication: IBM DS8910F Model 993 Rack-Mounted Storage System Release 9.1, REDP-5566.

The IBM® DS8000® series includes the option to replace the locally based user ID and password authentication with a centralized directory-based approach. This IBM Redpaper publication helps DS8000 storage administrators understand the concepts and benefits of a centralized directory. It provides the information that is required for implementing a DS8000 authentication mechanism that is based on the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). Starting with DS8000 Release 9.1 code, a simpler, native LDAP authentication method is supported along with the former implementation that relies on IBM Copy Services Manager (CSM) acting as a proxy between the DS8000 and external LDAP servers. Note that examples and operations shown in this Redpaper refer to the DS8000 R9.1 SP1, code release bundle 89.11.33.0.

Ever-increasing storage demands have a negative effect on an organization's IT budget and complicate the overall storage infrastructure and management. Companies are looking at ways to use their storage resources more efficiently. Thin provisioning can help by reducing the amount of unused storage that is typically allocated to applications or users. Now available for the IBM® DS8880 for Fixed Block (FB) and Count Key Data (CKD) volumes, thin provisioning defers the allocation of actual space on the storage system until the time that the data must effectively be written to disk. This IBM Redpaper™ publication provides an overall understanding of how thin provisioning works on the IBM DS8880. It also provides insights into the functional design and its implementation on the DS8880 and includes illustrations for the configuration of thin-provisioned volumes from the DS GUI or the DS CLI. This edition applies to DS8880 Release 8.5 or later.