This IBM® Redbooks® publication captures several of the preferred practices and describes the performance gains that can be achieved by implementing the IBM SAN Volume Controller powered by IBM Spectrum® Virtualize Version 8.4.2. These practices are based on field experience. This book highlights configuration guidelines and preferred practices for the storage area network (SAN) topology, clustered system, back-end storage, storage pools and managed disks, volumes, Remote Copy services and hosts. It explains how you can optimize disk performance with the IBM System Storage Easy Tier® function. It also provides preferred practices for monitoring, maintaining, and troubleshooting. This book is intended for experienced storage, SAN, IBM FlashSystem®, IBM SAN Volume Controller, and IBM Storwize® administrators and technicians. Understanding this book requires advanced knowledge of these environments.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication captures several of the preferred practices and describes the performance gains that can be achieved by implementing the IBM FlashSystem® products that are powered by IBM Spectrum® Virtualize Version 8.4.2. These practices are based on field experience. This book highlights configuration guidelines and preferred practices for the storage area network (SAN) topology, clustered system, back-end storage, storage pools and managed disks, volumes, Remote Copy services, and hosts. It explains how you can optimize disk performance with the IBM System Storage Easy Tier® function. It also provides preferred practices for monitoring, maintaining, and troubleshooting. This book is intended for experienced storage, SAN, IBM FlashSystem, SAN Volume Controller, and IBM Storwize® administrators and technicians. Understanding this book requires advanced knowledge of these environments.

The success or failure of businesses often depends on how well organizations use their data assets for competitive advantage. Deeper insights from data require better information technology. As organizations modernize their IT infrastructure to boost innovation rather than limit it, they need a data storage system that can keep pace with highly virtualized environments, cloud computing, mobile and social systems of engagement, and in-depth, real-time analytics. Making the correct decision on storage investment is critical. Organizations must have enough storage performance and agility to innovate as they need to implement cloud-based IT services, deploy virtual desktop infrastructure, enhance fraud detection, and use new analytics capabilities. At the same time, future storage investments must lower IT infrastructure costs while helping organizations to derive the greatest possible value from their data assets. The IBM® FlashSystem V9000 is the premier, fully integrated, Tier 1, all-flash offering from IBM. It has changed the economics of today’s data center by eliminating storage bottlenecks. Its software-defined storage features simplify data management, improve data security, and preserve your investments in storage. The IBM FlashSystem® V9000 SAS expansion enclosures provide new tiering options with read-intensive SSDs or nearline SAS HDDs. IBM FlashSystem V9000 includes IBM FlashCore® technology and advanced software-defined storage available in one solution in a compact 6U form factor. IBM FlashSystem V9000 improves business application availability. It delivers greater resource utilization so you can get the most from your storage resources, and achieve a simpler, more scalable, and cost-efficient IT Infrastructure. This IBM Redbooks® publication provides information about IBM FlashSystem V9000 Software V7.7 and introduces the recently announced V7.8. It describes the product architecture, software, hardware, and implementation, and provides hints and tips. It illustrates use cases and independent software vendor (ISV) scenarios that demonstrate real-world solutions, and also provides examples of the benefits gained by integrating the IBM FlashSystem storage into business environments. This book offers IBM FlashSystem V9000 scalability concepts and guidelines for planning, installing, and configuring, which can help environments scale up and out to add more flash capacity and expand virtualized systems. Port utilization methodologies are provided to help you maximize the full potential of IBM FlashSystem V9000 performance and low latency in your scalable environment. This book is intended for pre-sales and post-sales technical support professionals, storage administrators, and anyone who wants to understand how to implement this exciting technology.

The IBM® System Storage® Solutions Handbook helps you solve your current and future data storage business requirements to achieve enhanced storage efficiency by design to allow managed cost, capacity of growth, greater mobility, and stronger control over storage performance and management. It describes the current IBM storage products, including IBM FlashSystem™, disk, and tape, and virtualized solutions, such as IBM Storage Cloud, IBM SmartCloud® Virtual Storage Center, and IBM Spectrum™ Storage. This IBM Redbooks® publication provides overviews and pointers for information about the current IBM System Storage products, showing how IBM delivers the right mix of products for nearly every aspect of business continuance and business efficiency. IBM storage products can help you store, safeguard, retrieve, and share your data. The following topics are covered: Part 1 introduces IBM storage solutions. It provides overviews of the IBM storage solutions, including IBM Spectrum Storage™, IBM Storage Cloud, IBM SmartCloud Virtual Storage Center (VSC), and the IBM PureSystems® products. Part 2 describes the IBM disk and flash products that include IBM DS Series (entry-level, midrange, and enterprise offerings), IBM XIV® storage, IBM Storwize® products, and the IBM FlashSystem offerings. Part 3 is an overview of the IBM tape drives, IBM tape automation products, and IBM tape virtualization solutions and products. Part 4 describes storage networking infrastructure, switches and directors to form storage area network (SAN) solutions, and converged networks and data center networking. Part 5 describes the IBM storage software portfolio, including IBM SAN Volume Controller, IBM Tivoli® Storage Manager, Tivoli Storage Productivity Center, and IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager. Part 6 describes the IBM z/OS® storage management software and tools. The appendixes provide information about the High Performance Storage System (HPSS) and recently withdrawn IBM storage products. This book is intended as a reference for basic and comprehensive information about the IBM Storage products portfolio. It provides a starting point for establishing your own enterprise storage environment.