This IBM® Redbooks® publication details the configuration and best practices for using the IBM FlashSystem® family of storage products within a VMware environment. The first version of this book was published in 2021 and specifically addressed IBM Spectrum® Virtualize Version 8.4 with VMware vSphere 7.0. This second version of this book includes all the enhancements that are available with IBM Spectrum Virtualize 8.5. Topics illustrate planning, configuring, operations, and preferred practices that include integration of IBM FlashSystem storage systems with the VMware vCloud suite of applications: VMware vSphere Web Client (vWC) vSphere Storage APIs - Storage Awareness (VASA) vSphere Storage APIs – Array Integration (VAAI) VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) VMware vSphere Metro Storage Cluster (vMSC) Embedded VASA Provider for VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols) This book is intended for presales consulting engineers, sales engineers, and IBM clients who want to deploy IBM FlashSystem storage systems in virtualized data centers that are based on VMware vSphere. Note: There is a newer version of this book: "IBM Storage Virtualize and VMware: Integrations, Implementation and Best Practices, SG24-8549". This book addresses IBM Storage Virtualize Version 8.6 with VMware vSphere 8. The new IBM Storage plugin for vSphere is covered in this book.

This IBM® Redbooks® Product Guide publication describes the IBM FlashSystem® 5200 solution, which is a next-generation IBM FlashSystem control enclosure. It is an NVMe end-to-end platform that is targeted at the entry and midrange market and delivers the full capabilities of IBM FlashCore® technology. It also provides a rich set of software-defined storage (SDS) features that are delivered by IBM Spectrum® Virtualize, including the following features: Data reduction and deduplication Dynamic tiering Thin provisioning Snapshots Cloning Replication Data copy services Transparent Cloud Tiering IBM HyperSwap® including 3-site replication for high availability (HA) Scale-out and scale-up configurations further enhance capacity and throughput for better availability. The IBM FlashSystem 5200 is a high-performance storage solution that is based on a revolutionary 1U form factor. It consists of 12 NVMe Flash Devices in a 1U storage enclosure drawer with full redundant canister components and no single point of failure. It is designed for businesses of all sizes, including small, remote, branch offices and regional clients. It is a smarter, self-optimizing solution that requires less management, which enables organizations to overcome their storage challenges. Flash has come of age and price point reductions mean that lower parts of the storage market are seeing the value of moving over to flash and NVMe--based solutions. The IBM FlashSystem 5200 advances this transition by providing incredibly dense tiers of flash in a more affordable package. With the benefit of IBM FlashCore Module compression and new QLC flash-based technology becoming available, a compelling argument exists to move away from Nearline SAS storage and on to NVMe. With the release of IBM FlashSystem 5200 Software V8.4, extra functions and features are available, including support for new Distributed RAID1 (DRAID1) features, GUI enhancements, Redirect-on-write for Data Reduction Pool (DRP) snapshots, and 3-site replication capabilities. This book is aimed at pre-sales and post-sales technical support and marketing and storage administrators.

Continuing its commitment to developing and delivering industry-leading storage technologies, IBM® introduces the IBM FlashSystem® solution that is powered by IBM Spectrum® Virtualize V8.4. This innovative storage offering delivers essential storage efficiency technologies and exceptional ease of use and performance, all integrated into a compact, modular design that is offered at a competitive, midrange price. The solution incorporates some of the top IBM technologies that are typically found only in enterprise-class storage systems, which raises the standard for storage efficiency in midrange disk systems. This cutting-edge storage system extends the comprehensive storage portfolio from IBM and can help change the way organizations address the ongoing information explosion. This IBM Redbooks® publication introduces the features and functions of an IBM Spectrum Virtualize V8.4 system through several examples. This book is aimed at pre-sales and post-sales technical support and marketing and storage administrators. It helps you understand the architecture, how to implement it, and how to take advantage of its industry-leading functions and features.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication details the configuration and best practices for using IBM's FlashSystem family of storage products within a VMware environment. This book was published in 2021 and specifically addresses Spectrum Virtualize Version 8.4 with VMware vSphere Version 7.0. Topics illustrate planning, configuring, operations, and preferred practices that include integration of FlashSystem storage systems with the VMware vCloud suite of applications: - vSphere Web Client (VWC) - vStorage APIs for Storage Awareness (VASA) - vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) - Site Recovery Manager (SRM) - vSphere Metro Storage Cluster (vMSC) This book is intended for presales consulting engineers, sales engineers, and IBM clients who want to deploy IBM FlashSystem® storage systems in virtualized data centers that are based on VMware vSphere.

IBM® FlashSystem 9100 combines the performance of flash and Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) with the reliability and innovation of IBM FlashCore® technology and the rich features of IBM Spectrum™ Virtualize — all in a powerful 2U storage system. Providing intensive data driven multi-cloud storage capacity, FlashSystem 9100 is deeply integrated with the software-defined capabilities of IBM Spectrum Storage™, which allows you to easily add the multi-cloud solutions that best support your business. In this IBM Redbooks® publication, we discuss the product's features and planning steps, architecture, installation, configuration, and hints and tips.

Almost all technological components in the data center are getting faster; central processing units, network, storage area networks (SAN), and memory. All of them have improved their speed by a minimum of 10X; some of them by 100X, for example, data networks. However, spinning disk performance has only increased by 1.2 times. Fortunately, flash storage has come along and closed the gap between the other improvements in server technology and storage. Using the IBM® FlashSystem™ 840 provides value that goes beyond those benefits that are seen on disk-based arrays. These benefits include better user experience, server and application consolidation, development cycle reduction, application scalability, data center footprint savings, and improved price performance economics. This IBM Redbooks® publication introduces clients to the newest member of the IBM FlashSystem™ products: the IBM FlashSystem 840. It will provide in-depth knowledge of the product architecture, software and hardware, its implementation, and hints and tips. Also illustrated are use cases that show real-world solutions for tiering, flash-only, and preferred read, as well as examples of the benefits gained by integrating the FlashSystem storage into business environments. This book is intended for pre-sales and post-sales technical support professionals and storage administrators, and for anyone who wants to understand and learn how to implement this new and exciting technology.

In this IBM® Redbooks® publication, we describe recommendations based on an IBM b-type storage area network (SAN) environment that is utilizing VMware vSphere ESXi. We describe the hardware and software and the unique features that they bring to the marketplace. We then highlight those features and how they apply to the SAN environment, and the best practices for ensuring that you get the best out of your SAN. For background reading, we recommend the following Redbooks publications: - Introduction to Storage Area Networks and System Networking, SG24-5470 - IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller Best Practices and Performance Guidelines, SG24-7521 - IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller and Storwize V7000 Replication Family Services, SG24-7574 - Implementing the IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller V6.3, SG24-7933 - IBM SAN Volume Controller Stretched Cluster with PowerVM and PowerHA, SG24-8142 - Implementing the IBM SAN Volume Controller and FlashSystem 820, SG24-8172 - IBM System Storage DS8000 Copy Services for Open Systems, SG24-6788 - IBM System Storage DS8000: Host Attachment and Interoperability, SG24-8887 This book is aimed at pre- and post-sales support, system administrators, and storage administrators.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication captures several of the best practices based on field experience and describes the performance gains that can be achieved by implementing the IBM System Storage® SAN Volume Controller V6.2. This book begins with a look at the latest developments with SAN Volume Controller V6.2 and reviews the changes in the previous versions of the product. It highlights configuration guidelines and best practices for the storage area network (SAN) topology, clustered system, back-end storage, storage pools and managed disks, volumes, remote copy services, and hosts. Then, this book provides performance guidelines for SAN Volume Controller, back-end storage, and applications. It explains how you can optimize disk performance with the IBM System Storage Easy Tier® function. Next, it provides best practices for monitoring, maintaining, and troubleshooting SAN Volume Controller. Finally, this book highlights several scenarios that demonstrate the best practices and performance guidelines. This book is intended for experienced storage, SAN, and SAN Volume Controller administrators and technicians. Before reading this book, you must have advanced knowledge of the SAN Volume Controller and SAN environment. For background information, read the following Redbooks publications: Implementing the IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller V5.1, SG24-6423 Introduction to Storage Area Networks, SG24-5470