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Proactive EarlyThreat Detection and Securing Oracle Database with IBM QRadar, IBM Security Guardium Data Protection, and IBM Copy Services Manager by using IBM FlashSystem Safeguarded Copy

This IBM® blueprint publication focuses on early threat detection within a database environment by using IBM Security Guardium® Data Protection and IBM QRadar®. It also highlights how to proactively start a cyber resilience workflow in response to a cyberattack or potential malicious user actions. The workflow that is presented here uses IBM Copy Services Manager as orchestration software to start IBM FlashSystem® Safeguarded Copy functions. The Safeguarded Copy creates an immutable copy of the data in an air-gapped form on the same IBM FlashSystem for isolation and eventual quick recovery. This document describes how to enable and forward Oracle database user activities (by using IBM Security Guardium Data Protection) and IBM FlashSystem audit logs by using IBM FlashSystem to IBM QRadar. This document also describes how to create various rules to determine a threat, and configure and launch a suitable response to the detected threat in IBM QRadar. The document also outlines the steps that are involved to create a Scheduled Task by using IBM Copy Services Manager with various actions.

IBM Power Systems Private Cloud with Shared Utility Capacity: Featuring Power Enterprise Pools 2.0

This IBM® Redbooks® publication is a guide to IBM Power Systems Private Cloud with Shared Utility Capacity featuring Power Enterprise Pools (PEP) 2.0. This technology enables multiple servers in an to share base processor and memory resources and draw on pre-paid credits when the base is exceeded. Previously, the Shared Utility Capacity feature supported IBM Power E950 (9040-MR9) and IBM Power E980 (9080-M9S). The feature was extended in August 2020 to include the scale-out IBM Power servers that were announced on 14 July 2020, and it received dedicated processor support later in the year. The IBM Power S922 (9009-22G), and IBM Power S924 (9009-42G) servers, which use the latest IBM POWER9™ processor-based technology and support the IBM AIX®, IBM i, and Linux operating systems (OSs), are now supported. The previous scale-out models of Power S922 (9009-22A), and Power S924 (9009-42A) servers cannot be added to an enterprise pool. With the availability of the IBM Power E1080 (9080-HEX) in September 2021, support for this system as part of a Shared Utility Pool has become available. The goal of this book is to provide an overview of the solution's environment and guidance for planning a deployment of it. The book also covers how to configure IBM Power Systems Private Cloud with Shared Utility Capacity. There are also chapters about migrating from PEP 1.0 to PEP 2.0 and various use cases. This publication is for professionals who want to acquire a better understanding of IBM Power Systems Private Cloud, and Shared Utility Capacity. The intended audience includes: Clients Sales and marketing professionals Technical support professionals IBM Business Partners This book expands the set of IBM Power documentation by providing a desktop reference that offers a detailed technical description of IBM Power Systems Private Cloud with Shared Utility Capacity.

IBM FlashSystem 5200 Product Guide

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.

IBM TS7700 Release 5.2.2 Guide

This IBM® Redbooks® publication covers IBM TS7700 R5.2. The IBM TS7700 is part of a family of IBM Enterprise tape products. This book is intended for system architects and storage administrators who want to integrate their storage systems for optimal operation. Building on 25 years of experience, the R5.2 release includes many features that enable improved performance, usability, and security. Highlights include IBM TS7700 Advanced Object Store, an all flash TS7770, grid resiliency enhancements, and Logical WORM retention. By using the same hierarchical storage techniques, the TS7700 (TS7770 and TS7760) can also off load to object storage. Because object storage is cloud-based and accessible from different regions, the TS7700 Cloud Storage Tier support essentially allows the cloud to be an extension of the grid. As of this writing, the TS7700C supports the ability to off load to IBM Cloud® Object Storage, Amazon S3, and RSTOR. This publication explains features and concepts that are specific to the IBM TS7700 as of release R5.2. The R5.2 microcode level provides IBM TS7700 Cloud Storage Tier enhancements, IBM DS8000® Object Storage enhancements, Management Interface dual control security, and other smaller enhancements. The R5.2 microcode level can be installed on the IBM TS7770 and IBM TS7760 models only. Note: The latest Release 5.2 was split into two phases: R5.2 Phase 1 (also referred to as and ) R5.2 Phase 2 ( and R) TS7700 provides tape virtualization for the IBM z environment. Off loading to physical tape behind a TS7700 is used by hundreds of organizations around the world. Tape virtualization can help satisfy the following requirements in a data processing environment. New and existing capabilities of the TS7700 5.2.2 release includes the following highlights: Eight-way Grid Cloud, which consists of up to three generations of TS7700 Synchronous and asynchronous replication of virtual tape and TCT objects Grid access to all logical volume and object data that is independent of where it exists An all-flash TS7770 option for improved performance Full Advanced Object Store Grid Cloud support of DS8000 Transparent Cloud Tier Full AES256 encryption for data that is in-flight and at-rest Tight integration with IBM Z® and DFSMS policy management DS8000 Object Store AES256 in-flight encryption and compression Regulatory compliance through Logical WORM and LWORM Retention support Cloud Storage Tier support for archive, logical volume version, and disaster recovery Optional integration with physical tape 16 Gb IBM FICON® throughput that exceeds 5 GBps per TS7700 cluster Grid Resiliency Support with Control Unit Initiated Reconfiguration (CUIR) support IBM Z hosts view up to 3,968 common devices per TS7700 grid TS7770 Cache On-demand feature that is based capacity licensing TS7770 support of SSD within the VED server The TS7700T writes data by policy to physical tape through attachment to high-capacity, high-performance IBM TS1160, IBM TS1150, and IBM TS1140 tape drives that are installed in an IBM TS4500 or TS3500 tape library. The TS7770 models are based on high-performance and redundant IBM POWER9™ technology. They provide improved performance for most IBM Z tape workloads when compared to the previous generations of IBM TS7700.

IBM DS8900F and IBM Z Synergy DS8900F: Release 9.3 and z/OS 2.5

IBM Z® has a close and unique relationship to its storage. Over the years, improvements to the IBM zSystems® processors and storage software, the disk storage systems, and their communication architecture consistently reinforced this synergy. This IBM® Redpaper™ publication summarizes and highlights the various aspects, advanced functions, and technologies that are often pioneered by IBM and make IBM Z and IBM DS8000® products an ideal combination. This paper is intended for users who have some familiarity with IBM Z and the IBM DS8000 series and want a condensed but comprehensive overview of the synergy items up to the IBM z16 server with IBM z/OS® V2.5 and the IBM DS8900 Release 9.3 firmware.

IBM SAN Volume Controller Model SV3 Product Guide

This IBM® Redpaper Product Guide describes the IBM SAN Volume Controller model SV3 solution, which is a next-generation IBM SAN Volume Controller. Built with IBM Spectrum® Virtualize software and part of the IBM Spectrum Storage family, IBM SAN Volume Controller is an enterprise-class storage system. It helps organizations achieve better data economics by supporting the large-scale workloads that are critical to success. Data centers often contain a mix of storage systems. This situation can arise as a result of company mergers or as a deliberate acquisition strategy. Regardless of how they arise, mixed configurations add complexity to the data center. Different systems have different data services, which make it difficult to move data from one to another without updating automation. Different user interfaces increase the need for training and can make errors more likely. Different approaches to hybrid cloud complicate modernization strategies. Also, many different systems mean more silos of capacity, which can lead to inefficiency. To simplify the data center and to improve flexibility and efficiency in deploying storage, enterprises of all types and sizes turn to IBM SAN Volume Controller, which is built with IBM Spectrum Virtualize software. This software simplifies infrastructure and eliminates differences in management, function, and even hybrid cloud support. IBM SAN Volume Controller introduces a common approach to storage management, function, replication, and hybrid cloud that is independent of storage type. It is the key to modernizing and revitalizing your storage, but is as easy to understand. IBM SAN Volume Controller provides a rich set of software-defined storage (SDS) features that are delivered by IBM Spectrum Virtualize, including the following examples: Data reduction and deduplication Dynamic tiering Thin-provisioning Snapshots Cloning Replication and data copy services Data-at-rest encryption Cyber resilience Transparent Cloud Tiering IBM HyperSwap® including three-site replication for high availability (HA)

IBM Power Systems High Availability and Disaster Recovery Updates: Planning for a Multicloud Environment

This IBM® Redpaper publication delivers an updated guide for high availability and disaster recovery (HADR) planning in a multicloud environment for IBM Power. This publication describes the ideas from studies that were performed in a virtual collaborative team of IBM Business Partners, technical focal points, and product managers who used hands-on experience to implement case studies to show HADR management aspects to develop this technical update guide for a hybrid multicloud environment. The goal of this book is to deliver a HADR guide for backup and data management on-premises and in a multicloud environment. This document updates HADR on-premises and in the cloud with IBM PowerHA® SystemMirror®, IBM VM Recovery Manager (VMRM), and other solutions that are available on IBM Power for IBM AIX®, IBM i, and Linux. This publication highlights the available offerings at the time of writing for each operating system (OS) that is supported in IBM Power, including best practices. This book addresses topics for IT architects, IT specialists, sellers, and anyone looking to implement and manage HADR on-premises and in the cloud. Moreover, this publication provides documentation to transfer how-to skills to the technical teams and solution guidance to the sales team. This book complements the documentation that is available at IBM Documentation and aligns with the educational materials that are provided by IBM Systems Technical Training.

IBM Z Functional Matrix

This IBM® Redpaper™ publication provides a list of features and functions that are supported on IBM Z, including: IBM z16™ - Machine type 3931; IBM z15™ - Machine types 8561 and 8562; IBM z14™ - Machine types 3906 and 3907. On 30 June 2021, the IBM z14 (M/T 3906) was withdrawn from marketing (WDMF). Field-installed features and all associated conversions that are delivered solely through a modification to the machine's Licensed Internal Code (LIC) are still possible until 29 June 2022. This IBM Redpaper publication can help you quickly understand the features, functions, and connectivity alternatives that are available when planning and designing IBM Z infrastructures.

IBM z16 Technical Introduction

This IBM® Redbooks® publication introduces the latest member of the IBM Z® platform that is built with the IBM Telum processor: the IBM z16 server. The IBM Z platform is recognized for its security, resiliency, performance, and scale. It is relied on for mission-critical workloads and as an essential element of hybrid cloud infrastructures. The IBM z16 server adds capabilities and value with innovative technologies that are needed to accelerate the digital transformation journey. This book explains how the IBM z16 server uses innovations and traditional IBM Z strengths to satisfy the growing demand for cloud, analytics, and a more flexible infrastructure. With the IBM z16 servers as the base, applications can run in a trusted, reliable, and secure environment that improves operations and lessens business risk.

Early Threat Detection and Safeguarding Data with IBM QRadar and IBM Copy Services Manager on IBM DS8000

The focus of this blueprint is to highlight early threat detection by IBM® QRadar® and to proactively start a cyber resilience workflow in response to a cyberattack or malicious user actions. The workflow uses IBM Copy Services Manager (CSM) as orchestration software to start IBM DS8000® Safeguarded Copy functions. The Safeguarded Copy creates an immutable copy of the data in an air-gapped form on the same DS8000 system for isolation and eventual quick recovery. This document also explains the steps that are involved to enable and forward IBM DS8000 audit logs to IBM QRadar. It also discusses how to use create various rules to determine a threat, and configure and start a suitable response to the detected threat in IBM QRadar. Finally, this document explains how to register a storage system and create a Scheduled Task by using CSM.

IBM Power Systems S922, S914, and S924 Technical Overview and Introduction Featuring PCIe Gen 4 Technology

This IBM® Redpaper publication is a comprehensive guide that covers the IBM Power System S914 (9009-41G), IBM Power System S922 (9009-22G), and IBM Power System S924 (9009-42G) servers that use the latest IBM POWER9™ processor-based technology and support the IBM AIX®, IBM i, and Linux operating systems (OSs). The goal of this paper is to provide a hardware architecture analysis and highlight the changes, new technologies, and major features that are being introduced in these systems, such as: The latest IBM POWER9 processor, which is available in various configurations for the number of cores per socket More performance by using industry-leading Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) Gen 4 slots Enhanced internal disk scalability and performance with up to 11 NVMe adapters Introduction of a competitive Power S922 server with a 1-socket configuration that is targeted at IBM i customers This publication is for professionals who want to acquire a better understanding of IBM Power Systems™ products. The intended audience includes the following roles: Clients Sales and marketing professionals Technical support professionals IBM Business Partners Independent software vendors (ISVs) This paper expands the current set of IBM Power Systems documentation by providing a desktop reference that offers a detailed technical description of the Power S914, Power S922, and Power S924 systems. This paper does not replace the current marketing materials and configuration tools. It is intended as an extra source of information that, together with existing sources, can be used to enhance your knowledge of IBM server solutions.

IBM GDPS: An Introduction to Concepts and Capabilities

This IBM® Redbooks® publication presents an overview of the IBM Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex® (IBM GDPS®) offerings and the roles they play in delivering a business IT resilience solution. The book begins with general concepts of business IT resilience and disaster recovery, along with issues that are related to high application availability, data integrity, and performance. These topics are considered within the framework of government regulation, increasing application and infrastructure complexity, and the competitive and rapidly changing modern business environment. Next, it describes the GDPS family of offerings with specific reference to how they can help you achieve your defined goals for disaster recovery and high availability. Also covered are the features that simplify and enhance data replication activities, the prerequisites for implementing each offering, and tips for planning for the future and immediate business requirements. Tables provide easy-to-use summaries and comparisons of the offerings. The extra planning and implementation services available from IBM also are explained. Then, several practical client scenarios and requirements are described, along with the most suitable GDPS solution for each case. The introductory chapters of this publication are intended for a broad technical audience, including IT System Architects, Availability Managers, Technical IT Managers, Operations Managers, System Programmers, and Disaster Recovery Planners. The subsequent chapters provide more technical details about the GDPS offerings, and each can be read independently for those readers who are interested in specific topics. Therefore, if you read all of the chapters, be aware that some information is intentionally repeated.

IBM Power Systems Virtual Server Guide for IBM i

This IBM® Redbooks® publication delivers a how-to usage content perspective that describes deployment, networking, and data management tasks on the IBM Power Systems Virtual Server by using sample scenarios. During the content development, the team used available documentation, IBM Power Systems Virtual Server environment, and other software and hardware resources to document the following information: IBM Power Systems Virtual Server networking and data management deployment scenarios Migrations use case scenarios Backups case scenarios Disaster recovery case scenarios This book addresses topics for IT architects, IT specialists, developers, sellers, and anyone who wants to implement and manage workloads in the IBM Power Systems Virtual Server. This publication also describes transferring the how-to-skills to the technical teams, and solution guidance to the sales team. This book compliments the documentation that available at the IBM Documentation web page and aligns with the educational materials that are provided by IBM Garage for Systems Technical Education.

IBM FlashSystem Safeguarded Copy Implementation Guide

Safeguarded Copy function that is available with IBM® Spectrum Virtualize Version 8.4.2 supports the ability to create cyber-resilient point-in-time copies of volumes that cannot be changed or deleted through user errors, malicious actions, or ransomware attacks. The system integrates with IBM Copy Services Manager to provide automated backup copies and data recovery. This IBM Redpaper® publication introduces the features and functions of Safeguarded Copy function by using several examples. This document is aimed at pre-sales and post-sales technical support specialists and storage administrators.

IBM TS4500 R8 Tape Library Guide

The IBM® TS4500 (TS4500) tape library is a next-generation tape solution that offers higher storage density and better integrated management than previous solutions. This IBM Redbooks® publication gives you a close-up view of the new IBM TS4500 tape library. In the TS4500, IBM delivers the density that today's and tomorrow's data growth requires. It has the cost-effectiveness and the manageability to grow with business data needs, while you preserve investments in IBM tape library products. Now, you can achieve a low per-terabyte cost and high density, with up to 13 PB of data (up to 39 PB compressed) in a single 10 square-foot library by using LTO Ultrium 9 cartridges or 11 PB with 3592 cartridges. The TS4500 offers the following benefits: Support of the IBM Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Ultrium 9 tape drive: Store up to 1.04 EB 2.5:1 compressed per library with IBM LTO 9 cartridges. High availability: Dual active accessors with integrated service bays reduce inactive service space by 40%. The Elastic Capacity option can be used to eliminate inactive service space. Flexibility to grow: The TS4500 library can grow from the right side and the left side of the first L frame because models can be placed in any active position. Increased capacity: The TS4500 can grow from a single L frame up to another 17 expansion frames with a capacity of over 23,000 cartridges. High-density (HD) generation 1 frames from the TS3500 library can be redeployed in a TS4500. Capacity on demand (CoD): CoD is supported through entry-level, intermediate, and base-capacity configurations. Advanced Library Management System (ALMS): ALMS supports dynamic storage management, which enables users to create and change logical libraries and configure any drive for any logical library. Support for IBM TS1160 while also supporting TS1155, TS1150, and TS1140 tape drive. The TS1160 gives organizations an easy way to deliver fast access to data, improve security, and provide long-term retention, all at a lower cost than disk solutions. The TS1160 offers high-performance, flexible data storage with support for data encryption. Also, this enhanced fifth-generation drive can help protect investments in tape automation by offering compatibility with existing automation. Store up to 1.05 EB 3:1 compressed per library with IBM 3592 cartridges Integrated TS7700 back-end Fibre Channel (FC) switches are available. Up to four library-managed encryption (LME) key paths per logical library are available. This book describes the TS4500 components, feature codes, specifications, supported tape drives, encryption, new integrated management console (IMC), command-line interface (CLI), and REST over SCSI (RoS) to obtain status information about library components. You learn how to accomplish the following tasks: Improve storage density with increased expansion frame capacity up to 2.4 times, and support 33% more tape drives per frame

IBM Spectrum Virtualize, IBM FlashSystem, and IBM SAN Volume Controller Security Feature Checklist

IBM Spectrum® Virtualize based storage systems are secure storage platforms that implement various security-related features, in terms of system-level access controls and data-level security features. This document outlines the available security features and options of IBM Spectrum Virtualize based storage systems. It is not intended as a "how to" or best practice document. Instead, it is a checklist of features that can be reviewed by a user security team to aid in the definition of a policy to be followed when implementing IBM FlashSystem®, IBM SAN Volume Controller, and IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud. The topics that are discussed in this paper can be broadly split into two categories: System security This type of security encompasses the first three lines of defense that prevent unauthorized access to the system, protect the logical configuration of the storage system, and restrict what actions users can perform. It also ensures visibility and reporting of system level events that can be used by a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution, such as IBM QRadar®. Data security This type of security encompasses the fourth line of defense. It protects the data that is stored on the system against theft, loss, or attack. These data security features include, but are not limited to, encryption of data at rest (EDAR) or IBM Safeguarded Copy (SGC). This document is correct as of IBM Spectrum Virtualize version 8.5.0.

IBM Spectrum Archive Enterprise Edition V1.3.2.2: Installation and Configuration Guide

This IBM® Redbooks® publication helps you with the planning, installation, and configuration of the new IBM Spectrum® Archive Enterprise Edition (EE) Version 1.3.2.2 for the IBM TS4500, IBM TS3500, IBM TS4300, and IBM TS3310 tape libraries. IBM Spectrum Archive Enterprise Edition enables the use of the LTFS for the policy management of tape as a storage tier in an IBM Spectrum Scale based environment. It also helps encourage the use of tape as a critical tier in the storage environment. This edition of this publication is the tenth edition of IBM Spectrum Archive Installation and Configuration Guide. IBM Spectrum Archive EE can run any application that is designed for disk files on a physical tape media. IBM Spectrum Archive EE supports the IBM Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Ultrium 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5 tape drives. and the IBM TS1160, TS1155, TS1150, and TS1140 tape drives. IBM Spectrum Archive EE can play a major role in reducing the cost of storage for data that does not need the access performance of primary disk. The use of IBM Spectrum Archive EE to replace disks with physical tape in tier 2 and tier 3 storage can improve data access over other storage solutions because it improves efficiency and streamlines management for files on tape. IBM Spectrum Archive EE simplifies the use of tape by making it transparent to the user and manageable by the administrator under a single infrastructure. This publication is intended for anyone who wants to understand more about IBM Spectrum Archive EE planning and implementation. This book is suitable for IBM customers, IBM Business Partners, IBM specialist sales representatives, and technical specialists.

Cyber Resilient Infrastructure: Detect, Protect, and Mitigate Threats Against Brocade SAN FOS with IBM QRadar

Enterprise networks are large and rely on numerous connected endpoints to ensure smooth operational efficiency. However, they also present a challenge from a security perspective. The focus of this Blueprint is to demonstrate an early threat detection against the network fabric that is powered by Brocade that uses IBM® QRadar®. It also protects the same if a cyberattack or an internal threat by rouge user within the organization occurs. The publication also describes how to configure the syslog that is forwarding on Brocade SAN FOS. Finally, it explains how the forwarded audit events are used for detecting the threat and runs the custom action to mitigate the threat. The focus of this publication is to proactively start a cyber resilience workflow from IBM QRadar to block an IP address when multiple failed logins on Brocade switch are detected. As part of early threat detection, a sample rule that us used by IBM QRadar is shown. A Python script that also is used as a response to block the user's IP address in the switch is provided. Customers are encouraged to create control path or data path use cases, customized IBM QRadar rules, and custom response scripts that are best-suited to their environment. The use cases, QRadar rules, and Python script that are presented here are templates only and cannot be used as-is in an environment.

Electronic Health Records with Epic and IBM FlashSystem 9500 Blueprint Version 2 Release 4

This information is intended to facilitate the deployment of IBM© FlashSystem© for the Epic Corporation electronic health record (EHR) solution by describing the requirements and specifications for configuring IBM FlashSystem 9500 and its parameters. This document also describes the required steps to configure the server that hosts the EHR application. To complete these tasks, you must be knowledgeable of IBM FlashSystem 9500 and Epic applications. This Blueprint provides the following information: A solutions architecture and the related solution configuration information for the following essential components of software and hardware: Detailed technical configuration steps for configuring IBM FlashSystem 9500 Server configuration details for Caché database and Epic applications

IBM DS8000 Easy Tier (Updated for DS8000 R9.0)

This IBM® Redpaper™ publication describes the concepts and functions of IBM System Storage® Easy Tier®, and explains its practical use with the IBM DS8000® series and License Machine Code 7.9.0.xxx (also known as R9.0).. Easy Tier is designed to automate data placement throughout the storage system disks pool. It enables the system to (automatically and without disruption to applications) relocate data (at the extent level) across up to three drive tiers. The process is fully automated. Easy Tier also automatically rebalances extents among ranks within the same tier, removing workload skew between ranks, even within homogeneous and single-tier extent pools. Easy Tier supports a Manual Mode that enables you to relocate full volumes. Manual Mode also enables you to merge extent pools and offers a rank depopulation function. Easy Tier fully supports thin-provisioned Extent Space Efficient fixed block (FB) and count key data (CKD) volumes in Manual Mode and Automatic Mode. Easy Tier also supports extent pools with small extents (16 MiB extents for FB pools and 21 cylinders extents for CKD pools). Easy Tier also supports high-performance and high-capacity flash drives in the High-performance flash enclosure, and it enables additional user controls at the pool and volume levels. This paper is aimed at those professionals who want to understand the Easy Tier concept and its underlying design. It also provides guidance and practical illustrations for users who want to use the Easy Tier Manual Mode capabilities. Easy Tier includes additional capabilities to further enhance your storage performance automatically: Easy Tier Application, and Easy Tier Heat Map Transfer.