IBM SHARK, 800 and 800 Turbo disk storage, gains support of innovation solutions - Innovation Data Processing's FDRINSTANT, FDR/Upstream, FDRPAS

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, Sept 2, 2002

Commenting on the recent IBM announcement of the new Enterprise Storage Server, model 800 and 800 Turbo, disk storage system for z/OS, UNIX, Linux and Windows environments, independent storage management software vendor, INNOVATION Data Processing, Inc., assured customers that all components of its FDRINSTANT non-disruptive z/OS storage management solution, FDR/UPSTREAM its enterprise storage management solution for UNIX, Linux and Windows, IAM its VSAM application accelerator and FDRPAS, its solution for the non-disruptive installation of new storage hardware and real-time data migration, are already shipping with full support for the new technology SHARK systems.

"We know IBM's announcement of their new Enterprise Storage Server 800 and 800 Turbo models," says Thomas J. Meehan, INNOVATION's Vice President Advanced Technology, "has FDRINSTANT, FDR/UPSTREAM and IAM customers eagerly awaiting the arrival of these new high performance disk systems." The growth of real-time Internet e-Business information is driving up the amount of data stored on mainframe, UNIX, Linux and LAN servers, so customers need a high speed and high capacity disk system just to be able to keep pace. INNOVATION is very pleased with the results of our participation in the Enterprise Storage Server's Early Test Program for the 800 and 800 Turbo models.

"Running through our full compliment of test suites on ESCON channels, FICON channels, PAV devices, FlashCopy, RAID-5 arrays and on the new RAID-10 format; our pre-release testing of the new SHARK models", Meehan went on, "clearly demonstrates the advantages of their increased speed and higher capacity over earlier models. Their incredibly high I/O capacity makes zServer platforms an extremely popular choice as an enterprise server. Customers, who trust INNOVATION's FDR, FASTCPK, ABR and FDR/UPSTREAM to protect their e-Business data, are going to have more than just a passing interest in the new 800 and 800 Turbo SHARK. We expect many customers will be considering it as a natural companion."

"Not everyone may need the added benefits of the new RAID-10," Meehan added, "but we made sure of our interoperability with non-disruptive Instant backup and restore between RAID-5 and RAID-10 formats, as well as FDRPAS support for non-disruptive install of the new models with real-time migration of disk volumes from RAID-5 to RAID-10 formats and back."

"Customers always benefit when a leading ISV, like INNOVATION, delivers non-disruptive storage management solutions supporting new storage technology like the recently announced IBM model 800 and 800 Turbo SHARK," said Meehan. "The reliability, performance, scope and ease of use of our non-disruptive solutions make them a great fit for professional services specialists and customers, who want a non-intrusive installation so they can bring the new technology online without interrupting their ongoing 24 x 7 workloads."

The INNOVATON FDRPAS solution is also available through IBM Global Services and IBM Business Partners whose specialists employ the FDRPAS data migration engine for non-disruptive z/900, z/800 and S/390 eServer new disk storage hardware installation and I/O load balancing. INNOVATION FDRINSTANT and IAM storage management solutions are also available through the IBM SystemPac offerings.