Bus-Tech, Inc., a provider of modular, scalable Virtual Tape Library (VTL) controllers for IBM and compatible mainframes, announced it has partnered with Hitachi Data Systems to provide support for IBM's Transaction Processing Facility (TPF). When coupled with Bus-Tech's Mainframe Data Library (MDL), the Hitachi Adaptable Modular Storage 2000 family and Hitachi High-Performance Network Attached Storage (NAS) Platform, powered by BlueArc, will provide high-capacity storage systems for the virtual tape volumes.
"Our VTL technology, which is called MDL, or Mainframe Data Library, is rapidly being adopted within the mainframe community," Bill Campbell, VP of sales for Bus-Tech, tells 5 Minute Briefing. "MDL not only eliminates the physical tape limitations for reliable business continuance and DR, but solves issues with extensive tape processing requirements as opposed to backup alone."
This mainframe VTL solution provides TPF data centers with lower tape processing costs by eliminating the need to monitor tape drives and introduces innovative disaster recovery alternatives for mainframe environments. The combined offering stores and retrieves virtual tape cartridges and incorporates the advantages of open system networked storage into the mainframe data center environment.
"This technology produces superior 'time-to-first-byte' characteristic, which is needed for efficient and lower-cost operations," Campbell explains. "It also allows existing storage competencies, staff, and resources to be exploited. Also, mainframe users can utilize a converged storage strategy encompassing distributed systems and mainframe backup/tape processing by combining storage platforms."
"The MDL technology provides a platform for the mainframe community to deploy emerging technology like deduplication, MAID or spin-down disks, and even SSDs without the typical "forklift" upgrades they have always experienced in the past," says Campbell. "The bottom line, MDL ends the proprietary nature of mainframe tape."
Significant performance improvements are realized by accelerating system utilities, data capture and restore processes to meet shrinking data processing windows and growing service level requirements. Customers gain benefits such as storage consolidation, improved asset utilization, reduced TCO and a lower enterprise tape footprint, the vendor says.
In a separate announcement, Bus-Tech said it was also partnering with Sepaton Inc., a provider of enterprise-class disk-based data protection solutions to enable mainframe environments to implement disk-based backup and recovery seamlessly without changing their backup policies. The combined, certified solution features the Sepaton S2100-ES2 virtual tape library (VTL) and Bus-Tech's Mainframe Data Library (MDL) model 100V for direct-to-VTL connectivity for ESCON and FICON mainframe users. By combining Sepaton's VTL with Bus-Tech's direct-to-tape mainframe connectivity solutions, mainframe customers are now able to share in the benefits of Sepaton's virtual tape system, according to Bus-Tech.
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