The TS7700 virtual tape solution is the leader of tape storage in the System z environment. This solution continues to evolve with function, performance and capacity to match the growing need for mainframe storage. The TS7700 has always provided means for growth, migration, and change as user requirements grow. As users upgrade their TS7700 grids to leverage these enhancements another method has been introduced for migration of the data, IBM TS7700 Migration Service.
Before going into the details of IBM TS7700 Migration Service, let’s review a brief summary of a TS7700 grid. A TS7700 grid consists of one to eight clusters all acting as one storage library. Data can be stored in one or more clusters and is accessible by all clusters in the grid. Multiple copies of data may be stored for redundancy in case of the loss of some copies due to such an event as a natural disaster.
The user defines where and when data is copied throughout the grid by policy. Not all data has the same requirements for the number of copies. Some data is temporary and easily recreated or discarded after its creation and use and therefore require only a single copy. Other data is critical to the existence of the owner and therefore multiple copies are created simultaneously in diverse locations to prevent the loss of that data should a natural disaster occur. Some legal regulations may require more than 2 copies of the data. The user’s needs are provided for by the TS7700 grid through defining the policies used by the host when data is created in the library.
The IBM TS7700 Migration Service has many use cases. It can be used for a hardware refresh of the TS7700 grid as old clusters are replaced with new. Perhaps new regulations or business needs require increasing the number of copies in the grid. User’s may need to move or add additional data centers. All of these and many other user scenarios may be satisfied using the Migration Service with the user merely specifying the requirements.
The Migration Service is a service offering provided by IBM Lab Based Services for the migration of data within the TS7700 grid. The user specifies to LBS their requirements for the migration and then LBS executes the migration. This migration is performed on the TS7700 grid without host access or host MIPS. The user provides remote access and then LBS can perform the migration on the TS7700 grid.
This is alternative method for migration to the existing host based solution that has been available since the introduction of the TS7700. The host based solution continues to be available for users who choose to perform migrations themselves. The Migration Service is available for users who would like to out source this task. The Migration Service uses the functions invoked by the host based solution without requiring access to the host.
Migrations Service provides many options to the user to specify the order and flow of the migration. The user may desire to give priority order to the migration for specific management classes, volume serial ranges, or categories within the TS7700 grid. Data migration tasks in the TS7700 always take a lower priority over host generated tasks, but the Migrations Service also allows the users to specify times to inhibit migration or limit how many volumes may be in the migration queue at any given time. The user may also request LBS to suspend or halt the migration during the process.
The migration process is monitored and progress reported on by LBS to the user. The user can also see results of the migration as it’s occurring from the Management Interface or by collecting volume information from the grid using host based tools.
Do you see an opportunity for Migration Service in your shop? Would you like more details? Simply contact your local IBM System Storage Lab Services Opportunity Manager (OM) to request the services. If you are unsure of the local Lab Services OM, you may contact
ibmsls@us.ibm.com for assistance in locating the appropriate contact.
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