MODERN Mainframe Virtual Tape featuring FICON and ESCON mainframe channel gateways, connectivity and data storage products

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Mainframe Storage World

Solutions Overview Based on our industry leading MODERN Mainframe Virtual Tape Technology, LUMINEX has been providing the answers for mainframe enterprises for years. LUMINEX’s Channel Gateway products and technology provide real solutions for real business needs with the reliability, high performance and total cost of ownership benefits that you demand. The Channel Gateway product line is designed to provide unique capabilities to non-disruptively address each of the four major customer storage needs:

Primary Operational
Backup and Disaster Recovery
Archive and Compliance
Data Sharing

LUMINEX considers these four classifications of storage and storage management to be the “Customer Storage World” that our solutions are designed to address. In addition, LUMINEX provides Mainframe Tape Migration professional IT services for our mainframe enterprise customers so that all of their data cam be more efficiently stored on LUMINEX’s virtual tape solution, enabling them to go tapeless!

This includes primary copies of data that are used in production and operations with real-time access requirements. This data can be frequently modified and is often processed as the source for creating new types of data, such as customer statements and historical analysis. Although disk-based storage is the natural mechanism for managing this data, the majority of mainframe customers continue to use tape and virtual tape systems for Primary Operational data in addition to DASD systems.

The Channel Gateway leverages the inherent values of SAN and NAS-based disk systems to store operational data that is created from historical mainframe tape-based applications. The Channel Gateway product is available in no-single-point-of-failure configurations

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Use the Channel Data Server to provide up to 20TB of native mainframe storage leverage the values of the Sun Fire X4500 server and data integrity and storage management features of the ZFS file system.

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This includes all copies of data that are secondary sources for retrieval in the event that the primary copy is either not available or no longer accurate. This includes providing assurance that data is retrievable in the face of physical disasters or primary storage malfunctions, as well as accidental or malicious editing or destruction of primary data. Retrieval needs can include both at the primary data center location, and at a secondary recovery site location.

Physical tapes created as secondary copies of Primary Operational data, both kept onsite and taken offsite, remain the primary mechanism for Backup and Recovery. However, advancements in technology and bandwidth continue to provide new options for providing additional values while solving Backup and Recovery needs in addition to, or in, place of physical tapes.

Use the Channel Gateway with industry-leading encryption appliances to create encrypted backup tapes using mainframe-class tape drives and compatible media such as StorageTek’s 9840, 9940 and T10k or IBM’s 3590 and TS1120 drives.

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Use the Channel Gateway with open-systems LTO drives and libraries for a cost-effective backup process using industry-standard technologies with the possibility to share a common tape infrastructure with open-systems networks.

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Use the Channel Gateway with industry-leading disk-based Virtual Tape Libraries (VTLs) for cost-effective, shared infrastructures with capabilities to leverage remote replication.

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Use the Channel Gateway with industry-leading NFS-based backup appliances to leverage 20x or greater compression with de-duplication and remote replication to create a fully tapeless backup and recovery infrastructure.

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The unique requirements for Archive data are increasingly understood and recognized as different than the requirements of Backup data or Operational data. And the recent wave of business and legal requirements for ensuring data is secure, unchanged, and available has created an entire market for Compliance-based storage solutions geared towards data archives. Archive data is similar to Primary data in that it is the primary copy or source for retrieval. However, this data is not “Operational” but is by nature intended to never change and to be accessible in a fixed format for its useful life. Although a secondary copy of Archive data is usually created for Disaster Recovery needs, this copy is created once and archived data should not be part of the daily and weekly backup process.

The term “fixed content” also refers to this data, and many assume that the Archive and Compliance category is the largest growing area of data storage with unique storage management needs. Due to the capacity required, mainframe archive data has traditionally been stored on tape cartridges either on large shelves or in very large tape libraries. However, cost-effective disk-based storage solutions are providing new options and values for managing archive data.

Use the Channel Gateway to provide non-disruptive and native mainframe connectivity to the industry’s leading disk-based archive and compliance-based storage-systems.

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An oft-forgotten storage requirement for customers is to distribute and receive data from other customer, partner, and department locations. This is often accomplished both by using physical media and by using online capabilities such as FTP. When using physical media, the requirement for common media technology at both locations has forced most mainframe customers to continue to use very old 36-track tape technology such as 3490. Most large financial and related institutions with high-volume distribution requirements have also been using LUMINEX’s CD/DVD based automated distribution products for automated and cost-effective distribution of data to non mainframe-based customers and third-parties. Sending unencrypted physical storage media with sensitive data offsite has been a significant concern for customers, and continues to present new challenges for mainframe environments.

Use the Channel Gateway to non-disruptively and automatically create encrypted CD/DVD media directly from the existing mainframe tape applications

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Mainframe enterprises are increasingly realizing that creating, storing and managing physical tape is a costly burden they no longer need to face as more and more mainframe users go tapeless. Many of these mainframe customers have turned to LUMINEX’s MODERN Mainframe Virtual Tape solutions to replace large portions of their existing physical and virtual tape infrastructures. LUMINEX’s professional, experienced mainframe engineers provide highly reliable, comprehensive Mainframe Tape Migration services (including migrating over 300,000 tapes) so that all of the enterprise’s historical data is migrated seamlessly over to the new Luminex MODERN Mainframe Virtual Tape system.

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