IBM provides a solution to manage open systems media in a distributed environment on the mainframe.
Customers increasingly have a need for consolidated tape and media management solutions. Hardly any tools exist for open systems tape and media management beyond what's built in to backup and archive applications. Tapes attached to z/OS® and open systems are managed separately — two systems for doing the exact same thing. Duplicate administration effort can severely complicate management of steadily growing tape environments and reduce the opportunities for dynamic resource sharing.
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IBM offers the IBM Integrated Removable Media Manager (IRMM) for the Enterprise on System z™. IRMM is a robust systems management product for Linux® on IBM System z™ that manages open system media in heterogeneous distributed environments and virtualizes physical tape libraries. IRMM combines the capacity of multiple heterogeneous libraries into a single reservoir of tape storage that can be managed from a central point and is designed to help reduce total cost of ownership of managing removable media in data centers.
Through the virtualization of physical tape libraries, IRMM combines the capacity of multiple heterogeneous libraries into a single virtual reservoir of tape storage. IRMM extends the IBM virtualization strategy to tape library resources at a time when storage demands and the need for virtualization is increasing.
IRMM is designed to provide a centralized management system for removable media management and dynamic sharing of those tape resources. Clients can benefit from a reduction in administrative cost, improved operation stability through preventive failure analysis, and an integrated vaulting process for mainframe and open systems.
By providing an integrated solution with the opportunity for both mainframe z/OS DFSMSrmm and distributed Tivoli® Storage Manager™ environments to be managed by IRMM, System z can now be a hub for the management of removable media.
IRMM V1.1.1 provides:
- Minor enhancements to the synchronization between IRMM and z/OS DFSMSrmm
- More details on the reporting of open systems volumes into DFSMSrmm
- Support of the Tomcat application server to communicate with the DFSMSrmm web service
- Client support for x86 Linux servers (32- and 64-bit)
- Support for Tivoli Storage Manager servers running on x86 systems
- Support for generic SCSI tape libraries
- SCSI-based tape libraries can now be managed with IRMM
- Support of latest generation of tape libraries, tape drives and removable media
- IBM System Storage™ TS1130 (encryption) tape drives
- IBM System Storage TS1040 LTO Ultrium 4 tape drives (TS3500 only)
- Support for IPv6
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New users can order IRMM V1.1.1 by contacting your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner and placing an order for 5655-S57 to receive the CD-ROM that includes the code, License Information Document (GC53-1126), and the IRMM Users Guide and Reference (SA23-2235).
Existing customers can upgrade to IRMM V1.1.1 by:
- Contacting your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner and placing an order for 5655-S57 to receive the CD-ROM that includes the code, License Information Document (GC53-1126), and the IRMM Users Guide and Reference (SA23-2235).
- Downloading from the Fix Central Web site at: www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral
- Select "System z" from the Product Group box, then
- Select "Integrated Removable Media Manager" from the Product box, then
- Select "V1.1.0" from the Installed Version box, then
- Select "Platform" from the Platform box
The IRMM Command Line Interface for z/OS is shipped as part of IBM Ported Tools for z/OS: Supplementary Toolkit for z/OS feature. To use the CLI on z/OS, the following is required and must be obtained separately:
- IRMM V1.1.1 requires the PTF UA44512 for APAR OA22614 for IBM Ported Tools for z/OS: Supplementary Toolkit for z/OS feature
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- Recommended service
Required for the IRMM Command Line Interface for z/OS
IRMM provides a command line interface (CLI) for Linux for System z that is available on the installation CD. This CLI is also available for z/OS and permits an administrator to administer, control, and monitor the distributed tape infrastructure from z/OS. The IRMM Command Line Interface for z/OS is shipped as part of IBM Ported Tools for z/OS: Supplementary Toolkit for z/OS feature. To use the CLI on z/OS, the following is required and must be obtained separately:
- IBM Ported Tools for z/OS: Supplementary Toolkit for z/OS feature (FMID HPUT110) (5655-M23) with PTF UA36521 for APAR OA22006.
- IBM Ported Tools for z/OS: Perl for z/OS feature (FMID HPRL110) (5655-M23).
- IRMM V1.1.1 requires the PTF UA44512 for APAR OA22614 for IBM Ported Tools for z/OS: Supplementary Toolkit for z/OS feature
- Required for IRMM V1.1.0 additional client support for Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Sun Solaris 8, or later, and HP-UX 11:
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- Download additional client packages from Fix Central
- Select "System z" from the Product Group box, then
- Select "Integrated Removable Media Manager" from the Product box, then
- Select "V1.1.0" from the Installed Version box, then
- Select "Platform" from the Platform box.
- To receive the IRMM V1.1.1 upgrade:
- Download IRMM V1.1.1 from Fix Central
- Select "System z" from the Product Group box, then
- Select "Integrated Removable Media Manager" from the Product box, then
- Select "V1.1.0" from the Installed Version box, then
- Select "Platform" from the Platform box.
- For fixes for IRMM, refer to Fix Central.
- For support for IRMM your local support access numbers can be found at: www.ibm.com/planetwide
- For support for Linux on System z, contact the service supplier for the Linux distribution you have installed.
- For support on other operating systems and/or software applications, go to www.ibm.com/software/support. Select the Download tab and search for your specific problem.
The IRMM technology is based on Enterprise Removable Media Manager (eRMM), an IBM services offering that has been available since 2005. It has been in production since third quarter 2005 at several major European companies and has demonstrated its robustness and scalability. This technology is now being made available worldwide with the IRMM product.
The following IBM customers have successfully deployed eRMM:
Volkswagen: Europe's largest car manufacturer has used eRMM in production since 2006. eRMM tape library virtualization capabilities help VW to maximize their investment in the tape infrastructure. Centralized administration and reporting functionality significantly reduces their operational costs. The eRMM technology enables Volkswagen to manage a common pool of tape hardware consisting of IBM tape hardware as well as Sun StorageTek silos.
HUK-COBURG: HUK-COBURG has used eRMM in production since third quarter 2005 in a Tivoli Storage Manager z/OS LAN-free environment. The company was able to significantly reduce its configuration and administration because eRMM automatically provisions and maintains all drives and drive paths for Tivoli Storage Manager storage agents. HUK is also a z/OS DFSMSrmm customer and has benefited from having a similar tool for the distributed environment. eRMM provides the basis for providing integrated removable media management in the mainframe and distributed worlds.
GAD eG: GAD eG was looking for a tool that simplifies management of their growing tape and Tivoli Storage Manager environment. eRMM meets GAD eG's requirements and has helped to provide more robustness and reduce hardware outages. With eRMM technology, it has been possible for GAD eG to automatically direct workload to a remote site in case of an outage. GAD eG has been using the eRMM technology since November 2006.
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