Optica Announces Next Generation of zVT Mainframe Virtual Tape Products

LOUISVILLE, Colo., May 1, 2018 (Newswire.com) - Optica is pleased to announce the zVT next-generation family of IBM Z Mainframe Virtual Tape Library (VTL) products.  zVT’s next generation Virtual Tape Node (VTN) exploits the latest server technology and delivers outstanding performance, resiliency, and scalability to serve a broad set of IBM Z customers. Each zVT VTN is modular and packaged efficiently with (2) FICON channels in an industry standard 2U rack format.

Michael Dailey, COO and VP of Worldwide Sales, said, “We’re excited to announce our next generation of zVT products. The announcement demonstrates Optica’s unwavering commitment to IBM Z and the mainframe virtual tape market.  Our next generation zVT offerings deliver the most modular, scalable and flexible blend of performance, capacity and advanced features available in the market.”

Our next generation zVT offerings deliver the most modular, scalable and flexible blend of performance, capacity and advanced features available in the market.

Michael Dailey, COO and VP of Worldwide Sales

The zVT 5000-iNAS solution is available in a fully redundant, high availability (HA) base configuration that combines (2) VTNs and (2) Intelligent Storage Nodes (ISNs). Advanced hardware compression, deduplication, encryption, and replication are included as standard features. AES 256-bit inline Data At Rest Encryption (DARE) protects data against unauthorized access to lost or stolen disks by encrypting data prior to being written to disk. Intelligent replication software delivers WAN-optimized data replication for disaster recovery and business continuity. Transmitting only unique compressed data and newer reference metadata to the remote zVT 5000-iNAS disk array via asynchronous replication significantly reduces network bandwidth requirements. Combined with in-flight encryption, the data transfer between zVT 5000-iNAS systems is protected from unauthorized access.

Our fundamental design principle for zVT 5000-iNAS is the ability for modular, granular and flexible expansion of capacity and performance.  The entry-level zVT 5000-iNAS HA offering incorporates 512 (256 per VTN) Virtual Tape Drive (VTD) resources, delivering ~1 GB/Sec performance*, 144TB RAW and ~288TB of effective capacity using a conservative 4:1 data reduction metric.  zVT 5000-iNAS disk capacity is configured and priced using a conservative 4:1 data reduction metric, however, mainframe customer data sets often deliver higher levels of data reduction up to and beyond 8:1.

IBM Z customers can scale zVT 5000-iNAS performance by increasing the number VTNs and ISNs from 2 to 8 for granular performance improvements to a maximum performance rating of ~4 GB/Sec*.  For additional capacity requirements, a capacity only, cost-optimized Capacity Storage Node (CSN) allows for modular additions of 72TB RAW to a maximum capacity in excess of 11PB RAW.  IBM’s recent z14 ZR1 announcement and the available 16U of contiguous rack space provide an ideal location for the zVT 5000-iNAS HA system (9U).

For IBM Mainframe users with more limited requirements, the fully integrated zVT 3000i model leverages the same Enterprise Class zVT VTN, incorporating 16 Virtual Tape Drive (VTD) resources and 8 TB of RAID-6 disk capacity, while delivering 20TB of effective capacity via the onboard hardware compression card (assuming 2.5:1 compression). The fundamental cost attributes of the zVT 3000i make a very compelling argument for those customers on a strict budget, who still require an Enterprise Class IBM Mainframe storage solution.

For IBM Mainframe users wishing to leverage their investments in IP (NFS) or FC (SAN) disk arrays, the zVT 5000-FLEX offering can be configured with (2) 10 GbE (1 GbE option) or (2) 8 Gbps Fibre Channel ports.  Virtual Tape Drive (VTD) flexibility is provided with VTD options of 16, 64 or 256.

The zVT next-generation family’s modular VTN design allows for easy expansion of performance, capacity and field upgradability for any member of the zVT family.  As IBM Z Mainframe customers, including new z14 ZR1 users, experience change and growth in their workload, Optica zVT’s flexible architecture offers the optimal mix of features, price, and performance.

To learn more about the exciting zVT family of products, please visit the Optica team in person at the upcoming IBM Systems Technical University, April 30 - May 4 2018, Orlando, FL, the IBM Systems Technical University, 14-18 May 2018, London, UK or the CRiP Annual Convention, 12-13 June 2018, Paris, France events. Also, Optica is sponsoring a live webinar hosted by IBM Systems Magazine Webinar on June 5.  Please register using the following link: Mainframe Virtual Tape: Reinvented for a NEW IT Era.

About Optica Technologies Incorporated

Optica Technologies is a privately held corporation headquartered in Boulder, CO. The company is a recognized leader in delivering high-quality storage and connectivity solutions for the mainframe.  Optica’s products are installed in thousands of mainframe data centers worldwide.

To learn more about Optica and its products:

Please visit www.opticatech.com or call 800-953-4773.

* Performance dependant on customer environment.

Source: Optica Technologies Inc