Re: SAN Vendor support for IBM i? (PRIVATE REPLY)

Hi, Vern:
*>>>---> private reply off-list <---<<<

*/Um, I don't think so ... /*:-o*

I believe VIOS only knows about 512-byte blocks and can only supply virtual disks of that size. Remember, VIOS is AIX. And, that's why IBM added support for 512-byte block DASD in V6R1 and above. See here for some details:

http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/resources/pcrm.pdf

See also:
http://ibmsystemsmag.blogs.com/you_and_i/2011/02/index.html

and page down to the topic "*520 Bytes in a 512-Byte World*"

Does that help clear up a few things?


Mark S. Waterbury

> On 5/21/2012 3:58 PM, Vern Hamberg wrote:

It's all virtualization these days - IBM has some storage that can be
external but look just like internal, DS3800 or something or other - we
went through an exercise to be Storage-Ready or some such certification
a few years ago.

Now it's VIOS - that is the thing that reports what kind of disk you
have set up - it is reported as standard i-DASD - if VIOS can talk to
other stuff, hey, you're there, man! I think!

Vern

On 5/21/2012 2:54 PM, Jack Kingsley wrote:

i was referring to what I read about like a EMC/IBM CSA.

On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 3:48 PM, Richard Schoen<richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

Depends on what you mean by supported ? :-)

If the SAN device uses standard CIFS or NFS that's supported under Linux
or Windows Storage Server, you should be able to copy data there.

In our case our WebDocs software interacts normally via the aforementioned
NFS services so we can read/write to the SAN as easily as an NFS drive.

If you're using IBM Content Manager or other system user where the system
doesn't support direct read/write to NFS or CIFS. Then it's time to
upgrade your 3995 jukebox or add more iSeries disk if you don't want an IBM
SAN :-)

One of our customers recently bought a Buffalo 12TB Terastation with
Windows Storage Server on it fo leass than $2k.

Not bad for low end disk, although not a true SAN and probably not meant
to be used without a good network backup.

Regards,
Richard Schoen
RJS Software Systems Inc.
Where Information Meets Innovation
Document Management, Workflow, Report Delivery, Forms and Business
Intelligence
Email:richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Web Site:http://www.rjssoftware.com
Tel: (952) 736-5800
Fax: (952) 736-5801
Toll Free: (888) RJSSOFT
------------------------------

message: 3
date: Mon, 21 May 2012 17:21:32 +0000
from: Matt Olson<Matt.Olson@xxxxxxxx>
subject: SAN Vendor support for IBM i?

Does anyone know of any SAN's that are compatible with IBM i other than
from EMC or IBM themselves? It seems we only have two vendor choices on
this front whereas our Windows boxes has an incredibly larger vendor
selection.

I've looked at Xiotech, NetApp, Equilogic (dell), Compellent (dell), and
HP and none of those vendors seem to support the iSeries. They all have
SAN's that work with Unix/Windows/x86 boxes but not the iSeries.
Additionally cost is a factor, for the price of TWO 8TB san's from the
manufacturers that do NOT have iSeries support we cannot even get ONE from
EMC or IBM.

Kinda disappointing so far, so I'm hoping someone can tell me of an
economical SAN that is compatible with the IBM i that have all the bells
and whistles that we are use to from the big guys in the x86 world
(geolocated site failover, blocklevel replication and restore, automatic
management of files by moving frequently access to faster drives and lower
access data to slow drives, etc).

Matt

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