Breaking News - Bus-Tech Beefs Up Mainframe Data Library
Bus-Tech, a supplier of data center connectivity products, today announced Mainframe Data Library (MDL) model 6000, a new version of its virtual tape controller. The new model offers throughput in excess of 1Gbps, four-gigabit FICON support, 1,536 emulated tape transports and enhanced availability features. The MDL-6000 features from three to six independent emulation nodes; each of which support two FICON or three ESCON channel adapters and emulate up to 256 mainframe tape drives.
Bus-Tech’s MDL products are virtual tape controllers that attach directly to the mainframe via FICON or ESCON input/output channels, and use standard Gigabit Ethernet or Fibre Channel to attach to open systems storage. A fully populated MDL 6000 (with 12 FICON Ports) offers more than 1Gbps of throughput, the vendor said. Multiple MDLs can be coupled to meet greater performance requirements. In conjunction with the new model, Bus-Tech also announced the release of version 6.0 of Virtuent software, the engine common to all MDL models.
With at least 30 percent improvement in overall throughput, Bus-Tech said its products help data centers by lowering tape processing costs, improving end-user service levels, enabling innovative disaster recovery alternatives, and better meeting compliance standards around data storage. As part of the product announcement, the vendor’s Mainframe Appliance for Storage (MAS) product has been renamed the MDL 2000, and the MAS Entry has been renamed the MDL 1000.
The MDL line provides multiple independently operating emulation nodes to ensure higher availability, the vendor said. Each emulation node provides a minimum of two FICON or ESCON channel interfaces, and a fully populated MDL model 6000 emulates up to 1,536 mainframe tape drives. All of the MDL models include SNMP enhancements to monitor and report on all hardware components as well as in-line data encryption and IDRC initiated compression functionality.
"With the inherent increase in performance and port count density and enhanced availability profile in this new release; the MDL product family will give our customers complete flexibility in deploying the properly sized mainframe tape solution for any environment," said Al Brandt, president of Bus-Tech. For more information, go here.
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Luminex Speeds Up Mainframe Virtual Tapes
Luminex announced that its Channel Gateway mainframe virtual tape products are now available with 8Gbps FICON speeds. The Channel Gateways are intended to eliminate physical tape for backup and disaster recovery processes, as well as to eliminate physical tape in mainframe operations.
8Gbps has been available in the open systems space for some time now, Art Tolsma, CEO of Luminex, told 5 Minute Briefing, observing that Luminex was “the very first vendor” to offer that to mainframe customers. "The whole mission of our Channel Gateway mainframe virtual tape products is to bring the latest and greatest storage and networking technologies to the mainframe customers,” he said.
According to Luminex, mainframe tape storage products often have an operational life of a decade or more, so implementing the most advanced technology possible is important to avoid long-term use of antiquated technology during the life of the product.
"There has not been as much focus and innovation from the traditional mainframe vendors in bringing the best technologies to their customers," said Tolsma. The availability of the new technology “represents Luminex and our mission in being able to bring the best out to mainframe customers." Luminex is exhibiting at SHARE this week in Booth 203. For more information, go here.
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SSH Tectia Adds Unix and Linux Support to Secure File Transfer Solution
SSH Communications Security Corp., a provider of enterprise security solutions and the developer of the Secure Shell protocol, has announced the availability of a new version of its security software, offering multiplatform support.
SSH Tectia ConnectSecure 6.0.2 adds transparent Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) tunneling for Unix and Linux platforms in addition to existing support for Windows systems. The software enables Unix, Linux and Windows users to implement end-to-end encryption for host connectivity.
SSH Tectia ConnectSecure enables organizations to secure FTP file transfers and data-in transit without modifications to existing infrastructure, scripts or applications, the vendor said. The TCP tunneling of SSH Tectia ConnectSecure is transparent to the user, providing a method for secure file transfers, and protecting data-in-transit throughout heterogeneous environments.
"The endpoint that you are communicating with does not have to have SSH Tectia installed at the far end. What you need is any standard implementation of a Secure Shell protocol," George Adams, CEO of SSH Communications Security, Inc., told 5 Minute Briefing. "There is a whole range of systems you can talk to directly without having to have Tectia installed at both ends of the connection," he noted.
"We had offered this capability on Windows, so that if you are dealing with a Windows server, you could do this, but that limits you to a certain range of applications,” Adams said. “There is also a wider range of databases running on the Unix and Linux platforms so this opens up that whole area for data traffic security," he added.
By supporting any platform with commercial SSH or OpenSSH, said Adams, "SSH Tectia ConnectSecure provides an unmatched level of flexibility with robust features to meet the needs of a wide variety of IT environments."
The SSH Tectia product family includes SSH Tectia Client, Server, Manager, ConnectSecure, and Server for IBM z/OS. For more information, go here.
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Symantec Enhances Endpoint Virtualization with Acquisition of nSuite Technologies
Symantec Corp. has announced it is delivering expanded endpoint virtualization solutions to further protect and manage endpoints, whether physical, virtual or hybrid.
To support its endpoint virtualization portfolio, Symantec announced it is adding presentation virtualization and connection brokering technologies, through the acquisition of nSuite Technologies, a privately held virtual workspace management company. The acquisition is scheduled to close in August 2008. According to Sybase, connection broker technology is key to dynamically allocating traditional and virtual computing resources like information, user profiles and applications to the endpoint, regardless of device. Presentation virtualization allows users to view and interact with applications running remotely on a server, as if they are running on their local computing device.
The nSuite technologies will operate in conjunction with Symantec's Altiris Software Virtualization Solution Professional, which currently includes streaming and virtualization technology from Altiris and AppStream to provide faster, easier, and more manageable application consumption. It isolates applications and data from the base operating system allowing customers to instantly add, remove or reset applications on a Windows desktop, avoiding conflicts between applications or even between different versions of the same application.
Symantec's endpoint virtualization is designed to enable flexibility and productivity for end-users while helping to lower the cost of managing endpoint devices, Ken Berryman, vice president of Endpoint Virtualization for Symantec, told 5 Minute Briefing. "If you think about how virtualization has developed over the last few years, wave one focused on virtualizing specific point pieces of the technology stack. Wave two is focused on the information itself, on using a range of tools and technologies to decouple the information that matters - in the case of the endpoint, the user's experience and workspace - from the underlying systems," Berryman said. While most endpoints that are used in the enterprise today are PCs, laptops and desktops, observed Berryman, "increasingly, it is also PDAs, it may include some thin clients, it may include other types of devices that people bring in. We really want to include the full range of ways in which an individual person interacts with their working experience."
The expanded technology portfolio will enable rapid provisioning of anything from traditional desktops to full virtual desktops, while Symantec's existing streaming and virtualization products dynamically build the workspace on-demand for the user.
For more on nSuite, go here.
For more on Altiris Software Virtualization Solution Professional, go here.
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William Data Systems Raises the Curtain on z/OS Networks
William Data Systems has introduced the ZEN, a suite of specialized management tools for z/OS networks developed to meet the requirements to maintain business continuity and service levels.
"Regardless of the evolving demands placed on IT by business, it's an immutable fact that if your network isn't functioning properly, business will suffer," Simon Cooper, vice president of business development, told 5 Minute Briefing. "By deploying XML and Ajax Web technologies over existing network management products, WDS are able to simplify network management for our customers. This proves that if you get your product design right, you are able to take advantage of new technology earlier and pass the benefits on to your customers sooner."
ZEN consists of solutions intended to boost network performance and security. According to William Data Systems, ZEN FRAMEWORK optimizes mainframe network management, enabling users to integrate and operate tools through a single customized interface. Another tool, ZEN IP MONITOR-IMPLEX, identifies network issues instantly to minimize downtime. It helps focus recovery efforts with intelligent reporting and real-time monitoring. ZEN EE MONITOR-FERRET helps extend networks and optimize resources, and enables a smooth implementation of Enterprise Extender and improves APPN/HPR network operations and performance.
ZEN TRACE & SOLVE - EXIGENCE facilitates rapid diagnosis of network and application issues. ZEN FTP CONTROL – FTPALERT provides monitoring and auditing of FTP file transfers in real time and helps ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Finally, ZEN EE SECURITY-APIAS fills security gaps on the Enterprise Extender networks linking one business partner's legacy applications to another.
The components can be implemented individually or together to create specific network management solutions that support z/OS network management needs. To learn more about ZEN and its components, go here.
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