10 Most Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will a new Luminex solution be compatible with our
operating system, Tape Management System (TMS) and tape
applications?
Yes, Channel Gateway solutions are
application transparent, so existing mainframe tape applications,
TMS and mainframe operating systems, including zOS, VM,
VSE and OS390 are compatible and supported. The gateways
are configured in the mainframe’s IOGEN/IOCP as a
range of 3490 or 3590 tape drives.
2. How should we migrate old tapes
to the new solution?
Luminex Tape Migration Tools and Services are available
to migrate your data from the old tape cartridges to the
new Luminex virtual tape solution. Our tape migration engineers
will provide pre-sales consulting, assessment services,
an implementation plan and a Statement of Work. They will
migrate your data and assist you with the cut-over to the
new solution.
3. How much FICON, ESCON throughput or disk capacity is
required?
Virtual Tape Subject Matter Experts are available to review
your requirements and provide preliminary sizing recommendations
for throughput and capacity. Also, our Tape Analysis Team
can provide a more thorough analysis using RMF, TMC or
SMF records and share our recommendations.
4. Are compression, deduplication or other features useful
for our environment?
There are several factors that determine whether compression,
deduplication or both will be useful in the new virtual
tape environment. These factors include remote disaster
recovery plans, remote replication requirements, virtual
tape storage capacity available, network speed and bandwidth
available and more. Our Subject Matters Experts are available
to share best practices for your particular environment.
5. How much network bandwidth is required for remote replication?
Our team can assist with the network bandwidth estimates.
The backup size, backup window and available network bandwidth
are some of the key factors we’ll consider.
6. Which disk storage vendors can we use with disk-based
virtual tape?
Channel Gateways have been used and customer proven in
the most demanding, business and mission critical customer
environments worldwide. The gateways (mainframe virtual
tape control units) are combined with NAS, FC or internal
storage systems from HP, HDS, EMC, EMC|Data Domain, Oracle,
IBM, NetApp and others to provide extraordinary solutions
with TBs or PBs of virtual tape storage capacity.
7. How have other customers reduced or eliminated physical
tape use?
Channel Gateway users have significantly reduced tape use
and many have eliminated physical tape use completely.
Several IT managers have shared their experience at industry
conferences such as SHARE and WAVV. Reference calls with
these customers can be scheduled through Luminex Sales
at info@luminex.com.
8. Can we speak with customers that
have implemented new virtual tape solutions?
Yes, customer reference calls can be scheduled through
Luminex Sales at info@luminex.com.
9. How can we reduce
the overall cost of tape operations?
Listed below is a preliminary list of targets for cost
reductions. Luminex is available to prepare a complete
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) report as needed. TCO assistance
is available at info@luminex.com.
- Tape Media
- Tape Shipping
- Off-site Tape Storage
- Tape Maintenance for Existing Tape Products
- 3rd Party Disaster Recovery Site & Services
- Electrical & Cooling
- Computer Room Real Estate
10. Is competitive pricing available
for the new solution?
Yes, disk-based virtual tape solutions typically cost
less, compared to products that have virtual tape cache
with physical tape and tape libraries. Pricing is available
at info@luminex.com.
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