Dynamic Solutions Launches New VTLs for IBM i

Dynamic Solutions International recently launched a new line of virtual tape library (VTL) systems that the company says was designed specifically for IBM i shops. With five systems in the DSI400 line, Dynamic Solutions says it has VTL solutions for everybody, from the VTL newbie to the established enterprise.

Since their introduction to the data center over a decade ago, VTLs have established themselves as a core component of a modern storage strategy. They’ve been particularly well-received in organizations that want to consolidate multiple backup devices (usually tape drives) with a single flexible device that can support a variety of platforms.

Practically all VTL vendors claim to support IBM i with their solutions, but there are a fewer number of vendors actually designing their systems to work with the proprietary platform and simultaneously providing the technical expertise necessary to support its customers implementations. You can count Dynamic Solutions as one of the VTLs doing the groundwork necessary to support IBM i.

The DSI400-EV0 can scale into the petabyte range.

The Colorado-based company says the DSI400 was designed around IBM i needs. “The DSI400 VTL is specifically geared towards IBM i shops because we do a complete round of testing and qualifications including IPL in order to make sure they will seamlessly integrate,” Dynamic Solutions CTO Chris Bremer tells IT Jungle.

“The needs of the IBM i customer differ from other customers because of the specificity of the IBM i tape systems, and that they tend to write a lot of small tapes as opposed to distributed systems which write large tapes more frequently,” Bremer continues. “We are acutely aware of this and our system is designed to cater to the IBM i unique traits.”

The DSI400 line consists of the following new systems:

• DSI400-NEM: An entry-level VTL designed specifically for the IBM i market. The 1U appliance includes seven disk drives with a maximum usable capacity of 2 TB spread across 128 virtual libraries, 2,024 virtual tape drives, and 4,000 virtual tape cartridges. It supports SAS connection to external tape drives. Encryption-at-rest is a standard feature; encryption in motion is an option. No data de-duplication is available. The price tag ($11,865) is set to be competitive with tape.
• DSI400-BEM: This is identical to the DSI400-NEM, but features 4 TB of storage and is targeted at IBM i and Unisys customers.
• DSI400-VEM: This 2U appliance sports five 4 TB drives for a maximum useable capacity of 8 TB. It also includes SAS and Fibre Channel connections to external tape drives and supports up to 8,000 virtual tape cartridges. It’s designed specifically for IBM i and Unisys systems.
• DSI400-MEM: A 2U appliance equipped with nine 4 TB drives for a maximum usable storage capacity of 16 TB. it supports up to 64,000 virtual tape cartridges and is designed specifically for IBM i and Unisys shops.
• DSI400-EV0 is a cluster-based VTL designed to help enterprise shops expand into the petabytes of storage. It can be paired with DSI5100 storage arrays to grow storage in increments of 16 TB or 32 TB. It supports data de-duplication and is targeted at IBM i and Unisys shops.

For more info, see Dynamic Solutions’ spec sheet on the DSI400 series.

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