EMC DLm8000 First Mainframe Virtual Tape Library to Deliver Synchronous Replication

Press release:

EMC DLm8000 First Mainframe Virtual Tape Library to Deliver Synchronous Replication

New Solution for Large Enterprises Supports EMC VMAX, Offers 2.5x the Performance of Its Closest Competitor and Ensures Rapid and Predictable Recoveries

HOPKINTON, Mass. - Aug 6, 2012

News Highlights:

• EMC announces the DLm8000, a unique, high-end addition to its Disk Library for mainframe family of virtual tape libraries.
• The new DLm8000 leverages EMC® VMAX® with powerful EMC SRDF® synchronous replication ensuring consistency of tape data at production and disaster recovery sites.
• Large enterprise z/OS mainframe users gain highly granular and predictable recoveries, with accelerated RTOs and more flexible RPOs.
• The cost and complexity of D2D2T systems are eliminated and the complete removal of physical tape from the mainframe environment is enabled.

Full Story:

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) today announced the EMC DLm8000, a new high-end product for large enterprise mainframe environments. The DLm8000 is the only mainframe virtual tape library that ensures consistency between tape data at both production and recovery sites, providing the shortest possible RPO and RTO for critical recovery operations. With support for powerful, trusted and smart EMC VMAX enterprise storage and Symmetrix® Remote Data Facility (SRDF) replication, the DLm8000 rounds out EMC's portfolio of mainframe virtual tape library offerings with a solution geared to the needs of mission critical environments.

Consistency of tape data between production and recovery sites is particularly desirable for large, transaction-oriented enterprises such as banking, brokerage and insurance companies, where disaster recovery with predictable Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) is a must. Physical tape transportation by third party records management companies hinders recovery efforts by reducing the granularity of Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) and dramatically increasing the RTO. In addition, periodic lack of tape drive availability for batch processing, archive and backup applications can impair SLAs, further increasing the risks and business impact associated with unplanned service interruptions.

The new DLm8000 addresses all of these challenges, while integrating industry leading technologies from EMC into a massively scalable, high performance and highly available solution that helps mainframe users gain control over their tape processes and meet their recovery SLAs.

Available for the first time in the EMC Disk Library for mainframe, VMAX is the storage platform of choice for mission critical mainframe environments where customers require performance in addition to securing and protecting their information. EMC SRDF is the "gold standard" for remote replication, providing the maximum levels of availability in DR situations. The DLm8000 with VMAX provides the highest levels of performance and availability for both disk storage and tape data. Together, these solutions enable mainframe customers with consistent and automated DR for both disk and tape data.

DLm8000 Product Highlights

• Throughput of up to 2.7 GB/s delivers 2.5x the performance of the DLm8000's nearest competitor.
• Continuous replication to the DR site means data is immediately available to provide rapid RTOs and more flexible RPOs.
• Up to 2,048 emulated drives can be allocated to different processes, even temporarily, to improve overall system processing capabilities.
• Reliability levels that meet the mission critical needs of large mainframe environments, while enabling dramatically enhanced data recovery processes.

For a full list of DLm8000 features and capabilities, download the EMC Disk Library for mainframe data sheet.

Industry Analyst Quote:

Ray Lucchesi, President, Silverton Consulting

"Large financial organizations with high transactional volume have historically faced recovery challenges because their mainframe tape and DASD data at production and secondary sites were never fully in synch. As such, recovery procedures were often held up until the differences between the two data types were resolved resulting in longer failover time frames. The EMC DLm8000 offers an innovative solution to these challenges that can help these enterprises align their recoveries to their desired RTOs."

EMC Executive Quote:

Shane Jackson, Vice President of Marketing, EMC Backup Recovery Systems Division

"The ability to replicate tape data synchronously has been in high demand from large enterprise mainframe users, but thus far they have been forced to accept sub-optimal recovery options in an effort to approach their desired SLAs. With the introduction of the DLm8000, EMC becomes the first to solve this problem for our customers. They can now confidently deploy synchronous replication and industry-leading VMAX storage systems integrated into a single solution. The DLm8000 enables these users to consistently achieve their recovery objectives and remove physical tape and its associated problems from their mainframe environments."

EMC Global Services can enhance the effectiveness of DLm8000 deployments and help customers optimize the performance, reliability and efficiency of their environments. Service offerings include infrastructure assessments that provide recommendations for stabilizing and maximizing the effectiveness of the current environment, as well as a range of other services that help organizations transform their IT operations and increase business agility.

Availability:

The DLm8000 will be generally available in Q4.

About EMC

EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing.  Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset — information — in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.