Oracle Unveils StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager 6

Oracle Corp. announced StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager 6, the latest generation of its mainframe virtual tape system.

It is the first mainframe virtual tape storage system to provide a single point of management for the entire system that leverages the security of the mainframe environment.

It manages data and storage resources with automated, policy-driven management that simplifies deployment and streamlines ongoing tape operations for data protection, DR and archive.

With 2x the performance and more than 1.8x the total disk capacity of the previous generation, the StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager 6 system (StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager system includes StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager 6 and StorageTek Virtual Library Extension) scales on-demand to over 640PB to meet the needs of growth data storage environments in a dense, energy efficient data center footprint that helps lower TCO.

With sustained system throughput of 1,200MB/s, the StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager 6 is approximately 20% faster than the IBM TS7700, and can run multiple workloads without degrading system performance, completing jobs faster. The system also scales to over 50x the disk capacity of the IBM TS7720. IBM TS7700 throughput is approximately 960MB/s. IBM TS7720 disk capacity is 11.23PB (assumes 3:1 compression).

StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager 6 offers the flexibility to address multiple enterprise configuration requirements including performance disk-only or massively scalable disk and physical tape, as well as single or multi-site support for DR.

It also offers high level of availability with its end-to-end HA architecture and provides checks to ensure data integrity as it moves throughout the system and from storage tier-to-tier during its lifecycle.

StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager 6 uses a triple parity RAID architecture throughout the system to minimize the impact of disk rebuilds, which can be significant with today’s high-capacity disks in other architectures.

It offers 7x lower five-year TCO (TCO is measured as acquisition cost plus support costs over five years) than the previous generation and is backwards compatible with previous generation StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager systems for investment protection.

"As customers continue to contend with exponential data growth and the need for 24×7 access to mission-critical data, Oracle is raising the bar with high-performance virtual tape capabilities that can help keep costs down," said James Cates, VP, Hardware Development, Oracle. "Oracle’s new StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager 6 delivers major enhancements in simplicity, scalability and availability that enable customers to better manage mainframe storage environments, maximize their investments in tape, and lower TCO."

"Oracle is confirming its commitment to the mainframe virtual tape market with the introduction of the next generation of the StorageTek virtual tape technology," said Robert Amatruda, research director, Data Protection and Recovery, IDC. "Oracle’s Virtual Storage Manager 6 is a feature rich product that leverages the strong mainframe heritage of the StorageTek brand."