Luminex Enables IBM ProtecTIER De-Dupe Products

LUMINEX Software, Inc. announced that new deduplication storage options are available to mainframe data centers.

With its Channel Gateways and IBM ProtecTIER deduplication storage, mainframe data centers can reduce their tape storage requirements, reduce or eliminate physical tape, and can reduce the network bandwidth required to replicate tape data from their production site, to a remote DR site.

Luminex was the first to enable deduplication storage systems for mainframe virtual tape in 2006. Since then, hundreds of mainframe sites have improved their overall tape operations and their DR preparedness using Luminex Channel Gateways or CGX with deduplication storage systems.

After IBM’s release of NFS support for its System Storage ProtecTIER Deduplication products, LUMINEX initiated interoperability and resiliency testing as part of its quality assurance process and certified its Channel Gateways with IBM’s ProtecTIER for customer use.

Now mainframes and distributed systems environments can leverage the advantages of using a common ProtecTIER storage system, for all of their mainframe and distributed systems backup data.

According to Mike Soursby, manager, data center services, Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A., "Kawasaki is in the process of replacing its deduplication storage devices for (onsite and offsite) replication with IBM’s ProtecTIER. With that, the mainframe portion is controlled by Luminex devices which emulate tape drive controllers. They have gone in seamlessly for the ProtecTIER interfaces, and work as described, and require no manual maintenance."

"LUMINEX is pleased to enable ProtecTIER for mainframe customers," said Michael C. Saunders, president, LUMINEX. "Our Channel Gateway’s DataStream Intelligence has enabled customers to maximize mainframe deduplication rates using other storage systems for years, and now with ProtecTIER we’re already seeing very impressive deduplication rates. Our assessment is that IBM’s ProtecTIER coupled with LUMINEX Channel Gateways offer an extraordinary deduplication option for the mainframe virtual tape market."