Press Release
Bus-Tech Announces zDASD 3990 Controller
IBM's TotalStorage Proven™ for FAStT and NAS Gateways
Burlington, MA - January 15, 2004 - Bus-Tech®, Inc.
, a leading
supplier of data center connectivity products announced zDASD, a
new product for connecting mainframes to IBM's FAStT and NAS Gateway
products in support of DASD (ECKD) file access. zDASD connects to
the mainframe using either FiCON or ESCON channels and can emulate
up to sixty-four 3390 models 3, 9 or 27 storage volumes with alternate
path support. The controller connects to IBM's FAStT arrays via
Fibre Channel or to IBM's NAS Gateways via Gigabit Ethernet. The
product has been extensively tested at IBM's facilities and has
earned the distinction of being IBM TotalStorage Proven™ and
IBM Storage Validated.
With the advances in Serial ATA disk technology in reliability,
density and performance along with the capabilities of zDASD, customers
now have the option of consolidating some of their mainframe data
requirements to IBM's open-system storage platforms. All mainframe
installations have storage requirements for data with varying performance
requirements and importance, from OLTP data to fixed content reports.
Today most, if not all, of this data resides on high-end DASD devices.
With zDASD and IBM's open-system storage arrays, much of this data
can be stored and accessed at much lower price points and can compliment
a company's Information Lifecycle Management strategy.
"zDASD, and its ability to utilize open-system storage from
IBM for mainframe DASD applications, will change the landscape in
the mainframe storage arena," stated Bill Colestock, Director
of Storage Business Unit at Mainline Information Systems. "The
addition of FICON opens up new possibilities to implement a wide
range of new uses for this class of storage."
Data written by a mainframe to devices attached to zDASD is stored
on the FAStT or NAS Gateway in such a way as to allow the data to
be retrieved in exactly the same format as it was stored. zDASD
makes it transparent to the mainframe hardware and operating system
that IBM's open-system storage is being used rather than traditional
mainframe DASD volumes. zDASD supports IBM, and compatible mainframes
for the z/OS, MVS, VM and VSE operating environments.
"Bus-Tech's recently announced zDASD appliance provides alternative
mainframe DASD solutions to cost-conscious IT administrators by
allowing its customers to leverage lower cost open-systems arrays
including the new breed of ATA disks, for needed additional mainframe
storage capacity," said John Webster, Senior Analyst of Data
Mobility Group. "zDASD also offers significant value and return
to IT administrators committed to ILM concepts; recognizing that
not all online data has identical write/retrieve storage requirements,
nor do all applications require the same levels of service."
zDASD with FiCON connectivity opens up tremendous new capabilities
in both Disaster Recovery and Business Continuation. Because of
the full-duplex data transfer and multiplexing capabilities of FiCON
it can support distances of up to 100km without bandwidth degradation.
This will allow customers to replicate their data to remote data
stores and access that data from their DR site, all at FiCON performance
levels. During testing of zDASD, throughput performance, utilizing
large block sizes, was measured in excess of 50 Megabytes per second.
About Bus-Tech, Inc.
Bus-Tech, Inc. founded in 1987 is the industry's leading provider
of state-of-the-art connectivity solution for the data center to
Original Equipment Manufacturers. The company's powerful suite of
adapter and platform solution satisfy even the most rugged demands
of data processing professionals for high-bandwidth, high-availability,
and high-performance connectivity. With more than 15,000 installed
sites worldwide, Bus-Tech is a recognized leader in the data center
interconnect market. Headquartered in Burlington, MA, the company
is privately held with location around the world. For more information
about Bus-Tech and its products, please visit the Bus-Tech World
Wide Web site at http://www.bustech.com, send e-mail to info@bustech.com
or call 800-284-3172 or 781-272-8200.
About Progress Systems
Progress Systems is a premier value added integrator and reseller
of mainframe and open systems solutions from today's leading manufacturers.
Our focus is in two primary areas. First, we provide customers with
solutions for their S/390 mainframe environment, including TCP/IP
and SNA network connectivity, traditional disk and tape storage,
and the newest Virtual Tape systems for all mainframe operating
systems. Second, we provide customers with open systems (NT and
Unix) servers and storage solutions. The solutions for storage include
direct attached storage, storage area networks, and network attached
storage. We also offer professional services to help customers with
needs determination, solution design and architecting, implementation,
and on-going support. More information is available at http://www.progresssystems.com.
All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and
logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.
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