EMC expands leading Symmetrix VMAX Virtual Data Center capabilities

EMC Corporation today introduced new software for its Symmetrix VMAX family of storage systems, extending its leading virtual data center and cloud storage capabilities. A new version of EMC AutoSwap software, with support for z/VM environments, was unveiled at the SHARE mainframe user event in Orlando, Florida, expanding Symmetrix VMAX-based solutions for all of the major virtual machine operating systems.

The new EMC GDDR (Geographically Dispersed Disaster Restart) AutoSwap for z/VM software is the most comprehensive solution for continuous availability and improved protection for virtualized mainframe environments. It enables mainframe environments running the z/VM operating system to automatically swap operations between two Symmetrix VMAX storage systems in the event of a disruption for continuous application availability and data protection and to meet strict governance, risk and compliance mandates.

Compliance requirements for business continuity are increasing around the globe and GDDR and GDDR/Autoswap are being deployed in order to meet these requirements.  In the event of a planned or unplanned disruption, EMC GDDR AutoSwap for z/VM works with EMC SRDF (Symmetrix Remote Data Facility) software to simplify and automate failover of the entire mainframe workloads to a remote site for the highest levels of data and application availability and unmatched disaster recovery capabilities.    

EMC has a multi-year technology licensing agreement with IBM, enabling EMC to deliver a wide range of storage capabilities to support System z  and provide mainframe environments with the same leading storage features that EMC offers for virtualized open systems platforms.    

In addition, this week EMC also announced its new DLm6000 Disk Library for Mainframe, which can address the full range of mainframe tape workloads with a single, consolidated all-disk system.

“With mainframe environments supporting massive numbers of virtual servers, workloads and users, availability becomes an even more pressing issue for IT managers. EMC is adding to its long list of mainframe storage capabilities with EMC GDDR AutoSwap for z/VM.  This technology greatly simplifies and automates key processes required for a fail over to a secondary site, and is becoming an essential capability for mainframe administrators.” Ben Woo, Vice President Storage & Big Data, IDC

“Symmetrix VMAX is purpose-built for the virtual data center. Whether it is VMware, Hyper-V or z/VM, the Symmetrix VMAX family provides the most trusted and powerful set of capabilities for virtualized environments.  In addition, Symmetrix has also supported mission-critical mainframe workloads in industries like banking and financial services for more than two decades. EMC GDDR AutoSwap for z/VM extends our mainframe solutions and  helps our customers make their virtual data centers more resilient and meet their governance, risk and compliance objectives.” Brian Gallagher, President, Enterprise Storage Division, EMC