Features - Storage Innovations:

IBM DRIVES BLUEFIN; DELIVERS IMPROVED, AUTONOMIC STORAGE

IBM has launched a new initiative to accelerate the delivery of interoperable storage management products using the "Bluefin" specification. It has also announced more advanced function and productivity enhancements to its industry-leading IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Server (code-named "Shark"). IBM also unveiled a working Bluefin demo, showcasing the first interoperable, open environment for storage area management incorporating the CIM/WBEM standard and its high functionality in IBM storage hardware and Tivoli software solutions.

Highlights of today's announcement include:

• Initiative for early access to IBM's Bluefin implementation by 10 independent software vendors
• New autonomic features on IBM Enterprise Storage Server (ESS) to help customers more easily manage their data
• Enhanced FlashCopy and Peer-to-Peer Remote Copy to improve application availability and disaster recovery
• Doubling the maximum capacity of the ESS to 55.6 TB using 145.6 GB disk drives

"Customer's want interoperability just as much as they want bigger, faster, and better machines," said Brian Truskowski, chief technology officer, IBM Storage Systems Group. "Customers are demanding storage products that work in multi-vendor environments, that drive business value and that push down management costs. Our autonomic product capabilities and adherence to industry-led open standards are customer-focused deliverables for today's multi-vendor e-business environments."

Delivering Standards Based Products

IBM is working with leading independent software vendors to provide early access to IBM's Bluefin implementations on its disk and tape products and IBM Tivoli software products. "Bluefin" is the code name for the specification endorsed by Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) to help customers manage data in a multi-vendor storage area network using the Common Information Model (CIM) and Web-based Enterprise Management (WBEM) standards.

By providing early access, IBM is working to promote interoperability as well as high function and control between IBM and other vendor's products using the standards. IBM is sharing information about the CIM/WBEM implementations with BMC Software, Computer Associates, Legato Systems, VERITAS and others.

"As a founding member of SNIA in the US, Europe and Australia, LEGATO welcomes the opportunity to work with IBM in this effort to drive multi-vendor interoperability using the Bluefin specification," said George Symons, vice president, Product Management and Development, LEGATO Systems Inc. "IBM's Bluefin initiative helps promote interoperability and allows independent software vendors such as LEGATO to work with IBM in the early stages of product implementation to help ensure that our joint customers have interoperable storage solutions using the standards. This is directly in line with the mission of the SNIA-endorsed Bluefin specification."

New Autonomic Enabling Capabilities for ESS

IBM is also working to simplify storage management for IT administrators through the availability of new autonomic enabling technology that can help with configuration and management functions for ESS. IBM's autonomic computing initiative is designed to provide the hardware, software and services needed by businesses to reduce the complexity of their IT infrastructure and make their computing systems more self-managing. For example, the new capabilities for the ESS are designed to automate tasks for asset management by obtaining information about volumes, I/O ports, volume space and disk groups. It also helps automate tasks for LUN masking, querying available space and creating new volumes, assigning user labels to volumes, managing host connections, obtaining audit logs, and managing parallel access volumes and copy services.

IBM also enhanced its FlashCopy and Peer to Peer Remote Copy functions to improve the flexibility and control of copy functions. These enhancements are intended to help improve application availability and disaster recovery.

About IBM

IBM develops and manufactures the industry's most advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software, networking systems, storage devices and microelectronics. IBM Storage Systems Group and IBM Tivoli Software offers customers worldwide the most comprehensive range of storage products available today. These storage solutions are offered through IBM as well as a large network of IBM Business Partners. For more information, visit www.ibm.com/totalstorage or www.tivoli.com/storage.