WP100829

This document outlines the various statistics records generated due to the activity on the TS7700 Virtualization Engine, and gives a description of each record type:

WP100831

As part of a total systems design, business continuity procedures must be developed to instruct IT personnel in the actions that need to be taken in a failure. Testing those procedures must be performed either during initial installation of the system or at some interval. This paper was written in an effort to assist IBM specialists and clients in developing such testing plans:

WP101000

Security of information stored on the backstore tape cartridges has become important. This white paper describes the use of data encryption on tape drives when attached to the TS7700 Virtualization Engine (VE):

WP101092

One of the key reasons to use tape is for recovery of critical operations in a disaster. The TS7700, in a grid configuration, provides for automatic, remote replication of data that supports recovery time and recovery point objectives measured in seconds. If you do not require the recovery times that can be obtained in a grid configuration, a function called Copy Export is being introduced for the TS7700. With Copy Export, a secondary copy of the logical volumes written to a TS7700 can be removed from the TS7700 and taken to an offsite location to be used for disaster recovery. This white paper describes the use of this function:

WP101094

The TS7700 Virtualization Engine provides a management interface based on open standards through which a storage management application can request specific information the TS7700 Virtualization Engine maintains. The open standards are not currently supported for applications running under z/OS, so an alternative method is needed to provide the information to mainframe applications. This white paper describes the use of a facility of the TS7700 Virtualization Engine through which a z/OS application can obtain that information:

WP101091

This white paper describes a facility of the TS7700 that supports a new z/OS Library Request host console command to allow an operator to request information pertaining to the current operational state of the TS7700, its logical and physical volumes, and its physical resources. Although the command is primarily for information retrieval, it can also be used to initiate outboard operations:

WP101224

This document provides the best practices for TS7700 Virtualization Engine performance increments depending on the number of back-end drives:

WP101230

This white paper describes best practices for the TS7700 based on theoretical data and practical experience. Copy Consistency Point recommendations are described for various configurations of two-cluster and three-cluster grids:

WP101281

When performing disaster recovery (DR) testing with a TS7700 grid, you need to consider how to handle Return-To-Scratch (RTS) processing using a production host. This paper helps you to understand the scratch selection criteria used. With this knowledge, you will be able to plan for your DR test while RTS processing is kept active. This paper also addresses other scratch category considerations for a DR test. These include the Fast Ready and Expire-Hold attributes for a scratch category:

WP101382

The TS7720’s capacity is limited by the size of its cache. The intent of this document is to make recommendations for managing the cache usage in the TS7720. It details the monitoring of cache usage, messages, and attentions presented as the cache approaches the full state, consequences of reaching the full state, and the methods used for managing the amount of data stored in the cache:

WP101430

This paper provides performance information for the IBM TS7720 and TS7740. The paper is intended for use by IBM field personnel and their clients in designing virtual tape solutions for their applications:

WP101465

This document will help you understand the inner workings of the TS7700 so that you can make educated adjustments to the subsystem to achieve peak performance. This document starts by describing the flow of data through the subsystem. Next, the various throttles used to regulate the subsystem are described. Performance monitoring is then discussed, and how and when to tune the TS7700 Virtualization Engine:

WP101689

During normal and exception processing within an IBM Tape Library, intervention or action by an operator or storage administrator is sometimes required. IBM tape libraries have an optional facility that causes a z/OS console message, CBR3750I. The purpose of this white paper is to list the intervention or action messages that are generated on the TS7700 Virtualization Engine, and to indicate the importance of each message regarding how they need to be handled:

WP101656

This white paper describes the usage of various hybrid TS7700 grid configurations where TS7720s and TS7740s both exist in the same grid. It describes how hybrid configurations can be used to improve read hits for recently used volumes and how the TS7720 can be used for additional mount points and for high availability. It also discusses various considerations, such as Retain Copy mode, Copy Consistency Points, cluster families, service outages, and disaster recovery considerations for the hybrid grid:

WP102098

WP102117

WP102184

This white paper focuses on opportunities for the TS7700 Virtualization Engine to be used with Linux for System z. It discusses a new product in Tivoli, the IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for z/OS Media, and how it can be used with the TS7700 Virtualization Engine. It also describes how Linux on System z guests running under z/VM can also access the TS7700 Virtualization Engine:

WP102200

WP102247

This paper provides performance information for the IBM Virtualization Engine TS7720 and TS7740. Performance-related changes in R3.0 are Disk Cache Refresh with larger capacity and better cache throughput with the 3956 CC9/CX9 with 600 GB DDM and the 3956 CC8/CX7, and encryption for data at rest:

WP102318

WP102415

WP102421

WP102422

FQ116133

Useful description of supported FICON Directors and Extenders including Microcode levels:

PRS2844

This presentation illustrates a typical HCD setup for z/OS to be used when installing a TS7740 or TS7720 Subsystem. It includes a sample HCD spreadsheet for calculating Logical Paths consumed:

TD105477

This document provides a cross reference between the various VEHSTATS output files and the IBM Virtualization Engine TS7700 Series Statistical Data Format White Paper. This document provides a set of tables that correspond to the various VEHSTATS reports: