LXI - Media Management Suite

Today’s data center managers cope with the increasing demand for more storage space. As a result, organizations must search for new approaches to managing storage volumes, and increase the efficiency of backup and recovery processes.

LXI’s Media Management System (MMS) is a comprehensive family of storage management applications that efficiently preserve, protect and restore data. The MMS backup, recovery, tape management and protection, vaulting and off-site location management solutions help corporations around the world maximize their storage investments.

The Leader in iSeries Storage Management
The result of years of development and integration of sophisticated data management processes, MMS can be customized to make it as simple or as sophisticated as you choose. Support for the standard IBM command set makes for transparent operation, eliminating the need to modify existing CL or application processes. The basic tracking and protection functions are operational quickly, simplifying implementation and gaining the immediate benefit of increased efficiency.

Protect Your Data—Your Way
MMS gives managers the flexibility to adapt this solution to a wide variety of data protection and recovery requirements. Prioritize and group your backup strategies to meet your corporate recovery needs. Share automated tape libraries and devices for maximum data center efficiency. MMS is fully automated, delivering a robust, feature-rich array of commands and options to your company. MMS maximizes storage utilization for single and multi-platform environments. MMS protects tape media, manages and shares devices in a stand alone or multi-platform environment.

• Key Features
• Extensive automated backup and recovery configurations
• Media protection
• Networked or centralized management
• Hot backup of Lotus/Domino
• Interface to open systems solutions
• Non-labeled tape support
• Centralized vaulting
• Device/tape library sharing for multiplatform environments
  
• Automated tape consolidation and duplication
• Hierarchical storage management
• Object archive and dynamic recall
• Automated archive and retrieval of spool files
• Extensive inquiries and reports
• Transparent operation using native OS/400 commands
• Operational within minutes
• SAA compliant

Scalable Backup Strategies
Industry experts estimate that only 25% of data in networked environments is adequately backed up. The MMS backup module lets you create any backup structure necessary to recover 100% of your iSeries data in the event of a disaster. MMS backup lists enable corporations to customize backup strategies, eliminating the need to write and maintain backup programs.

• Provides full, cumulative or incremental saves.
• Supports all OS/400 object types with extensive backup lists.
• Provides unattended restricted state save support, which can be scheduled days in advance.
• Unlimited backup list exits allow for sophisticated processing between saves.
• Provides pre and post exit programs.
• Provides Lotus/Domino, IFS, serial, parallel and concurrent saves.
• Supports exclusion lists.
• Allows automatic addition of new libraries.
• Provides ability to restart failed saves.
• Capability to resume failed backups.

Device Management
MMS device management allows organizations to share tape devices and automated tape libraries across multiple systems and platforms. By sharing devices in heterogeneous environments, organizations are able to maximize the use of expensive storage equipment, while minimizing backup windows.
Includes dynamic drive sharing.

• Provides extensive support for automated tape libraries.
• Supports multiple libraries from a single iSeries.
• Allows for segmentation of tapes to specific devices.
• Supports direct attached and SCSI attached tape libraries.
• Shares libraries in multi-platform environments.

Comprehensive Tape Management and Security
Data availability is critical for a successful recovery. MMS delivers all the components necessary to protect tape media from accidental re-use.

• Protects media—even in restricted state.
• Provides extensive tape pool support.
• Supports library, object, member and save file level detail.
• Enforces site-specific tape labeling conventions, and supports non-labeled tape management.
• Can recover data from scratched volumes.
• Scratches media based on days and/or generations.
• Uses native OS/400 security.
• Prevents unauthorized users from viewing or restoring data.
• Restricts volume access to volume owners.

Simplified Recovery
MMS recovery lets organizations recover systems, applications or specific objects quickly and easily. MMS recovery lists enable users to predefine recovery scenarios and application priorities, reducing human error and helping corporations minimize downtime.

• Recover entire system, applications or specific objects.
• Recover objects in the order you specify, using the devices you choose.
• User exits provide the ability to execute commands or programs within the recovery process.
• Recover system based on application priorities at the time of the disaster.
• Simplify locating media with the consolidated Disaster Recovery Report.
• Quickly locate any version of objects in MMS database, and restore in a single operation.

Centralized Vault Management
MMS vaulting controls the full media life cycle, including on-site and off-site tape rotation movement and tracking. Users can schedule, track and automate the movement of all media, regardless of location. The vault management functions can be administered for each system individually, or centrally for single point of control.

• Rotates tapes off site, based on days and/or generations.
• Supports multiple move schedules.
• Supports slots and containers.
• Automatic packing and unpacking of containers.
• Move based on days and/or generations.
• Calendar and holiday support.
• Temporary return capability.
• Extensive reporting and viewing capabilities.

Hierarchical Storage Management
The Hierarchical Storage Management module lets IT managers better utilize their storage resources by migrating data from fast disk to slow disk or directly to tape. This saves organizations on overall cost of storage while maximizing the throughput of shrinking backup windows.

• Migrates libraries and objects from fast disk to slow disk, or directly to tape.
• Dynamically retrieve migrated data.
• Objects archived based on user defined criteria.

Spool Archiving
Archiving reports for long-term storage is a timely and costly process. The Spool module lets you automate the archiving and restoration of these files—even in automated tape libraries—saving on paper and disk storage costs.

• Automated save of spool files or output queues.
• Save based on extensive user-defined criteria.
• Automatically delete saved spool files based on userdefined criteria.
• Restore spool files to their original forms, including special forms and graphic files.
• Move spool files to different systems, or output queues on the same system.
• Manage the saving of spool files to automated tape libraries.
• Extensive tracking, reporting and viewing capabilities.

MMS in the Network
Deploying MMS across a network of iSeries systems enables data availability and recoverability. It allows users to access tape information for the entire environment as well as centrally manage vaulting operations. The important advantages gained by using a network with a redundant database design are many.

• Use real-time updates across the network for an accurate view of the data.
• Centrally manage vaulting.
• Share common scratch pools between multiple systems.
• Share automated tape libraries between multiple systems.
• Easily manage networked systems regardless of location or time zone differences.
• True sockets based TCP/IP support.
• SNA support.
• Robust error correction ensures high availability.
• Recovery information for any one system available from any networked system.
• Volume protection—even in restricted state.

MMS - An End-To-End Storage Solution
With MMS, organizations benefit from a simplified installation, implementation and overall management of tape inventories, saving time and money. LXI partners with leading storage management vendors to provide robust, end-to-end solutions for the entireenterprise. The MMS interface to Computer Associates BrightStor Portal lets companies manage and view all storage information from one central console. BrightStor Portal’s web-based interface allows managers to view and manage storage operations fromanywhere in the world.

The MMS interface to BrightStor Portal allows you to access all the power of MMS from anywhere in world. The MMS interface with LXI’s open systems backup, recovery and vault management products brings consistency and scalability to the enterprise. Since 1991, LXI’s storage management products have been the solutions of choice to Fortune 1000 companies around the world. Companies trust their data centers to LXI - relying on its innovative technology, stable and reliable solutions, and service delivered with a personal touch. Incorporating MMS with LXI’s high availability and operations automation products gives IT managers the confidence that their data center(s) are operating most efficiently.