IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud 8.4.3

IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud 8.4.3 on Microsoft Azure

IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud 8.4.3 delivers support for Microsoft Azure.

With this product, users are able to deploy a highly available 2-node cluster running Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud on supported Azure VMs. This is an all-inclusive, bring-your-own-license software offering that provides the ability to virtualize, optimize, and provision supported Azure Managed Disk to applications requiring the performance of block storage in the cloud with the added efficiencies that Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud brings to native IaaS provided by Azure.

To help clients reduce and optimize provisioned Azure Managed Disk storage, data reduction pools can be created with support for software compression and de-dupe. These features give clients the ability to both compress and de-dupe for significant savings.

Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud 8.4.3 is an inclusive license with a flat per terabyte licensing model, supported on Azure. It can be purchased through Passport Advantage as either a monthly term license or as a perpetual license. Through AAS, the software can be ordered with FlashSystem hardware as a perpetual license. Support for Azure enables deployment of Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud on supported Azure VMs, deployable through the Azure Marketplace. Through Azure Resource Management Templates designed for Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud, clients can deploy a cluster on the public cloud in just minutes with an existing Azure Virtual Network.

Clients will be able to create hybrid multicloud solutions, offering the ability to transfer block data between on-premises data centers or private clouds using any Spectrum Virtualize-based appliance, such as SVC, all FlashSystem appliances, Storwize family appliances, and VersaStack. Clients can create secondary copies of their on-premises data in the public cloud for DR, workload redistribution, or migration of data from on-premises data centers to the public cloud. Consistent APIs, CLIs, and UIs between private and public clouds enable clients to provision and manage data on public clouds in the same way they do on-premises. Additionally, with de-dupe and compression with data reduction pools, clients will have similar optimization capabilities on cloud infrastructures as they do on-premises.

Software requirements

• Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud 8.4.3 (5737-F08) has unique requirements for use on Microsoft Azure IaaS.
• See the Description section for more information about these products.

Hardware requirements

• Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud requires the separate purchase of Azure IaaS through the Azure marketplace.
• Azure infrastructures are to be purchased directly from Microsoft under the user’s own account.
• Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud supports specific hardware that can be purchased as part of an Azure infrastructure.

The following Azure VMs supported by Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud:
• For back-end block storage managed by Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud, clients can purchase Azure managed disks, either Premium or Standard SSDs are supported from their Azure account. Azure shared disks are used to connect to both VMs in the Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud cluster at the same time for HA.
• The Azure Load Balancer service will be used to ensure fast failover and failback in case of a VM outage.
• The Azure VM instances and the Azure managed disks must be in the same availability zone and resource group.
• For clients who wish to replicate data between on-premises data centers and the Azure data center, consult the Azure website for network connectivity, including VPN or gateways, that may be required.

Current support summaries, including specific software and Microsoft Azure supported features are maintained at the Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud support website.

Planned availability date: December 20, 2021
Availability within a country is subject to local legal requirements.
See the Availability of national languages section for national language availability.