IBM TS4500 LTO and 3592 Library

The IBM TS4500 tape library is a storage solution designed to help midsize and large enterprises respond to storage challenges.

Some of these challenges include data volume, growth in data centers, increasing cost of data center storage footprints, difficulty migrating data across vendor platforms, and increased complexity of IT training and management as staff resources shrink.

The TS4500 delivers the density needed for current and future business data growth with the cost efficiency and manageability to preserve existing investments in IBM tape library products. Now organizations can achieve both low cost per terabyte and a high terabyte density per square foot. It can support up to 2.2PB of native storage capacity in a single 10 square foot library frame, up to 3.4 times more capacity than the IBM TS3500.

The TS4500 offers integration of tape drive and media management for a single pane of glass user experience. Its GUI is based on the IBM Storage Unified UI. It is designed to lead the user to task completion and includes persistent, library utilization and health status indicators.

TS4500 features such as capacity on demand, automatic control-path and data-path failover, and support for tape drive encryption and WORM media are carried over from previous generations of IBM tape libraries.

Automates solutions for open environments
TS4500 features a persistent worldwide name, multipath architecture, drive and media exception reporting, remote drive/media management, and host-based path failover. TS4500 L25, D25, and S25 frames support the TS1140 tape drive, and L55, D55, and S55 frames support LTO-6 and -5 tape drives. L-frame and D-frame models support improved hot-swappable drive packaging. All of the frames include high-density slot technology that can increase a library’s total capacity.

Delivering more flexibility in the use of data center floor space than previous versions, the new frame models can be placed in any active position so that the library can grow from both the right and the left side of the first L frame. The previous library allowed the addition of frames only to the right.

Available with top rack (Model TR1) option
The optional top rack offering can reduce the storage footprint and simplify cabling by providing 10U of rack space on top of the library for FC switches, tape data movers, or LTFS nodes.

Capacity on demand
The TS4500 library frame provides a more flexible upgrade path for users wanting to expand their tape storage as their needs grow. Capacity-on-demand configurations for TS4500 L-frame models include an entry-level configuration, an intermediate configuration, and a base-capacity configuration. All models also support HD capacity-on-demand configurations.

Includes advanced features
TS4500 is designed with features to deliver performance and long-term value. The ALMS feature supports dynamic storage management, enabling users to dynamically create and change logical libraries and configure any drive into any logical library. The TS4500 also offers automatic control-path and data-path failover to support improved BC and DR.

Centralizes management of tape resources
IBM offers a range of management software options for TS4500.

TS4500 command line interface (CLI): Enables users to interact with the TS4500 with automated scripts to perform specific tasks.
Tape System Reporter: Enables administrators to monitor and report on the performance, utilization, and health of their tape library.
Tape System Library Manager: Enables clients to manage large tape environments that span multiple libraries as a single system.
Security Key Lifecycle Manager: Simplifies encryption key management with an intuitive user interface.

Product preview
IBM intends to introduce IBM LTFS (LTFS) Library Edition (LE), Storage Manager, and Enterprise Edition (EE) support to the IBM TS4500 tape libraries in the third quarter of 2014.

Prerequisites for using encryption
Certain hardware and software prerequisites must be met before using encryption with the TS4500 tape library.

With the TS4500 tape library, encryption is managed at the logical library level. All encryption-enabled drives that are assigned to a logical library use the same method of encryption. The rules for setting up encryption differ based on whether the library is installed with 3592 or LTO drives, and whether you use Library-Managed Encryption (LME) or Application-Managed Encryption (AME).

If library contains 3592 drives, following prerequisites apply:

IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager (formerly Tivoli Key Lifecycle Manager) must be attached to the TS4500 and configured for LME.
Tape drives must be enabled for encryption from the Logical Libraries page of the TS4500 management GUI.

If library contains LTO tape drives, following prerequisites apply:

Tape drives must be enabled for encryption from the Logical Libraries page of the TS4500 management GUI.
Feature code 1604, Transparent LTO Encryption, is required for LTO tape drives if using LME.
IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager is required as the key manager when using LME with LTO.

Planned availability date: June 13, 2014