Bus-Tech Connects Mainframes to SANs
Bus-Tech Inc., offers a way to reduce backup time on S/390.
While the advent of "snapshot" technology keeps real-time systems running 24x7, many batch-processed systems still must go offline for backups. One company, Bus-Tech Inc., offers a way to reduce backup time on S/390.
Bus-Tech's Mainframe Appliance for Storage emulates IBM 3480 tape drives, but connects to industry-standard hard drives instead. The use of hard drives reduces the amount of time needed to copy backup files and makes the files quickly accessible when needed.
The appliance connects to the mainframe via an ESCON connection and appears to the machine as standard IBM tape units. Data sent to the appliance is stored on SCSI or Fibre Channel drives. The appliance can replace as many as 16 tape drives.