Press Release
Bus-Tech, Inc. Significantly Enhances MAS Support for EMC Centera
DB2 Support provides improved scalability and availability
Burlington, MA - June 30, 2004 - Today, Bus-Tech®, Inc., a leading supplier of data center connectivity products, announced the next release of Mainframe Appliance for Storage (MAS) with EMC Centera™ Support. This release of Bus-Tech, Inc.'s MAS, a tape-on-disk controller, now includes support for IBM's DB2 Database as a repository for MAS metadata.
Mainframe Appliance for Storage with EMC Centera Support provides direct mainframe connection to EMC's Centera; allowing mainframe tape volumes to be stored as objects on EMC's content addressable storage. With this latest version of the MAS, metadata maintained by MAS is stored directly on the IBM or compatible mainframe using IBM's DB2 database. This allows customers to easily incorporate backup and redundancy of the metadata into their existing mainframe protection policies.
"Mainframe Appliance for Storage with EMC Centera Support is helping mainframe IT managers address the ever growing need for fixed content storage and satisfies regulatory compliance requirements," said Jim O'Connor, Director, Product Marketing for Bus-Tech, Inc. "This latest release allows MAS control information to be stored back on the IBM mainframe, providing enhanced data protection and product scalability."
When storing objects on EMC Centera the MAS maintains metadata which cross-references mainframe tape volume serial numbers (VOLSERs) to Centera objects. The MAS later references this metadata in order to retrieve tape volumes from Centera in response to mount requests received from the mainframe. Using IBM DB2 Connect software MAS now stores its metadata directly on the mainframe. With this latest addition, protection of the metadata can then easily be incorporated into normal mainframe backup processes of the DB2 database.
Additionally, by placing MAS metadata under the control of DB2 and z/OS or OS/390, multiple MAS controllers can share access to the same data. This allows the MAS-Centera solution to scale based on customer requirements and improves fault tolerance by allowing more than one MAS access to the same collection of tape volumes with no single point of failure.
About Bus-Tech, Inc.
Bus-Tech, Inc. founded in 1987 is the industry's leading provider of state-of-the-art connectivity solution for the data center to Original Equipment Manufacturers. The company's powerful suite of adapter and platform solution satisfy even the most rugged demands of data processing professionals for high-bandwidth, high-availability, and high-performance connectivity. With more than 15,000 installed sites worldwide, Bus-Tech, Inc. is a recognized leader in the data center interconnect market. Headquartered in Burlington, MA, the company is privately held with location around the world. For more information about Bus-Tech, Inc. and its products, please visit the Bus-Tech, Inc. World Wide Web site at http://www.bustech.com, send email to , or call 800-284-3172 or 781-272-8200.