IBM Spectrum Control

As a systems engineer for IBM Storage, I do not directly use IBM SC in my company, but install and operate it in many customer environments. SpectrumControl is, in my opinion, the optimal software for problem determination across the entire data path from the application to the single flash drive in the storage system, for managing the systems themselves (SAN switches, storage systems, VMs, hypervisors, etc.), and for permanently monitoring the performance of the entire setup. It also enables you to predict capacity usage and growth over the years, which helps a lot when sizing new systems for this customer, who has IBM SpectrumControl installed.

I work at a company developing tools for performance and cost monitoring, as well as application and infrastructure troubleshooting. So, with the three points named answering the previous question, I can give ISC an 8 out of 10. I have been working with ISC since 2005, and over this time, ISC has maintained a consistent approach to growth and continues to innovate.

I have been using the IBM Spectrum Control since many years now when it was branded as Tivoli Storage Productivity Center. We use to manage the DS8000 systems using this product with very limited options. IBM has come a long way forward after rebranding the product as IBM Spectrum Control and have managed to provide us with the centralized management and monitoring of all of our storage systems as well as even from various vendors. There are certain limitations as we can use spectrum control to manage and monitor the block storage only. Files storage is not yet supported. Similarly, non IBM equipment has certain limitations as well when it comes to the monitoring and performance statistics. We have few DS8000s, v7000, FS 7200s, FS 900s along with few SVC clusters as well as the Unity and VNXs being configured on spectrum control. Hosts includes various clusters of ESXi, RHEL and IBM AIX.

IBM Spectrum Control is very well suited for the large enterprise where there is multi vendor environment in terms of storage and host virtualization. It is not suited at all where file storage is dominant. It is capable of providing very detailed reports as it leverages the IBM Cognos for that purpose and offers very detailed customization as well. It can even provide the enterprise with the SAN management capabilities as well.

It monitors all our data storage platforms and regularly updates us on any system issue. The data analytics we get from this platform give our departments efficient time working on performance. It can easily consolidate to be stored in flash disks under a secured environment. It automatically sends feedback to our data analysis team, giving volume quantities from all data sources.

This product is great for data monitoring and can easily work in any environment effectively. It has enhanced improved application performance that oversees the smooth running of workflows. It categorizes data into different datasets for better visualization giving each department a unique role. Our customers can easily view our products and services and performance on given periods of time. We are able to choose options based on the subscribed license on-premise or cloud-based and work towards program implementation.