They simply cannot afford backups to fail because one day they may need to rebuild their business using the data stored in the backup environment.
Administration of the backup environment is taking longer and longer as backup demand grows due to the proliferation and complexity of data growth. Couple this with the fact that the corresponding back up window is shrinking as businesses demand 24x7x365 availability of their I.T systems. Trying to satisfy this demand is definitely becoming a tough challenge.
IBM has just launched a new generation of backup administration software, one that uses analytics, work flow automation and advanced visualisation.
Consider 3 areas where backup administrators spend time working on today:
- Ensuring backup system availability
- Capacity management to ensure that the backup requirements are continually met
- Backup problem analysis and rectification of problems
Advanced visualisation using the new TSM Operation Centre makes it easy to see a consolidated view of the backup infrastructure even if you manage thousands of backup clients across multiple sites
Figure 1: Operations Centre dash board
When logged onto the Operation Centre you are presented with the main dashboard. At a glance you can see the heath of multiple backup servers, storage devices and backup clients. Using a simple traffic light system it is easy to identify issues and drill down to investigate the root cause of the problem.
Because the TSM Operation Centre is web based it is possible to manage your backup infrastructure via the internet whether you are in the office, at home or on the move using your smart phone or tablet.
Due to the complexity of the backup requirements today, and with the increasing demands for zero down time for the critical business applications, ensuring that system backups are completed successfully is crucial. As backups become more automated and service oriented; work that was once done by highly skilled backup administrators can now be performed by help desk staff and server administrators, therefore freeing up the highly skilled backup administrator to concentrate on tackling the more difficult issues and planning the backup service for the future.
Figure 2: Time based backup for a client
Large backup environments may have 100’s if not 1000’s of servers and errors every day to investigate. Now analysing backup issues is made easier by using the Operations Centre. Instead of sifting through the individual error logs, errors are consolidated on the dash board in priority order. Issues are identified, and are shown in context alongside recent backups for that system. Now it is easier to understand the impact on service levels and to take appropriate actions to resolve the issues.
Figure 3: Alert detail
The Operations Centre allows integrated team collaboration by allowing errors to be assigned to individuals, teams or Help desks to be dealt with.
Figure 4: Team collaboration and problem assigning
Useful links:
Imtech TSM page
Overview of software from IBM
IBM and Imtech ICT Partner
Contact us now for more information:
Neil Sharp Professional Services Consultant
+ 44 (0) 1256 338 151
