Hardware and Software Requirements: Version 3.1 FlashCopy® Manager for VMware

Links to the Hardware & Software requirements for the other components that are a part of IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager V3.1, are located at the following URL:
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21567512

Links to the hardware and software requirements for other releases of IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy® Manager, and its components, are located in the "All Requirements Doc" located at the following URL:
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21427692

The FlashCopy Manager V3.1 download document provides information about how and where to obtain the FlashCopy Manager V3.1 packages. The information is located here: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24030466


This document is divided into linked sections for ease of navigation. You may use the links below to jump to the desired section of the document:

TIP: The two documents listed below may be useful for planning your deployment:

• Pre-installation Checklists
• Installation Planning Worksheet

• Requirements for FlashCopy Manager for VMware
• External Disk Storage Options
• Requirements for Off-loaded Backups
• Overview of Storage Architecture Support for Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager

Requirements for FlashCopy Manager for VMware

The following sections provide a quick overview of the basic requirements for FlashCopy® Manager for VMware. For a detailed list of requirements refer to the Pre-installation Checklist attached below.


Hardware:

• A VMware vSphere environment consisting of one or more vCenter servers and one or more ESX/ESXi hosts.
• One Linux server for the Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager installation. This server can either be a physical server or a virtual machine running within the vSphere environment. SAN connectivity to storage subsystems is not required for this server.
• At least 1.5 GB of disk space on this Linux server (additional temporary space required during installation)

Software:

• To host the IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager for VMware, one of the following options as virtual machine or physical server:
  • 64-bit SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 10 SP2, and later 10.x levels
  • 64-bit SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11, and later 11.x levels
  • 64-bit Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.1, and later 5.x levels
  • 64-bit Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6, and later 6.x levels
    
• A VMware vSphere environment consisting of:
  • VMware vCenter Server v4.1 or VMware vCenter Server v5.0
  • VMware ESX/ESXi 4.1 or 5.0 hosts

• A VMware vSphere client of the same version as the vCenter server to use the Data Protection for VMware vCenter plug-in

External Disk Storage Options

IBM Storwize® V7000 v1 Disk System
IBM Storwize® V7000 Unified v1.3 Disk System (block level support only)
IBM Storwize® V7000 6.4

Note: There is a Known Issue and Limitation with this support. Please refer to the Known Issues and Limitations tech note for more details:
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?&uid=swg21567738

IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller ( SVC ) hardware with one of the following SVC levels:

• IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v4.3.0, and later 4.3.x levels
• IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v5.1.0, and later 5.1.x levels
• IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v6.1.0, and later 6.1.x levels
• IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v6.2.0, and later 6.2.x levels
• IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v6.3.0, and later 6.3.x levels
• IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller v6.4.0, and later 6.4.x levels

Note 1: For SVC v4.3.1 and later 4.3.x levels, the CIM agent is embedded into the cluster. As a result, the CIM agent does not need to be installed and configured separately.
Note 2: For SVC 6.3 and SVC 6.4, there is a Known Issue and Limitation with this support. Please refer to the Known Issues and Limitations tech note for more details:
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?&uid=swg21567738

XIV hardware:

• IBM XIV® Storage System v10.0.0.b, and later 10.x levels
• XIV® 2nd Generation with: XIV® CLI 2.3.1 and later 2.x levels installed on host
• XIV® 3rd Generation with: XIV® CLI 3.0.1 and later 3.x levels installed on host

DS8000 hardware:

• IBM System Storage DS8000™ (DS8100, DS8300, DS8700, or DS8800) with DS8000 Release Version 3.1 or later versions. Earlier versions might be supported by certain microcode level updates. Please refer to the Pre-installation Checklists for details.
  

Note: The CIM agent (IBM Common Interface Model (CIM) Agent for DS Open API), used with DS8000 hardware, can be installed and configured on a proxy server. With DS8000 Release 4.1 (bundle 64.1.16.0) and later the embedded CIM agent in the HMC is enabled and configured by default and can be used with FlashCopy Manager. For more information about the CIM agent in general and about using it with a Proxy Server, please refer to the IBM CIM Agent for DS Open API FAQ at the following location: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?&uid=ssg1S1003070

Requirements for Off-loaded Backups to Tivoli Storage Manager

• IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Server V6.1.3 and later 6.1.x levels, the recommended level is V6.2 and later 6.2.x levels, releases and versions.
• Any version of the TSM Storage Agent, currently supported by the TSM Server used, is required for LAN-free restore operations. The TSM Storage Agent is a component of the IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for Storage Area Networks product.
• IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Backup-Archive Client V6.3 and later 6.3.x levels, releases and versions
• IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments v6.3 and later 6.3.x levels, releases and versions

Overview of Storage Architecture Support for Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager

For more information regarding storage architecture support for the Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager product as it relates to platform and restore functionality, please refer to the following document:
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21455924

Pre-installation Checklist

Before starting the installation of FlashCopy Manager, please review the pre-installation checklist and make sure all requirements specific to your environment are met.

Installation Planning Worksheet

For a list of considerations and decisions to be taken before installing IBM Tivoli Storage FlashCopy® Manager Version 3.1 for VMware®, please refer to the attached Installation Planning Sheet.