The latest firmware levels at each platform are:   Level Release Date   740_077 03/08/2012 730_066 12/08/2011 720_108 01/23/2012 710_119 12/07/2011   Regarding the newest firmware level, which was released for Power7 systems at 740_xxx, it is known as 740_077. It is a minor tweak to the prior-released 740_075, which was released two weeks ago.   Some important fixes are included for those coming from 740_045 or earlier.   These include:   A problem was fixed that caused multiple service processor dumps to be unnecessarily taken during a concurrent firmware update. SRC B181EF9A, which indicates that the dump space on the service processor is full, was logged as a result. A problem was fixed that caused SRCs B18184...

Every year IBM partners worldwide compete for an IBM Beacon Award.  Beacon's are awarded for exemplary solutions in a handful of categories.   The Beacon Award is, by far, IBM's most prestigious award and with thousands of IBM business partners worldwide, the honor of earning the award or making the finalist list is a tremendous acknowledgement for a business partners' innovation and expertise in architecting IBM solutions.   thinkASG is honored to be an IBM Beacon Award finalist for 2011 in the category of Best Competitive Solution.  Our solution comprised IBM Power System Servers and DS8000 Enterprise Storage to replace a 10+ year Sun and EMC installation in a Fortune 50 company.  The division that installed our competitive take-out solution selected the IBM technology fo...

thinkASG is named to CRN's 2012 List of Tech Elite 250.  This is CRN's second annual list and thinkASG has been named to the list both years running.  This pretigious list recognizes IT solution providers with deep technical expertise and premier certifications in North America.   Being named on the list is a representation of thinkASG's commitment to meet our clients' demands for a technology solution provider with sales and technical certifications and skills in the products we represent.   We thank CRN for the honor of this recognition and renew our commitment to our clients to maintain our extensive certifications and to continue to serve our customers with the best integrated technology solutions the industry has to offer.   Read the full press release.

SSD Limits in DCS3700   I understand (please correct me if I'm wrong) that the DCS3700 has a max cap of 20 SSD drives per storage subsystem. Is this same limitation true for the DS3524 as they both use the same controllers?   If you can verify that the 192 drive value in the charts are also applicable to the SSD performance #'s that would be great. Again, I'm not sure if Snowmass supports 192 SSDs at once?   Answer to our customer   There is a limit of 20 SSDs in the storage subsystem (this limit is the same for DS5000, DS3500, and DCS3700). I just called a colleague in engineering to verify if the limit was lifted yet or not. The answer was "not".   I believe the thought is that 20 SSDs is more than enough to max out the controller, s...

 VMware Path Selection Policy   In setting up a new VMware installation with our DS3524 with 10Gbps iSCSI HICs, we configured MRU and so no real issues when connected to 1Gb ports. When we moved to 10GbE ports we started to see SCSI disconnects whenever we placed a high IO load such as a storage VMotion or VM clone. We changed the path policy to round robin (RR) and all the errors and disconnects stopped. We have only done 4 isolated servers so far but the results have been good. My problem is the VMware HCL lists MRU as the path policy for the DS3500, and our customer may validate that we're configuring his systems "correctly".   There is a note on the HCL that talks about RR as the path selection policy, but it's more of a generic note that says "contact the storag...

During the last few open house events there has been quite an interest in external SAS. For companies that never took the leap to a fiber SAN or is ready for upgrading this is a perfect option.   The LSI SAS switches are very economical and may be daisy chained to connect up to 1,000 end devices with up to 25 meters between SAS switches. Coupled with the IBM DS3500 line of disk storage which all have (2) SAS connectors for each controller in the base product and can be double with a daughter card. We see this as a perfect solution for small to large ESX clusters for either departmental needs or development.   A small ESX server cluster with (2) IBM 3650 M3s with memory up to 288GB and a DS3512 with up to 24TB of shared storage allows for this configuration to be a rob...

On February 7, 2012, IBM announced the withdrawal of service for the IBM i V5R4 operating system, effective September 30, 2013. It's important all End Users running older model iSeries, System i or Power technology to begin planning a migration to POWER7 and IBM i V6R1 or V7 prior to the withdrawal deadline.  IBM is offering incentives to enable End Users to take advantage of the benefits of POWER7.   Contact thinkASG to learn about your options.

When performing your scheduled Maintenance of Server hardware, be sure to include a physical inspection of your ServeRAID battery. We have seen a number of installations where the ServeRAID adapter has failed due to either a depleted or defective battery. This has resulted in unscheduled outages and extreme high levels of stress.     IBM Retain Tip H001648 states: “ Users should install and monitor battery conditions using the IBM ServeRAID Manager application for the following IBM ServeRAID controller models: 4M, 4H, 4Mx, 5i, 6i, 6i+, 6M, 7k, 8i, 8k, and 8s. All have cache backup batteries of which the battery status can be checked on the controller properties Status tab.     Users should install and monitor battery conditions usin...

VMware has been the market leader in the server virtualization world.  But, are other virtualization tools catching up?  Industry leaders believe VMware will remain the best, but will businesses begin to deploy multiple virtualization platforms?  While this consideration flies in the face of recommended best practices, the sheer financial consideration to do so may result in the emergence of virtualization tool management software.  Check out this article to learn more.

thinkASG is one of the first IBM Business Partners nationwide to achieve this unique and coveted recognition.   With our investments in IBM System Storage skills and resources we can more effectively help our clients realize the benefits of leveraging IBM best of breed storage solutions. The specialization validates thinkASG and our capabilities to design and deliver storage solutions based on IBM technologies. This accomplishment is derived from a combined measure of sales and technical certifications, client references, and our annual volume IBM System Storage solutions.   We are now eligible for a variety of benefits we provide directly to our clients, including direct access to IBM’s team of Client Technical Specialists, exclusive IBM Storage Specialty education...