We have an IBM DS6800 and have looked into what it would take to mirror the dasd, offsite somewhere. Not only does license fees come into play for the DS6800, but communications, a remote box and site requirements.
But, when it really comes down to it, in about a year, I only need to mirror the DB2 log as in dual logging to two different disk packs. It started me to think about options. What if we had one, remotely supported disk drive on our system? What if one of our 3390-3 packs, and only one, could be mirrored to some remote system? Obviously, large shops may just mirror the entire DS6800. But in the smaller shops, perhaps there is a "black box" thingie out there, or perhaps a service bureau that has a solution that may be workable. Right now, this is DB2/VSE. The log files are on VSAM. Not interested in doing log archives every hour and sending the tape, over an IP connection. In the virtual tape world, there are many options. I don't know of any options in the VSE dasd world. Being able to use a NAS device as CKD disk, would really be great. I've done that with a P/390 to expand the emulated disk available. But the z/890 doesn't support emulated disk, and besides, emulated disk sure had its performance issues. Anyway, it can't hurt to ask... Tom Duerbusch THD Consulting
