When considering any backup solution it is important to assess two key metrics, RPO & RTO.  I put more value on RPO then RTO and here is why. RPO (Recovery Point Objective) represents how frequently backups are taken, or put another way, how much data you are willing to lose. RTO (Recovery Time Objective) The duration of time and a service level within which a business must be restored after a disaster or disruption. RPO  needs to be taken EXTREMELY serious.  You must know where updates to your database are coming from.  Do you have control over repr ..read more

You can check out, but you can never leave.   During this Pandemic I have spoke with hundreds of IBM I Shops.  I am shocked with the large number of shops looking for a new MSP because of pricing.  After being in the cloud for an extended period of time the annual increase has made it cost prohibitive to stay with that provider.    Add salt to the injury, The exit agreement was NEVER defined and the cost to leave are greater then to cost to stay.  When signing a Colo agreement with a MSP please make sure you have and exit agreement defined before ever singing a Cl ..read more

There are significant advantages to working with an IBM business partner that understands, sells, installs and supports both types of high availability solutions for IBM.   Unfortunately, there are not many IBM business partners that sell, install and support both types of high availability technologies. However, such a partner will be less biased to one type of technology or the other as the goal is simply to ensure the customer gets the best type of solution for its IBM i environment. Matt’s high availability presentation at a COMMO ..read more

The availability of data and applications is more critical for than ever before. The decisions made during the selection process is key to your company’s success.  I see all too often a High Availability Solution provider putting a square peg in a round hole   The reason, they feel when it comes to High availability Solutions of the IBM i there is “one solution fits all”  Why,  Because that “one” solution makes them a lot of money. Yes I said them. But is it the right solution for your company? There are a lot of solutions available in the market today and the only wa ..read more

When it comes to high availability solutions for small and medium business, one of the most advanced solutions is PowerHA on IBM i. The reasons for the popularity of the solution are plentiful, yet some organizations still believe it is too complex for their needs. The truth is that PowerHA systems are simple to manage than previous HA solutions, especially with the help of an experienced solutions implementer like IT Solutions Group, Inc. One of the key differences is in logical replication for backup. PowerHA technology uses shared storage clustering with the PowerHA SystemMirror, a vol ..read more

IBM PowerHA for i is is extremely versatile. You need to be talking to the EXPERTS at IT Solutions Group to see what the right fit for your business. . •Internal Disk on Source and Target systems ( NO HMC Required ) •Internal in Source and SAN on Target ( Flash Copy ) •SAN on Source and Target systems •Geographic Mirroring •Metro Mirroring •Global Mirroring •i-Hosting-I ( Full System Replication ) •SAN to SAN ( Full System Replication ) Contact Us The post HMC Support for IBM PowerHA appeared first on IT Solutions Group: IBM i High Availability and Disaster Recovery ..read more

IT Solutions Group niche has been in the Hosting / Housing / Cloud for the IBM Power System i for 15 Years.  One tip I never see talked about is Remote Hands. Data Center Remote hands: A service offered by colocation providers that allows maintenance tasks within a co location facility. This allows the colocation customer to focus on internal tasks within their own organization and prevents them from having to send their own technical staff to a colocation facility.   Touring a Data center is very exciting. You see how Power is provided, Fire suppression and communications ..read more

Ever wonder why the big players in Logical replication are “lying by omission” when it comes to IBM’s Power HA System mirror for i” Lying by omission: 1:      A person leaves out important information or hide the full truth from others.” 2:    “I didn’t lie; I just didn’t tell you.” Power HA is: Easier to manage Very versatile Extremely cost effective IBM supported On throat to chock                At ITSG we know the is no “one solution fits all”.  We take the time to understand your environment and educate you so you ca ..read more

The use of journaling is a common denominator for most High Availability solutions.  It seems many people are a bit intimidated by this. Frankly, if a journal/journal receiver is not set up and managed correctly, it can and will bring your system to a halt. For this reason, most HA solutions offer a built-in journal management function. However, it is still important to have at least a basic understanding of the journaling function. CPU overhead associated with journaling Figure 1 shows performance on a client system during our HA implementation.  Prior to ITSG starting journali ..read more

Superior Systems Resiliency Made Easy with “Accelerate and Celebrate” Promotion IT Solutions Group (ITSG), Clermont, FL, is ready to get you in the fast lane of cutting-edge HA/DR functionality on IBM System i while freeing you from the encumbrance of questionable practices and yesterday’s technology. It’s all part of ITSG’s “Accelerate and Celebrate Promotion,” designed to put big cash into your pocket and peace of mind into your workday. The 2017 shadow of rampaging fires, hurricane flooding and security disruptions is enough to trigger widespread anxiety among C-level executives and system ..read more