IBM Spectrum Protect / TSM what's new

Server

Support SLES 15 for zLinux platform.
Validated IBM® Storage FlashSystem C200 as backup target.
Updated the following dependent software versions to address the security-related issues and vulnerabilities:
Db2® 11.5.9 SB#50315
WebSphere® Liberty Fix Pack 24.0.0.12
IBM Semeru Runtime® Certified Edition 21.0.5.0
GO Lib - 1.23.2
GO Crypto Lib - 0.31.0
GO Networking Lib - 0.33.0
GO Sys Lib - 0.28.0
Jackson Core – 2.15.3
Jetty 9.4.56
A number of APARs are included in this version of the product.

Operation Center

IBM Storage Protect Operations Center 8.1.26 is upgraded to support Java 21.
In this release, a number of APARs and PSIRTs are fixed and implemented.

Server

Support for RHEL 9 on IBM Power® Systems and zLinux platform.
Support for presigned URL for the S3 object agent.
This feature allows applications to grant temporary access for its users to access the backups stored on IBM Storage Protect by using the object agent S3 interface, without the need to share the S3 bucket credentials with the users.

Added support for automated certificate distribution by using Korn Shell (KSH) script, for admin clients that are running on AIX® systems.
To address the security-related issues and vulnerabilities, the following versions of dependent software are updated:
Db2 11.5.9 SB#46591

WebSphere Liberty Fix Pack 24.0.0.9

A number of APARs are included in this version of the product.

Server

IBM Storage Protect server now supports RHEL 9 on x86_64 platform.

IBM Storage Protect server that is deployed on Z System Platform is now be able to create a cloud-container storage pool by using IBM Storage Protect server CLI and Operations Center GUI.
IBM Storage Ceph® is now certified as a backend Cloud Object Storage device with object lock feature. This feature has been validated with IBM Storage Protect 8.1.18 and is compatible with all newer levels of IBM Storage Protect server.
Operations Center can now be operated by a non-root or non-admin user without over-privileged user account. For more information about starting and stopping the Operations Center service without a root or administrative user account, see Starting the Operations Center with non privileged account.
Updated IBM Storage Protect server to use the following versions of the dependent software, which address the security-related issues & vulnerabilities:
Db2 11.5.9 SB#42449
WebSphere Liberty Fix Pack 24.0.0.6
IBM Java Virtual Machine v8.0.8.30
Upgraded various Go library components.
A number of APARs are included in this version of the product.

Operation Center

Operations Center can now be operated by a non-root or non-admin user without over-privileged user account. For more information about starting and stopping the Operations Center service without a root or administrative user account

Server

Updated IBM Storage Protect server to use the following versions of the dependent software to address the security-related issues and vulnerabilities:

• DB2® 11.5.9 SB#40226
• WebSphere® Liberty Fix Pack 24.0.0.4
• Logback jars v1.3.14
• IBM Java™ Virtual Machine v8.0.8.21
• Poco: 1.12.5p2-release
• threetenbp lib 1.6.9
• GO Crypto Lib 0.2
• GO OpenSSL Lib 2.0.1
• Installation Manager 1.9.2.8

A number of APARs are included in this version of the product.

Client

• NetApp Flex Group volumes differential backup support

NetApp Flex Group volumes are supported by the Snapshot Differential Backup (snapdiff) function

Server

Enhanced and tuned the front-end capacity measurement feature to avoid double counting of the data moved from the following IBM Storage products, to IBM Cloud® Object Storage / S3 buckets using IBM Storage Protect:

• IBM Storage Fusion
• IBM Storage Defender®
• IBM Storage Protect Plus
• IBM Storage Protect for Cloud

Updated IBM Storage Protect server to use the following dependent software versions to address the related security issues & vulnerabilities:

• DB2® 11.5.8 SB#38086
• WebSphere® Liberty Fix Pack 24.0.0.2
• Logback jars v1.2.13
• IBM SDK, Java™ Virtual Machine v8.0.8.15
• In this release, a number of APARs were fixed and implemented.

Server

• Automate distribution of IBM Storage Protect server certificate to clients
• In this release, a number of APARs were fixed and implemented.

Server

• In this release, a number of APARs were fixed and implemented.

Security

• Secure communications by creating a new TLS certificate
• Secure your administrator ID and password by using a credentials file

Beginning with version 8.1.19, IBM Spectrum® Protect for Virtual Environments is now IBM Storage Protect for Virtual Environments. The IBM Spectrum family of products has been rebranded as IBM® Storage

Server

• introduces the ability to integrate your IBM Spectrum Protect server with IBM® Storage Defender

IBM Storage Defender is a cloud-based, software as a service (SaaS) platform that provides visibility for end-to-end data resilience across primary and secondary workloads. From a single pane of glass, you can manage and view your data protection operations.

Integrating your IBM Spectrum Protect server with IBM Storage Defender provides the following capabilities: Monitor your IBM Spectrum Protect server from IBM Storage Defender by registering the server with IBM Storage Defender Data Management Service. Configure IBM Storage Defender Data Protect to archive recovery points to IBM Spectrum Protect by using the IBM Spectrum Protect object agent service.

Server

• Open Snap Store Manager can now be installed on AIX

Server

• Replicate data from IBM Spectrum Protect Plus with IBM Spectrum Protect

Security

• What you need to know about security before you install or upgrade a server

Operations Center

• Operations Center updates

Server

• Password reuse limit for local administrators
• Back up data directly from IBM Spectrum Protect Plus to IBM Spectrum Protect
• Migrate data from one cloud repository to another cloud repository
• Case-sensitive passwords for nodes and administrator accounts
• Updates in values for the password length
• Provide immutable storage support for IBM Cloud Object Storage (COS) and IBM Cloud Object Storage System (S3) Object Lock for cloud storage pools

Server

• Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) Object Lock for cloud storage pools
• Enable complex administrator passwords for authentication
• Amazon S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval storage class
• Updates in the number of invalid logon attempts allowed for authentication
• Strict security settings by default to communicate with the server
• Back up data directly from IBM Spectrum Protect Plus to IBM Spectrum Protect: Open Snap Store Manager (OSSM) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJZXfiQ3Rjo

Server

• Multi-factor authentication for interactive admin login
• Container Cloud stgpool and copy retension sets support Google coldline and archive

Server

• Replication: ensure data resilience by enabling you to create three copies of IBM Spectrum Protect backup data, one on the primary server, and two additional on target replication servers.
• Container retension set to cloud standard or archiving other cloud vendors
• Lowers costs by exploiting object storage for long-term retention data.
  • Standard cloud storage classes: Amazon Web Services (AWS) Simple Storage Service (S3), Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud® Object Storage, Google Cloud Storage, and validated “S3” providers which can be found on the IBM Spectrum Protect cloud object storage support page. See the section titled “Amazon S3 compatible vendors that are validated by IBM “ for details.
  • Archival cloud storage classes: AWS Glacier, AWS Deep Glacier, IBM Cloud Object Storage Archive, and IBM Cloud Object Storage Accelerated Archive.
• Simplifies the experience for file-level backup and restore, and further enhances the IBM Spectrum Protect Web Client, enabling self-service and help desk operations through a web-based interface.
• Adds IBM Spectrum Protect Data Protection for Mail 8.1.13 support for HCL Domino 11 and 12.
• Introduces Open Snap Store Manager (OSSM) as a technology preview (cannot be used in production) to provide the foundation for enabling IBM Spectrum Protect Plus to store data directly into IBM Spectrum Protect, eliminating the need for an IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vSnap respository. https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6475581

clients:

• Web client enhancements add additional capabilities for IBM Spectrum Protect Web Client.

Server

• retention set for application: MSSQL, Exchange
• Deprecate swift stg pool

OC:

• add tape library checkin/out
• cloud read cache support
• global tasks
• del filespace from retension set, delete reports

Server

• Support for Redhat 8.1 and 8.2
• Copy data from container storage pools to tape for disaster recovery
• Send data to IBM Spectrum Protect by using S3 client applications
• Back up client data and the server database to Google Cloud Storage
• Include backup-archive client file spaces in retention sets
• Delete client nodes, node groups, and file spaces from retention sets
• Track the movement of volumes that are returned onsite by DRM for data restore operations
• View information about storage rule jobs and their statuses
• Default value of the TCPWINDOWSIZE option is changed to help improve performance

Security

• What you need to know about security before you install or upgrade a V8.1.2 or later

server

• Secure communications by using the TLS 1.3 protocol
• Optimize security with enhanced password encryption

Operations Center

• Operations Center updates

Server

• Copy retention sets to tape for air-gapped data protection
• Track the movement of retention volumes offsite and onsite
• Back up and restore the server database by using cloud object storage
• Recommission client nodes or virtual machines
• Update a directory container to make files that are marked as damaged available for use
• Remove deleted files from a target replication server without replicating new data
• Specify whether to receive notifications about potential malware incidents
• Default setting of ALLOWDESAUTH server option updated

Security

      What you need to know about security before you install or upgrade a V8.1.2 or later server

Operations Center

  Operations Center updates 
  

Server

• Enable the command approval feature to require authorization for restricted commands
• Preserve data indefinitely by placing it on hold

Server

• Optimize your storage environment by automatically tiering data to tape
• Offload data from IBM Spectrum Protect Plus to tape storage
• Send data to an Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering storage class
• Provide Write Once Read Many (WORM) protection for archived data
• Start processing a storage tiering rule immediately

Server

• Streamline the process of long-term data retention
• Offload data from IBM Spectrum Protect Plus
• Monitor the product with the servermon component
• Learn how to improve system performance by reading the Optimizing Performance guide
• Remove storage pool protection
• Run the configuration wizard without enabling SMB1
• Configure the LDAPURL server option to use LDAPS

IBM Spectrum Protect V8.1.6 and IBM Spectrum Protect Plus V10.1.2 deliver new capabilities and performance improvements:

• Cost reduction by tiering inactive data to object storage: Policy-based tiering keeps active data on disk while moving inactive data to object storage.
• Ransomware detection: Detect Ransomware infections for hypervisor-based workloads.
• Expanded platform support: Running IBM Spectrum Protect Server on SUSE Linux® Enterprise Server (little endian) for Linux on Power® platform leverages the advantages of using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server in your overall data protection solution.

• Lower the cost of cloud-container storage pools by reclaiming space
• Manage your storage environment to help you support General Data Protection Regulation compliance strategies
• Generate data deduplication statistics for specified nodes and file spaces
• Schedule audit operations to identify corrupted files in a storage pool

Operations Center

• Operations Center updates, including ransomware detection

• To enhance security, the default minimum length of passwords is increased
• Take advantage of automatic certificate exchange between storage agents, library clients, and library manager servers
• Optimize security by using certificates with SHA256 signatures
• Specify whether to enforce FIPS 140-2 requirements for encryption
• Reduce data fragmentation when you move the contents of storage pool containers

• Use cloud tiering for long-term data retention
• Install IBM Spectrum Protect on Linux Ubuntu Server LTS
• Enhance the security of your storage environment
• Take measures to help protect your system against ransomware

• Back up data to Microsoft Azure, a cloud-based object storage system
• Encrypt client data in a directory-container storage pool
• Back up a NAS file server to a directory-container storage pool
• Install IBM Spectrum Protect on the Linux on Power Systems (little endian) operating system
• Protect your storage environment with an improved security protocol
• Optimize security with the automatically generated master encryption key
• Upgrade your IBM Spectrum Protect server to V8.1.2 before you upgrade clients
• Configure a storage environment by using the Tape Solution Guide
• Schedule automatic updates for backup-archive clients
• Deprecated and discontinued server options, commands, and parameters
• Web client no more supported on client 8.1.2 and later

• Install IBM Spectrum Protect on the Linux on Power Systems (little endian) operating system
• Install IBM Spectrum Protect on the Microsoft Windows Server 2016 operating system
• Use the Quantum Scalar i6 library
• Review resolved issues

• VMware vSphere Web Client integrated configuration and monitoring competitive advantage!
• Convert FILE/VTL/TAPE storage pools to directory or cloud containers
• IBM Spectrum Protect Snapshot updates for Exchange, MS-SQL, DB2
• You can now grow an IBM Spectrum Protect server to use a 6 TB database.
• Secure communications by using the TLS 1.2 protocol
• Convert a tape storage pool to a container storage pool
• Software upgrade for the server database manager
• REGISTER NODE command no longer creates an administrative user ID by default
• Optimize user authentication to an Active Directory database
• Increased flexibility for protecting and reclaiming tape volumes in container-copy storage pools
• Supported operating systems
• Monitor the system without using SNMP

No new feature

• Protect your storage environment with an improved security protocol
• Optimize security with the automatically generated master encryption key
• REGISTER NODE command no longer creates an administrative user ID by default
• Deprecated and discontinued server options, commands, and parameters

• Expanded cloud support
• Cloud pool performance optimization
• Copy container pools to tape
• Central LDAP integration
• Amazon S3 storage pools

• High Speed Data Transfer (Aspera).
• Convert FILE/VTL data to dedup container pools
• Simplified VMware backup management
• Graphical device, tape and library management

• IBM Cloud Object Storage support
• In-line compression
• SAP certification on PowerLinux

• Support for large VMs
• Spectrum Scale snapshot offload Support for VMware vVols

• New inline deduplication, highly scalable SW defined dedupe
• Self Service VMware file recovery
• New cloud and native object storage pools

• HW Snapshots added to software suites
• vSphere 6 support
• Database-level recovery and IMR from virtual machines hosting Microsoft Exchange

• Flexible retention policies for source and target
• Automatic failover for client recovery
• Incremental forever for VMware and Hyper-V
• Front End TB Licensing

• Server scalability –upgrade TSM DB
• Improve server install and config
• Single Instance Store
• Improved Admin Interface
• VSS instant restore for Exchange w/N series
• Enable Exchange IMR from VSS snapshots
• VSS instant restore for SQL w/ Nseries and backup validation from snapshot image
• Exploit N series snapshot for filesystem BU/Restore
• Improved reporting
• Vista ASR
• Exploit Win Longhorn
• UTF8 on Linux

Server version

07-2017