IBM storage support and maintenance
Finding it a bit confusing if your IBM storage system is at the end of its 'EOL' life or at the end of 'EOS' support? Don't worry, because everyone at DC Parts provides relevant information to help demystify the confusion that can sometimes engulf the world of Information and Technology. We provide specific storage focus on models of the IBM N and V series. Please have a look at the respective pages to find out more about specific models for which we are able to provide technical solutions and ongoing support.
Maintaining IBM storage maintenance
A key factor for most organizations today is the ability to use and maximize internal resources to minimize any additional operating costs. DC Parts provides a variety of services, from technicians to support maintenance solutions that focus on this ideology. These services range from providing organizations with a spare parts kit for on-site maintenance and using the available in-house resource as a cost-effective approach, as opposed to a comprehensive maintenance support solution. This service can also be enhanced by providing additional technical resources through remote assistance if a specific skill set is needed, but still maintains a cost-prohibitive solution.
The ability of organizations to have access to independent and agnostic IT service providers is becoming increasingly difficult today. To some extent, most service providers have become resellers. The ability to obtain an unbiased opinion to verify the integrity of your technical proposal for upgrading your storage solution can be challenging. One of these challenges is the question: am I getting value? Our technical consultants can work with you to discuss your proposal and technical criteria and provide appropriate recommendations to answer that question.
Get in touch with us to see if we can provide the guarantees you need, especially to explore an alternative maintenance support service.


Residual asset value for your IBM hardware
Our exclusive IBM storage maintenance and support service can provide you with the potential to customize a cost-neutral maintenance contract for IBM storage that is now post-warranty, end of life or end of life (EOL / EOSL) . Our service allows customers with IBM hardware to have multiple stages in a lifecycle program, while providing extended maintenance support, regardless of the need for 3,6,9 or even 12 months of support, thereby effectively creating a solution cost-neutral.
Cost reduction in your contract
We allow a cost-neutral maintenance solution to be provided through the residual value on your IBM storage hardware that we would remove at the end of the agreed maintenance support term. As well as services for secure deactivation and elimination of data according to internal compliance requirements will also be part of the hardware lifecycle service program discussion.
If you don't need a support service, our maintenance service can still benefit you. So we can provide a residual value quote for your IT server and storage hardware and discuss the process of deactivating and deleting data, allowing you to get a much higher return on your initial capital investment. There is no obligation to obtain a quote from DC Parts, but it does allow you to explore whether this service can be viable and beneficial for you.
- Support for your IBM V series
- Support for your IBM N series
- IBM DS8000
- IBM DS5000
- IBM DS4000
- IBM DS3000
- IBM XIV
- IBM Storwize V7000
- IBM Storwize V5000
- IBM TS2200 and TS2300
- IBM TS2900
- IBM TS3100 and TS3200
- IBM TS3310
- IBM TS3500
- IBM TS4500
- IBM 3592
- IBM 3588 LTO
- IBM TS7700
- IBM Flash
The IBM Storwize family provides organizations with robust intermediate storage solutions that are suitable for many Serial Attached SCSI 'SAS' client environments. Most SAS workloads can be identified as incoming and outgoing 'I / O' requests predominantly from large blocks to large volumes of data. The performance of the storwize V series is capable of supporting up to almost one million IOPS. This midsize storage solution from IBM is designed to deliver enterprise-class performance, scalability and manageability in many application environments, such as the mentioned SAS environment.
The flexibility of IBM's modular midsize storage solution offers the ability to easily increase capacity as your data needs grow, providing scalability to 960 HDDs (forty 24-bay enclosures). The intuitive GUI eliminates the complexity of simple tasks, such as storage configuration, storage provisioning, storage classification and capacity updates. Pre-installed software offers simplified provisioning out of the box, online data migration, simplified remote mirroring, easy tiering and event monitoring.
Our team of support specialists is able to discuss viable cost-effect options for ongoing maintenance support or technical advice on the IBM Storwize V series platform.
Benefits of maintenance support DC Parts in storage IBM V
- Technical diagnostics and repair of IBM V series hardware
- Level 3 engineer assigned to an account
- Global service availability
- Email alert notification
- Maintenance support for current and end-of-life IBM equipment
- Pro-rata support and co-termination dates
- Consulting
- Detailed health check reports
- Site audits / surveys
- Data / platform migration
- IT decommissioning
- Data erasure
- Highly experienced and specially trained technical field engineers
- Spare parts kit on site
- Various methods for generating a fault ticket ticket
- Helpdesk assistance
- Operation and configuration assistance
- AIX
- Flexible short and long-term maintenance support contracts
- Hardware rental
- DMR (digital media retention)
- Operational savings
End of support IBM V, but not DC Parts
EOSL Dates 'End of Life Useful '
- STORWIZE V3700 -
- STORWIZE V5000 -
- STORWIZE V7000 - JULY 2020
Trying to understand the position of IBM N series systems can be a little confusing and we hope the following information can be useful. The end of official availability understood for the new N series arrays was May 27, 2014. Customers are still able to update multiple pieces of equipment for the next 12 months, but support for current N series configurations will still be available in 2018. .
However, IBM does not plan to support the N series portfolio going forward. This will inevitably force N series customers to understand that their organizations' data is on a platform that is nearing the end of its life and supported by the manufacturer. However, DC Parts is able to maintain and continue to support this equipment in the future. Our technical understanding and knowledge of these systems can provide you with time to do the necessary due diligence on alternative storage solutions, but also provide you with the ability to achieve a greater return on investment.
As an independent IT service provider and vendor agnostic, why not speak to a DC Parts consultant to see if we can customize a support solution to meet your current needs? Our goal is to provide an economical and flexible approach without complications.
Benefits of maintenance support DC Parts in storage IBM N
- Technical diagnostics and repair of IBM N series hardware
- Level 3 engineer assigned to an account
- Global service availability
- Email alert notification
- Maintenance support for current and end-of-life IBM equipment
- Pro-rata support and co-termination dates
- Consulting
- Detailed health check reports
- Site audits / surveys
- Data / platform migration
- IT decommissioning
- Data erasure
- Highly experienced and specially trained technical field engineers
- Spare parts kit on site
- Various methods for generating a fault ticket ticket
- Helpdesk assistance
- Operation and configuration assistance
- ONTAP data
- Flexible short and long-term maintenance support contracts
- Hardware rental
- DMR (digital media retention)
- Operational savings
End of support IBM N, but not DC Parts
EOSL Dates 'End of Life Useful '
- N3150 - JULY 2018
- N3220 - JULY 2018
- N3240 - JULY 2018
- N3300 - JUNE 2017
- N3400 - OCTOBER 2017
- N3600 - DECEMBER 2014
- N5200 - MARCH 2014
- N5500 - DECEMBER 2012
- N6040 - MARCH 2017
- N6060 - MARCH 2017
- N6210 - JULY 2018
- N6220 - JULY 2018
- N6240 - JULY 2018
- N6250 - JULY 2018
- N6270 - JULY 2018
- N7800 - JUNE 2017
- N7900 - DECEMBER 2015
- N7550T - JULY 2018
- N7950T
IBM DS8000 series technical specifications
IBM's DS8000 disk storage family is rated the best storage system for mainframe attachment. The DS8000 series is IBM's mission-critical flagship storage family, providing an RPO of less than 3 seconds; Replication of sites 3 and 4 and has an availability rating of 6 9's. Used DS8800, DS8870, and DS8880 systems are available, as well as Top Gun Technology maintenance service for the DS8800 and DS8870s.
IBM DS5000 series technical specifications
The IBM DS5300 is a block storage system with 4/8GB FC or 1GB iscsi connection supporting FC drive technology and is the predecessor to Storwize v7000. Top Gun technology provides shelf additions and maintenance support for the DS5300, allowing you to extend the life of your storage system a little further.
IBM DS4000 series technical specifications
IBM's DS4000 disk storage family is IBM's first 2GB/4GB modular FC rack-mount storage system. Drives and shelves are available for select DS4000 models, as well as Top Gun maintenance support to extend the life of the DS4000 a little further.
IBM DS3000 series technical specifications
IBM's DS3500 disk storage series was IBM's affordable entry-level storage offering moving to SAS drive technology. Drives and shelves for many of the DS3500s are available, as well as Top Gun maintenance support, allowing you to extend the use of your IBM DS3500 disk storage a little further.
IBM XIV technical specifications
IBM's XIV disk storage is known for its grid architecture, has high levels of reliability, performance, scalability and functionality that is provided through its operating system – Spectrum Accelerate. Additional RAM was added on the 314 which is dedicated to compression. Built-in software functionality includes snapshots, thin provisioning, remote mirroring, and space reclamation.
IBM Storwize V7000 technical specifications
IBM's Storwize v7000 spans multiple generations and offers cost-effective mid-range to high-end storage options. v7000 offers hardware-based compression, 4-way clustering for all generations, and scalability, providing non-disruptive expansion using IBM's Spectrum Virtualize O/S, facilitating management, migration, and offsite (licensed) virtualization.
IBM Storwize V5000 technical specifications
IBM's Storewize v5000 spans 2 generations and offers cost-effective entry-level to mid-range storage as well as a wide selection of NL-SAS, SAS and SSD drives. The v5000 series scales in functionality with each model. The high-end v5000 (v5030) offers 2-way clustering, external virtualization (licensed) and encryption (licensed). All v5000 use Spectrum Virtualize O/S.
IBM TS2200 and TS2300 technical specifications
IBM offers a cost-effective single-table LTO tape drive designed for small businesses that need a tape backup solution. The half-height TS2200 and the full-height TS2300 connect directly to a server.
IBM TS2900 Technical Specifications
IBM's TS2900 series is a half-height desktop tape drive with an autoloader designed for businesses that need access to multiple cartridges. The autoloader saves work by automatically managing up to 9 cartridges stored in the magazine.
IBM TS3100 and TS3200 technical specifications
IBM's TS3100 and TS3200 Tape Libraries feature the small automated tape library for managing 24 to 48 tape cartridges and 1 to 4 tape drives in full height or half height size. Drives range from LTO 4 to LTO 8 and are available in 8GB SAS or FC. Library-managed encryption and system-managed encryption are available as optional features.
IBM TS3310 Technical Specifications
IBM's TS3310 is a modular, scalable LTO tape library designed to support up to 26 drives and 409 cartridge slots in a single rack. The system scales vertically from 5U to 41U and can be expanded as tape backup requirements increase. The TS3310 offers optional support for library-managed and system-managed encryption and has multiple paths with each tape drive capable of being configured as an individual logical library.
IBM TS3500 Technical Specifications
The IBM TS3500 is an enterprise-class automated tape library management system designed to work with LTO technology using IBM 3588 LTO tape drives and IBM 3592 tape technology using IBM TS1120 to TS1150 tape drives. The TS3500 supports mixed media on the same system, scales to 16 frames, and supports up to 192 tape drives. The TS3500 has drive-level encryption, supports multiple host attachments, can support connecting TS7700 virtual tape servers, and has dual-access connection via the high availability framework.
IBM TS4500 Technical Specifications
IBM's TS4500 succeeds the TS3500 in IBM's enterprise-class automated tape library offering. The TS4500 has advanced features for built-in tape drive and media management, supports z14 and up to 284 drives, scales to 18 frames, and supports TS1140-1160 and LTO 5 through LTO 8. In addition, the TS4500 offers flexibility to grow. both right and left sides of the first L frame for floor space flexibility.
IBM 3592 controllers and tape drives technical specifications
IBM's proprietary 3592 tape family offers higher throughput, better data protection and data integrity features, more flexible use of cartridges, and the ability to attach to a ficon controller via LTO technology. The 3592 can function in a standalone rackmount environment or can be integrated into a TS3500 or TS4500 ATL. The current products listed below are available on the second hand market.
IBM 3588 LTO tape drives technical specifications
IBM's 3588 LTO tape series are LTO units designed for installation in the TS3500 and TS4500 automated tape library systems. Depending on frame model, the TS3500 can support LTO 3 up to LTO 8 tape drive, and frames can be mixed in ATL to allow for multigenerational flexibility. The TS4500 supports 3588 LTO 5 to LTO 8 tape drives.
IBM TS7700 Series Technical Specifications
The IBM TS7700 series of virtual tape servers are designed to connect to the TS3500 and TS4500 tape library and are available as standalone storage systems, independent of a tape library. The TS7700 offers a modular and scalable architecture, allowing capacity to grow as needs change. The TS7700 series adds disk performance enabling greater efficiency and can be configured in a grid environment with a disaster recovery box for additional backup.
IBM Flash series technical specifications
IBM offers many variations of its flash technology using its proprietary flash core modules bundled with different Spectrum O/S offerings. The first generations of Flash 840 and Flash 900 with AE1 and AE2 provide Tier 0 flash performance without additional software. The XIV's A9000 and A9000R successors offer Tier 1 performance by adding Spectrum Accelerate.
Some segments we help
Third party maintenance for IBM End-of-Life (EOL) and IBM End-of-Service-Life (EOSL)
A DC Parts made an analysis on more than 250 customer contracts that use storage, servers, networks and tapes and showed us that 40-60% of the equipment of these customers operate beyond the end dates of support.
There are simple options for you to reduce your expenses and feel more confident about your IT infrastructure. When you choose a custom solution to extend the life of your IT equipment, you can make big savings.
How can we help:
We offer our customers a unique assessment to help analyze their OEM support contracts and understand exactly which devices can be supported in the most affordable way, without compromising their performance.
IBM storage support
Support services DC Parts provide support for IBM storage. We work to combine the right approach with the right equipment to meet your IBM storage support needs.
With a highly trained team of certified engineers ready to solve any problems in IBM storage, DC Parts is uniquely qualified to serve you. If you would like to speak with a representative about purchasing IBM storage media, contact us.
A DC Parts helps companies of all sizes better manage their IT data centers by providing third-party support services to leading equipment manufacturers, including: Dell EMC, HPE, netapp, Oracle Sun, Cisco and more.
With support DC Parts, we manage all your hardware, between the manufacturers through a link. Support from DC Parts offers flexible service level agreements, certified engineering support teams and dedicated customer service representatives.
Extend the life and value of your IT assets. Contact DC Parts support immediately.