fyi...IBM today announced ADSM version 3 servers for AIX, NT and MVS.  These
will be
available on 10/31/97 (10/31/1997 to be year 2000 enabled).  There are MANY new
enhancements
with this version...especially in the areas of systems management, performance
and usability.  Below
I attached a very brief excerpt from the aix announcement...please see the adsm
web page for more
details (http://www.storage.ibm.com/adsm)...greg tevis

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 TITLE     ADSTAR DISTRIBUTED STORAGE MANAGER FOR AIX, VERSION 3.1 ADDRESSES
          COMPLEX NETWORK GROWTH
ABSTRACT  *-------------------------------------------------------------------*
          |  AT A GLANCE                                                        
 |  AT A GLANCE                                                      |
                    To meet the needs of the explosive growth in the
             client/server distributed environment, ADSM Version 3.1
             provides:
             o   Additional centralized control features
             o   Sophisticated techniques to handle performance demands
             o   A more user-friendly interface
             o   Enhanced exploitation of SMP systems
             o   An upgrade from Version 2.1 to Version 3.1 (for a reduced
                 fee)
             ----------------------------------------
             For ordering, contact:
              Your IBM representative, an IBM
              Business Partner, or IBM North America
              Sales Centers at
                800-IBM-CALL   Reference: RE001
          |                                                                   |
          *-------------------------------------------------------------------*
          OVERVIEW
          OVERVIEW
          ADSTAR (R)  Distributed Storage Manager (ADSM) is an advanced storage
          management solution.  It integrates unattended backup and archive
          capabilities with storage management and powerful disaster recovery
          functions, from small installations to large, complex multi-national
          configurations.  ADSM for AIX (R) Version 3.1 is expanding its
          product functions to address the challenges raised by the rapid
          growth and increasing complexity of storage requirements in the areas
          of control management, performance, and usability.
                 CONTROL -- As more ADSM servers are deployed to support system
          growth, it becomes essential to consolidate the administration and
          operation of these systems.  ADSM is expanding its centralized
          control facilities to include central logging and extensive reporting
          capabilities via industry standard Structured Query Language (SQL)
          interfaces to access and report on ADSM database and real-time ADSM
          server information.
                 ADSM Version 3.1 adds an optional feature, Server-to-Server
          Communication, that offers new dimensions for online disaster
          recovery, improved workload balancing across multiple servers, and
          sharing of key system resources such as large robotic tape libraries
          and drives.
                 PERFORMANCE -- With increasingly large databases and
          filesystems, throughput is a critical concern.  ADSM Version 3.1
          addresses this in several ways.  Enhanced buffering technologies
          improve throughput.  A new method of storing files reduces overhead
          and substantially improves backup and archive performance for small
          files.  A new algorithm has been added which enhances restores and
          requires less client memory resources.  In addition, several new
          fault-tolerant features are provided
          such as resumption of an interrupted restore.
                 USABILITY -- Managing storage growth and complexity requires
          products that are very easy to use.  The ability to easily navigate
          through huge file systems with millions of files is critical.  ADSM
          has been completely redesigned and implemented with all new end-user
          and administrative interfaces based on extensive user-centered design
          studies.
                 ADSM also utilizes World Wide Web (WWW) technology to allow
          control and operation of ADSM from a Web browser anywhere within the
          intranet.
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