VANTAGE Storage Intelligence Reviews

Not writing a solution here, the SRM product is a mainframe product that CA's client user interface software, Vantage, can then interact with. They have three flavors for a client interface, desktop (but everything you do is yours alone, nobody else gets anything you build within it), and server, which is much nicer as it allows for changes to be global in anything you build, such as customized solutions, views, etc. You can build the company's alerts, scripts, reports, etc. 

The newest and really nice feature is the browser version or WebUI. I'm still putting this in place, and there is quite a bit to do. Once SRM has been updated to include all maintenance right up to Dec/18, then it's a UNIX/OMVS install with knowledge of those disciplines and Tomcat, Catalina, etc. It does not rely on SMP/E any longer (Vantage). It has a database kept within a ZFS file and uses TCP/IP to talk among the mainframe systems. Because it is a browser interface, you will want to ensure you use shttp:// for the security within the browser. You will need to deal with the license within OMVS and the certificate either there, or as we are, via your security product — RACF for us.

Furthermore, there is the ability to utilize, and you will want to, the REST API, which will allow you to update MF files within/via the WebUI. That demands Common Services be used, so keep that in mind. All in all, once you have it put in place, maintenance will be much easier I'm sure. As with all CA products now, it uses a PAX file. The interface offers so much, with it being a true 'Windows' experience!

By utilizing alerts, trends, reporting. Really anything you can think of, as this has all the data, so what do you wish to do with it.

The most valuable features are monitoring, trending and automation.

As a storage administrator, it has helped me to control my storage capacity and keep it clean in terms of both data and storage.

It allows us not to purchase storage as aggressively as we used to; this has helped our organization.

The most valuable features are recording, treading, and automation because they help me support the system. I have many systems and being able to find out information that I can use instantaneously is a big help. Doing my job with a click on a button -- you can't put price on that.

And it also helped me with automation because I can automate stuff so that I don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to do something. It's a big deal.

Also, the recording piece gives us a view of how we're using storage. Are we lean and mean? Or are we just lackadaisical and wasting stuff? We were able to salvage terabytes of space that we utilized somewhere else.

It just helps us fix problems before they happen and then you work on them after. If somebody does not put the right space parameter, we let the job run and then we fix it after. If somebody does not optimize a data set, we run our reports after talking to these people without ever having an event wasting CPU cycles.

One of the best products I have used so far is CA Vantage because of the stuff that we were able to find out. I've always laughed at my bosses or management, when they always want cutesy charts, stuff like that, because to me it's not about that. If there is a problem, I work on it and move on.

But I drank the Kool-Aid and I was able to, using those same charts that they asked for, see a picture of where I am wasting resources. Whether it was data allocation or HSM failures and all this stuff. I get all these reports on a daily basis at the click of a button, and I can go ahead and fix those issues. The good thing about this is you can share this with your coworkers, your group.

My group is made up of six people. All 6 people can look at the same screen and and they are all looking at the same thing and because we're all storage management and we have the same mentality. We know what needs to be done to fix those errors.