Implementing IBM Spectrum Control is complex; we have had several calls to IBM to solve problems about DVM stack size, max memory size, and other issues such as buffer and cloud buffer size. Currently it is working, though we still have swap issues on our Linux Spectrum Protect server.We experience swap issues when we run a big retention set, and we have noticed that on the server we have memory available, but it seems that IBM Spectrum Control is using swap because the DBM max memory size is two gigabytes. This causes IBM Spectrum Control to use swap size instead of using memory, which is an issue we have opened a call to IBM about.We hope to ask why we have no report on the clone because on our storage we have an internal clone, but it is not reported. We will see with the support why it is not reported.
The database could be improved so that the complexity of installation could be easier. We would also like to have more granularity in the profiles and products for users. We would like to link the users to the tool to managers or auditors.
Spectrum Control could be more user-friendly. IBM also needs to provide proper training to handle Spectrum Control because it's a complicated solution.
Senior Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
MSP
Sep 7, 2021
The pain points were, and may still continue to be, the fact that there are multiple components of the product which are installed, you might say, somewhat individually. There's an overarching package that says, "Install this. Install that." However, it's got a database which is, of course, Db2 for IBM. It's got other facilities that are used in the product, for example, to generate reports and what have you. Instead of pushing a button and wait and you're done, there's a lot of effort to get it right.
Senior Technical Specialist at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Mar 2, 2021
The initial setup for IBM Spectrum Control is a bit complicated. They should also make it easier to integrate and use the Cosmos Analytics tool, which is very complicated. I want IBM to add a feature for microcode operations. We have, for example, plenty of storage devices, and I have to connect directly to every storage device, upload microcode, and start the upgrade procedure. I would like IBM to have something similar to Brocade Network Advisor. There is a repository with microcode, and you just download the microcode to the Spectrum Control, and after that, choose what storage devices you would like to upgrade and just start upgrading these devices. It would be very nice if it's simplified.
IBM Spectrum Control is a comprehensive solution that can significantly improve monitoring, automation and analytics capabilities in multi-vendor storage environments. IBM Spectrum Control helps manage storage systems, software-defined storage, storage-area network (SAN) fabrics and devices. Storage can be seen from multiple perspectives, including departmental, application and server views. IBM Spectrum Control helps simplify provisioning, tier optimization, performance management and data...
Implementing IBM Spectrum Control is complex; we have had several calls to IBM to solve problems about DVM stack size, max memory size, and other issues such as buffer and cloud buffer size. Currently it is working, though we still have swap issues on our Linux Spectrum Protect server.We experience swap issues when we run a big retention set, and we have noticed that on the server we have memory available, but it seems that IBM Spectrum Control is using swap because the DBM max memory size is two gigabytes. This causes IBM Spectrum Control to use swap size instead of using memory, which is an issue we have opened a call to IBM about.We hope to ask why we have no report on the clone because on our storage we have an internal clone, but it is not reported. We will see with the support why it is not reported.
The solution must support multi-vendor storage.
The database could be improved so that the complexity of installation could be easier. We would also like to have more granularity in the profiles and products for users. We would like to link the users to the tool to managers or auditors.
Spectrum Control could be more user-friendly. IBM also needs to provide proper training to handle Spectrum Control because it's a complicated solution.
The pain points were, and may still continue to be, the fact that there are multiple components of the product which are installed, you might say, somewhat individually. There's an overarching package that says, "Install this. Install that." However, it's got a database which is, of course, Db2 for IBM. It's got other facilities that are used in the product, for example, to generate reports and what have you. Instead of pushing a button and wait and you're done, there's a lot of effort to get it right.
The initial setup for IBM Spectrum Control is a bit complicated. They should also make it easier to integrate and use the Cosmos Analytics tool, which is very complicated. I want IBM to add a feature for microcode operations. We have, for example, plenty of storage devices, and I have to connect directly to every storage device, upload microcode, and start the upgrade procedure. I would like IBM to have something similar to Brocade Network Advisor. There is a repository with microcode, and you just download the microcode to the Spectrum Control, and after that, choose what storage devices you would like to upgrade and just start upgrading these devices. It would be very nice if it's simplified.