Difference between IBM Spectrum Protect (TSM) Extended, Express and Basic editions

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) is a powerful storage software solution that addresses the challenges of complex storage management in distributed heterogeneous environments. It protects and manages a broad range of data, from workstations to the corporate server environment. IBM TSM supports more than 44 different operating platforms by using a consistent graphical user interface. Advantages of IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) are

• Centralized administration for data and storage management.

• Fully automated data protection techniques.

• Efficient management of information growth.

• High-speed automated server recovery.

• Full compatibility with hundreds of storage devices, as well as LAN, WAN, and SAN infrastructures.

• Optional customized backup solutions for major groupware, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications, and database products.

Features of Tivoli Storage Manager Product

• Tivoli Storage Manager protects an organization’s data against hardware failures and other errors by storing backup and archive copies of data in offline storage. It can scale to protect hundreds of computers ranging from laptops (mobile computers) to mainframes, running a variety of different operating systems, connected via the Internet, WANs, LANs or SANs. 

• Centralized Web-based management, smart data move-and-store techniques, and comprehensive policy-based automation work together to minimize data protection administration costs and the impact on both computers and networks. 

• Optional modules enable business-critical applications that must run 24x7x365 to utilize Tivoli Storage Manager centralized data protection with no interruption to their service.

• IBM Tivoli Storage Manager is available in three editions - Express, Basic Edition, and Extended Edition.

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Express Edition

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Express is  aimed at both the small to medium business with a less sophisticated IT environment, or the enterprise department that does not need the full suite of Tivoli Storage Manager features. IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Express provides a subset of Tivoli Storage Manager features, focusing on backup and recovery for between 5 and 20 client  machines. The features of IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Express are

• Easy Installation procedures.

•  Simplified administration GUI.

•  Fully upgradeable to next editions.

• Disk-based incremental backups.

• Simplified tape management policies.

• Automatic configuration

Also Read: IBM Spectrum Protect (TSM) Basic Free Tutorials

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Express supports:

• Windows 2003 as the platform for the Tivoli Storage Manager Express server From 5 to 20 client systems.

• A database size of up to 20 GB.

• LAN-based systems and devices.

• MS Exchange and SQL Server optional backup.

• LTO, DLT, 4 mm DDS, and Sony 8 mm AIT devices.

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Basic Edition:

Tivoli Storage Manager Basic Edition contains a rich set of features and provides the core functions of backup, recovery, and archive management. The features of IBM Tivoli Storage Manager basic edition are

Also Read: Full vs Differential vs Incremental vs Progressive Incremental Backups 

• Progressive backup methodology.

• Sharing of Tape resources.

• Network-free rapid recovery.

• Dynamic multithreaded data transfer from multiple clients.

• Adaptive differencing technology.

• TSM Servers Enterprise administration.

• TSM support for Clusters (HACMP, MSCS, VCS, NCS).

• LAN-free data transfer.

• Hierarchical Storage Management.

• Tape Library and device support

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Extended Edition

The Extended Edition of IBM Tivoli Storage Manager expands on the features and possibilities of the Basic Edition described in the previous section. Tivoli Storage Manager Extended Edition adds disaster recovery planning capability for the server, NDMP control for network-attached storage (NAS) filers, and support for larger capacity tape libraries and more tape drives.