EMC has announced that its ‘Geographically Dispersed Disaster Restart’ (EMC GDDR) software now supports two-site IBM mainframe environments.

EMC GDDR enables customers to automatically restart host mainframe systems, critical applications and EMC Symmetrix DMX storage systems to minimize the impact of unplanned or planned outages and enhance information availability and protection.

Now available for two-site mainframe environments in addition to previously supported three-site mainframe environments, EMC GDDR delivers the highest levels of availability and assures automated restart consistency across applications and implementation methodologies via a proven, standardized software product.

"With EMC GDDR, we are leveraging our rich mainframe technology heritage and expertise in business continuity to provide mainframe customers with a unified, cost-effective solution that enables them to meet stringent recovery time objectives and enhance the reliability of their restart and recovery operations," said David Donatelli, president, EMC Storage Division. "By extending these capabilities to customers with two-site mainframe operations, we are expanding the market for this critical functionality."

EMC GDDR software improves the availability of host systems, applications, and storage resources via standardized, parameter-driven software, protecting multi-site mainframe environments against unplanned outages. Additionally, customers can leverage EMC GDDR software to automate failover operations during planned outages such as maintenance operations and upgrades, and test their disaster restart operations without writing, verifying, and maintaining custom scripts. For remote replication, EMC GDDR utilizes EMC's EMC Symmetrix Remote Data Facility software for efficient synchronous and asynchronous data replication to ensure seamless offsite protection of critical information assets and service level continuity.