After installing the Compatible FlashCopy® software on the storage system, you can perform IBM® FlashCopy® operations on the storage system by issuing IBM® PPRC commands (TSO, ICKDSF, DFSMSdss, or ANTRQST macro commands) to the storage system from the mainframe host console.
When Compatible FlashCopy® is installed, commands can be issued automatically by applications like Db2® and by IBM® utilities such as IBMOS or DEFRAG without requiring any action by the user.
Compatible FlashCopy® V2 (FCv2)
The Compatible FlashCopy® V2 feature provides FlashCopy® V2 compatibility for VSP One Block 85 storage systems. FlashCopy® V2 supports:
- Dataset-level copy operations
- Point-in-time, full-volume copies that are immediately available for read and write access
- Access to the copied data by reading from the target volume, which holds the snapshot of the source volume
Compatible FlashCopy® SE (CFCSE)
The Compatible FlashCopy® SE feature provides FlashCopy® SE compatibility for VSP One Block 85 storage systems. FlashCopy® SE offers similar functionality to FlashCopy® V2 but uses space-efficient volumes, including track-space-efficient volumes (TSE-VOLs) and extent-space-efficient volumes (ESE-VOLs), for the copy targets. FlashCopy® SE volumes:
- Do not use storage space when created
- Only consume space when data is written
- Allow thin provisioning, so the target volume can be smaller than the source volume
This helps reduce the amount of physical storage needed for data replication, making FlashCopy® SE operations more efficient for many environments.
Compatible FlashCopy® functions performed on the storage system
The following Compatible FlashCopy® functions must be performed on the VSP One Block 85 storage system:
- Installing the Compatible FlashCopy® software
- Setting the FC Slower Copy options
- Changing the state change pending (SCP) time for control units (CUs)
Hitachi Business Continuity Manager
The Business Continuity Manager (BCM) mainframe software provides the following support for FlashCopy® operations:
- FlashCopy® Linkage Configurations: BCM can manage FlashCopy® volumes that are linked with TrueCopy for Mainframe (TCz) or Universal Replicator for Mainframe (URz) pairs. This allows FlashCopy®-created datasets to be replicated to remote sites.
- Monitoring Copy Status: BCM supports the YKFCSTAT command to monitor the completion of FlashCopy® copy processing.
- Preserve Mirror FlashCopy®: BCM can work with FlashCopy® pairs that use the Preserve Mirror function, enabling consistent snapshots during replication.
BCM enables you to integrate FlashCopy® into broader replication strategies involving Hitachi storage systems.
BCM does not offer full control over all FlashCopy® operations such as initiating FlashCopy® relationships, managing multiple target volumes, or advanced consistency group handling as IBM® Copy Services Manager does.
Features like incremental FlashCopy®, multiple target support, and FlashCopy® consistency groups are typically managed through IBM® tools like Copy Services Manager or native IBM® storage interfaces.
While BCM supports FlashCopy® SE in linkage scenarios, it does not provide full lifecycle management or advanced SE-specific features.