Dell And Big Blue Call It Quits On Storage Driver Support For IBM i

December 9, 2024 Timothy Prickett Morgan

It looks like IBM and sometime rival Dell Technologies are having a tiff over the licensing of technology that allows disk arrays descended from the venerable Symmetrix arrays created by EMC more than three decades ago to link to descendants of the AS/400 platform and OS/400 operating systems created three and a half decades ago.

The fallout from what we presume is that a technology licensing fee agreement between Dell and IBM is similar, we think, to the one between IBM and the company that owns Information Builders. In October 2023, out of the blue, IBM announced that it was stopping sales of its Db2 Web Query for i software. The reason why was that TIBCO Software, which owned Information Builders, and IBM could not agree on the licensing terms of over the Web FOCUS engine that is at the heart of Db2 Web Query for i. It looks to us like the parent company of TIBCO Software, called Cloud Software Group and comprised of TIBCO, Information Builders, Spotfire, JasperSoft, and Citrix Systems, wanted more money than IBM was willing to pay to license the engine inside of WebFOCUS.

This time around, we conjecture that IBM is asking Dell to pay too much money to license the technology in the low-level driver, called D910, that allows Dell high-end disk and flash arrays to link to Power Systems running IBM i and look like IBM’s own DS arrays as far as the operating system is concerned. But we don’t know exactly how this deal has unwound. We also suspect that IBM wants to make it harder for customers to choose Dell arrays when it wants to sell its own DS9000 and FlashSystem arrays, or at the very least, its SAN Virtual Controller appliance for those who want to use non-IBM storage on their IBM i platforms.

IBM’s announcement on the withdrawal of distribution of the D910 driver was put out on October 18 and updated on October 23. It became effective on November 1. Dell’s own response to this announcement was put out on November 4. We are only now becoming aware of both.

IBM says: “Dell has elected not to renew a licensing agreement to attach Dell storage to the IBM i platform.” Which puts the blame on Dell, and we think they are arguing about money and, as we said, IBM wants customers to buy more IBM storage and less Dell storage.

IBM says further that the IBM i D910 device driver will not be enhanced going forward. Any customer who buys a new Power System and installs IBM i 7.4 or IBM i 7.5 and wants to use Dell PowerMax disk and flash arrays as the system’s storage cannot get access to the D910 driver and therefore cannot use Dell storage on that machine. Companies that were already using the D910 driver to connect to Dell storage can get a key from IBM to attach new Dell PowerMax arrays to an existing or new Power System machine running IBM i, or to attach new Dell storage to existing Power machinery running IBM i. IBM will also make the D910 driver available to existing Dell storage customers who move to the IBM i Next release (presumable called IBM i 7.6) due to come out with Power11 systems in 2025. IBM will have a way to get a key to unlock the D910 driver when this IBM i 7.6 release is put out next year.

Neither IBM nor Dell will be enhancing the D910 driver, and any tech support issues relating to the storage on IBM i systems using the D910 driver will be routed to Dell tech support.

Dell says in its statement that the D910 driver is a low level driver for directly attaching EMC-style arrays to OS/400 and IBM i and it has not changed in more than ten years. The implication is that if anything about storage changes, it will be because IBM intentionally changes it to thwart Dell’s efforts to sell into the IBM i base.

Dell says further that it will support existing PowerMax arrays on IBM i 7.4 and IBM i 7.5 with the D910 driver without any changes, and will support existing customers when IBM i Next comes out. The PowerMax 2000 and Power Max 8000 arrays will be supported using the D910 driver through October 31, 2029, and the PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 arrays will be supported out beyond 2029 with specific dates to be determined at some future date. For those worried about IBM i patches breaking things, Dell had this to say: “Dell Technologies will work with IBM to resolve any issues introduced by an IBM PTF for the benefit of our mutual customers. That said, the risk of a PTF breaking something associated with the D910 interface is low. Our research did not find a single instance where IBM maintenance has caused an issue with the D910 interface in the 10+ years it has been available.”

For customers who want to add Dell PowerMax arrays to existing or future machines, you have two choices. You can work through the Virtual I/O Server or you can buy a SAN Virtual Controller. This is not a good option for midrange shops that have PowerMax as the standard SAN in their shops for Power and X86 systems and are used to employing the D910 driver for their IBM partition. But that’s the way it goes sometimes when two companies can’t agree. IBM wants you to spend your money on IBM storage.

We wonder if the same tactic will happen – or has already happened – with the System z mainframe base.

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