ViTL Adds iSCSI Support for IBM i Systems

Electronic Storage Corporation has expanded its LaserVault ViTL Virtual Tape Library for IBM i by adding support for iSCSI connectivity. This development enables IBM i systems to connect to virtual tape over standard Ethernet networks without requiring specialized Fibre Channel or SAS connectivity.

The new capability expands deployment options for IBM Power Systems environments, including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid configurations, while preserving familiar IBM i backup and recovery workflows.

In initial testing, ViTL achieved approximately 380-400MB/s over a single 10 Gigabit Ethernet connection. Performance can also scale through parallel operations, with two virtual tape drives performing simultaneous save operations achieving an aggregate throughput of around 600MB/s.