Home > Storage > PowerMax and VMAX > Mainframe > Dell PowerMax: Data Protector for z Systems (zDP) Essentials > zDP Enhancements: September 2020
With the release of Mainframe Enabler version 8.5, Dell Technologies continues to innovate providing new usability and security enhancements for Data Protector for z Systems (zDP).
To provide greater protection of your most valued data, Mainframe Enablers (MFE) 8.5 introduces zDP Two Actor Security. When enabled, Two Actor Security requires two people to execute certain zDP commands. This enhancement when implemented could prevent a rogue employee or employee under duress from destroying zDP Snapsets or alter the operational parameters of zDP.
To ensure that customer Volume Data Group (VDG) and Target Set definitions stay defined after an IPL, MFE 8.5 can preserve the definitions via the zDP Definition Persistence feature. When defining your zDP definitions, customers can export the VDG or Target definitions to a Symmetrix File System (SFS) for preservation. After an IPL, the definitions would be loaded back into your SCF address space. If customers have existing definitions created from older MFE software, customers would have to use the export and import functionality while running MFE 8.5 to take advantage of zDP Definition Persistence feature.
While a VDG is taking snapsets, customers can now alter VDG parameters while the VDG is running. (See the Dell TimeFinder SnapVX and zDP 8.4 Product Guide for parameters that can be dynamically modified.)