IBM Announcement : Withdrawal of the 3953 Library Manager

I guess the title of the announcement says it all : 'Hardware withdrawal: IBM TotalStorage 3953 Library Manager Model L05, select features for IBM TotalStorage 3953 Tape Frame, and select features for IBM Virtualization Engines TS7510, TS7520, and TS7530 - Some replacements available (ZG11-0221)'.

Time goes fast, so I'll try to reconstruct some of the history behind this. The IBM 3494 Tape Library had its built-in library managament functions. When the TS3500 (3584) was introduced for the mainframe at around 2005, it didn't have these library functions. So IBM introduced the 3953 Library Manager with its own frame in which also tape controllers could be built in. It was also used to connect to the TS7700 Virtualization engine. By 2009, the TS7700 could have its own library management functions and did no longer need the 3953. Now, a couple of weeks ago IBM introduced the new 3592 C07 Tape Controller that also has its own library management functionality. So . . . exit the 3953 Library Manager.

This became effective August 9, 2011.