10 points : Virtual Library solution

[Abeer_1]

A customer have 7 Intel based servers with about 500 GB Internal storage, he is intersting in Virtual Library solution, he doesn't have any shared storage or SAN Environment, we propose to him to get One FC switch with HBA's on each server and connected to VL6500 series...he needs to know:
1- if he can know which SATA HDD's used by the virtual tape?

2- if he could make one SATA HDD in the VLS to be set as virtual tape and then he could remove and replace with other one?

3- if he has virtual tape configuraed in RAID5 for 3 HDD's, could he know the exact set and replace it when it reaches the max storage?

I will give 10 points for the answers in the first day :-)....

[Steven Clementi]

Abeer:

Assuming your talking about the HP Storageworks 6510 Virtual Library System, which uses the MSA20 disk shelf, then...

1 - The standard HP 250GB SATA drive is used, part 349239-B21 as per the website. The actual drive manufacturer could vary as HP buy's hard drives from different companies. NOT sure who they are using right now for SATA drives.

2 - Hard to say not being anywhere familiar with the VLS. I would think that since it utilizes the MSA20, a Proliant Server and some type of HP Smart Array, you should be able to create a single disk array.

3 - Same theory applys here as #2, same technology, 3 drives in 1 array would be RAID5 capable. There is probably some sort of designation within the software to tell which Logical Drives map to which Virtual Libraries/Tape Drive/etc. Again, not totally familiar with the software they utilize as of yet, and I will be looking for some type of emulator/simulation tool.


Any reason NOT to go wit ha small Library? MSL5026? or similar? Or even just an MSA1500 with SATA drives to use as Nearline storage?


Steven

[Uwe Zessin · Accepted solution]

HP's VLS (Virtual Library System) uses fully loaded MSA20 enclosures. Each MSA20 *must* be equiped with 12 disk drives.

The VLS is an appliance and you don't bother with setting up RAID - it will configure it on its own. If you remove a MSA20 after it has been configured: YOU WILL LOOSE DATA.

An MSA20 does not work like a tape cartridge! You need to use your backup application to transfer data from virtual tape to real tape (e.g. the latest version of HP Data Protector has on 'object copy' feature for this).

[Marino Meloni_1]

Questions 1 and 3 are alredy been answered,
so for question 2, you cannot know where the tape is, this is a virtual environment, and the space in the array is managed by the sw, the cartridges are virtual, and you cannot know on which disk it is recorded, I assume data are split around several disk for performance. The cartridges also can grow when space is need, and you can have an amound of cartridges that is overcomming the capacity of the library, assuming that you are running jobs that do not fill up completely the virtual tapes.
You cannot use this sistem if you need to share cartridges with other site, you cannot remove some disk and send outside, but you can, later after the backup took place, run a copy from virtual tape to real tape for storing offsite or to share data.