Netware and Fibre attached Libraries

[SeanDArmstrong]

My environment -

MA8000 SAN 8.7S, NetWare 6.1 Cluster, Windows 2000 Server, SUN Solaris 9.0. Fibre channel 16 port EL Switches, MSL5026S2 tape library with onboard Fibre suupport via plug in Network Storage Router. All correct HBA adapters for servers (Compaq 64bit / 66MHz Fibre Channel Adapter (Emulex) for Netware).

All selective Storage presentation correctly configured for LUN access to all servers. No errors in logs of any servers.
Windows 2000 servers and Solaris servers all configured and using Tape library ok using Syncsort NetExpress without error (LAN Free Backup) but Netware server gives an error when loading either NWTAPE.CDM or DLTTAPE.CDM.

List devices shows 3 Unbound Objects - (2 x 160/320 GB SDLT drives and 1 x Library Changer)
When loading a driver for the two tape devices ie NWTAPE.CDM or DLTTAPE.CDM the following error is encountered :-

17-01-2003 5:40:01 pm: CPQFC-2.52-0

CPQFC: A request with an invalid data buffer length
(not mult 4) has been rejected by the driver.

0x0001: [V025-A0-D0:0] COMPAQ CD-ROM SN-124 N102
0x0003: [V502-A1-D0:0] Compaq RA8000 CTRL ID 0 (5000-1FE1-001A-8DC0)
0x0004: [V502-A1-D0:5] Compaq RA8000 ID 0 LUN 5 (5000-1FE1-001A-8DC0)
0x0005: [V502-A1-D0:3] Compaq RA8000 ID 0 LUN 3 (5000-1FE1-001A-8DC0)
0x0006: [V502-A1-D0:2] Compaq RA8000 ID 0 LUN 2 (5000-1FE1-001A-8DC0)
0x0007: [V502-A1-D0:4] Compaq RA8000 ID 0 LUN 4 (5000-1FE1-001A-8DC0)
0x0008: [V502-A1-D0:1] Compaq RA8000 ID 0 LUN 1 (5000-1FE1-001A-8DC0)
0x0009: [V502-A1-D0:6] Compaq RA8000 ID 0 LUN 6 (5000-1FE1-001A-8DC0)
0x000A: [V502-A1-D1:0] Compaq RA8000 CTRL ID 1 (5000-1FE1-001A-8DC0)
0x0025: [V502-A2-D2:1] COMPAQ_SDLT320
0x0026: [V502-A2-D2:2] COMPAQ_SDLT320
0x0027: [V502-A2-D2:3] COMPAQ NS ROUTER E1200 FW:0316 ID:2 LUN:3
0x0029: [V504-A3-D0:0] Compaq Smart Array 5i Slot 0 ID 0 LUN 0


Can anyone tell me what the 'Invalid buffer Length....' error means, and what driver I can / should be using to get Syncsort Backup Express to work with NetWare
in a Fibre Fabric envronment ?????

[Paul Owens]

We have the exect same config. I just wanted to see if you have had any luck with this. I spent 4 long weeks working with the Syncsort guys who claimed that they were Netware cluster aware. They failed miserably. After 4 weeks of back and forth b.s., nothing would work on the cluster side, of course all of the NT stuff works great. I felt like a beta tester. I gave them the boot and have been working on getting Veritas Netbackup. BTW, I had HP out here too, no luck here either. They doen't support the 64/66 HBA on the Netware side. I have had limited success in testing with BackupExec 8.6, however I get random i/o errors and the library locks up.

[SeanDArmstrong]

I am being told by HP that the Network Storage Router n1200 is not supported and that I need to upgrade to a 2400 an increase of about ??6000 !! also that the Secure Path software may be the cause, and I may need to remove it !!! So much for NSPOF !! My customer will never have this....

Did you get Netbackup working ???

[Paul Owens]

I have been testing with BackupExec v8.6 for the last few weeks. It has been fairly successful except for a few bugs. I can't view all of my virtual servers through SMS and therefore I must back them up through the file system path. This method prevents you from utilizing the agent accelerator. Second issue is the random I/O error that prevents the tapes from dismounting. If I could solve these two problems I would be happy. I will be testing Netbackup starting next week. Have you tried Netbackup? I have not had any problems that I feel have related to the n1200 and I am using securepath on all of the netware cluster nodes as well as the win2k servers. Maybe SP could be part of my I/O problem. I would just like to get a firm recommendation from the field with regards to a sw solution that works well and above all is reliable!

[Hans-Juergen Rux]

Hi all,

The configuration:
Two DL380 G2 Servers with NW6 Cluster and NWSP2
MA8000, 2 HSG80-V8.7, 2 SAN Switch 2 GB 8P EL in a full redundant multipath failover configuration SecurePath and the newest CPQ Support Software.

Backup: MSL5026SL via NSR N1200 with CA's Brighstore 9.0 for Netware.

Evertime we start a backupjob the following two errors are displayed and the job fails

CPQ:
4.02.2003 13.41.56 : CPQFC-2.52-0
CPQFC: A request exceeding the reported maximum data
transfer length has been rejected by the driver.

CA:
Feb 04 13:41:56 [802]E6957 Invalid Buffer Length Reported by Ham

Neither CPQ nor CA can interpret their own errormessage

Any comments?

[SeanDArmstrong]

HP have suggested replacing the 64bit 66MHz Fibre Adapter with the QL2200 QLogic Card. This will be supported shortly on the MA8000 for NetWare. I will post the results here as soon as I have done the testing.