Looks like my question didnt reach its final destination..
Following scenario:
5 Servers sharing one san (having all their own partition) and one tapelibrary connect via storagerouter. I would like to implement a 6th server that controls the library, backup tasks, etc. for the five servers in the san. does the 6th Server need to be connected to the san either, or can it be simply on lan regards tom
If you are using Data Protector your Cell Manager does not have to be San attached. The library control can be handed off onto one of the machines already San attached, but under the control of the CM.
Hi, It depends on what you mean. If you actually want the 6th server to controll the library robotics it has to be connected to the SAN. If you just want to run the backup software on the 6th server and use one oth the other servers to handle the library robotics, it don't need to be SAN attached.
This is true for Data Protector, other backup software may have different concept.
Thomas, Go check out the HP Enterprise Backup Solutions (EBS) web pages at: www.hp.com/go/ebs There is a host of information about backups on a SAN.
Depending upon your backup application and how you configure it this is supported. The backups are really done via each server on the SAN sharing the library where one server is designated as the "robot host" and the others only share control of the drives. The backup application "database" resides on the server that is not connected to the SAN. All the SAN servers communicate via the LAN to this server with the restriction that the backup server can't actually backup anything to the library. One other way for those backup apps that require the server to control the robot is to direct attach the robot (via SCSI) to the non-SAN backup server while using the SAN for all the tape drives.
If you'll be using NetBackup or Networker - then you'll need to have the 6th box (acting as the master/media server) be SAN connected so it has access to the library's robotics and media management system. it's the media/master that controls mount requests for the SAN connected "clients" and SCSI commands for robotics control AFAIK are sent via physical connections - hence the need for the SAN connection.
Just to clarify the above point about Netbackup. Yes if its installed as a Master/Media server it will need to be SAN attached. But if the 6th server is just to control the backups on the other 5 servers then it can be a Master server and does not require SAN connectivity. The Master server is just a simple scheduler and does not require as high as specification as a Media server.
