Windows doesn't see a tape device on the SAN

[John_880]

O wise ones,

I'm trying to convince windows we have a tape library on the SAN.

On our HP-UX boxes, DataProtector detects the san attached tape lib seemingly automatically. No problems here.

What is the procedure for windows to make the library show up?

So far i have modified the zoning on the switches and made sure the windows boxes are in the same zone as the tape library.

I did reboots, rescan for new hardware on the windows (2003 Server) boxes but no tape device show up.

Perhaps I need to install certain special drivers (if so, which)?

Thanks in advance, John

[Steven Clementi]

Have you done anything with the library itself? What type of library is it? Make/Model...


Usually, and if it is an MSL/ESL, you have to go into the NSR configuration and change the default device map from target:bus to bus:target (or is it the opposite way?) before Windows correctly recognizes the devices in the right order... but non-the-less, the Windows box should see the NSR.

Do you at least see the nsr in the Device Manager?


Steven

[John_880]

Hi,

I'll go take a look at the mappings (btw, its an MSL6000) tho I'm pretty sure the NSR is aware of the windows boxes' HBAs.

Device Manager does not display anything.

Regards, John

[Chris Bennett_9 · Accepted solution]

A basic question: do you have the zoning in place so that the server can see the library's NSR / MDR?

Are you making the W2k3 server a media server? If you are presenting tape drives to the server for use by Data Protector, you need to disable the Removable Storage Service. Note that with W2k3, this service heals itself and the service restarts upon reboot - so you will have to either script the "net stop" or disable it every time you reboot.

Furthermore, you CANNOT use the tape device drivers provided with Windows. You need to disable the tape drives and any robotics that are discovered by W2k3 and allow Data Protector to control the robotics via the Cell manager and use the raw scsi devices within the Data Protector GUI to assign tape drives to the Windows server.

[Marino Meloni_1]

if you have done a correct map for unix, and servers see the device, you should create a second map for Windows, with
the NSR Controller as lun0,
the robotic conttroller as lun1
the drives as lun2,3,4....

in windows 2003, if the NSR controller is not presented as a lun0 to the server, he will not scan further, then will not detect the library

[Steven Clementi]

The NSR should appear in the System Devices catagory if I remember correctly.

If the system doesn't see the NSR, then it will not see anything else either.

It does not matter if the NSR can see the Windows machines.

You might have a mapping issue as Marino suggests. The default map usually fills with the library robot last. In windows, you would see the robot, but not the drives or even no tape devices at all (changer or drives).

Remember to change the map so that the fill happens with bus:target, not the default target:bus (or is that the other way around...I need a sandbox)

Heed Chris's advice as well. Disable the Removable Storage services and do not load any windows drivers for the tape drives once they are scanned in. Let Data Protector take care of it.

Steven

[John_880]

I checked the zoning. NSR and nodes were in the same zone.

Then I made a new map (target:bus), made sure the order of devices is correct. Hey presto! the devices showed up in windows.

The windows sysadmin took care of the services thingy. The windows cluster is configured to present three services.

Data protector can see the scsi tape drives on each windows service (3x2 tape units).

All looks fine now and I'm off to make the schedules.

Thanks all for the great help!