MSL2024 Zoning best practice

[Digex]

Is this the correct best practice to zone in my MSL2024? It has 2 fiber ports will zone in PortA first for testing and repeat configuration for PortB. We have the following SAN equipment. EVA4100,2xMSA1500, and DL360 G4 Media Server w/ Arcserve 12.

Zone-MSL2024_Backup_A

MSL2024_PortA
EVA4100_Port1
EVA4100_Port2
MSA1500
MSA1500_SATA

Zone-DL360GA_Backup_A

MSL2024_PortA
DL360G4_PortA

Does the media server require fiber access to the EVA and the MSA also?

[Patrick Terlisten · Accepted solution]

Hello Digex,

it would be sufficient if you put the HBA of the server and the port of the MSL into one zone. If more then one server should access the MSL, just add the HBAs of those servers into the zone. You don't need a zone which contains the MSA, EVA and MSL ports.

Best regards,
Patrick

[Digex]

Thanks for your fast response. I will try this. Does zoning in both ports on the MSL2024 give redundancy? I dont see MPIO drivers for a tape library. I also see the second MSL port is marked as a G port and not a F port. Not sure why this is.

[Patrick Terlisten]

Hello,

Multipathing doesn't work with the Tape Library, you need to change the pathes manually, if a path failure occures (add it to the zones and reconfigure you backup software).

Best regards,
Patrick

[Tom O'Toole]

Unless I'm mistaken, each fibre port on this type of library provide dedicated data transfer for a single drive. There is thus no possibility of multipath failover. I'm not sure about how robot commands are handled.

Usually 'best practice' is to have a separate zone for each server FC-HBA and include in this zone the targets you want that server to see.

Note that the zones you have proposed don't allow the 'media server' to see the disk storage. Having a zone allowing the tape library and the disk storage to see each other doesn't accomplish anything, unless you are doing some type of 'active fabric'
backup (which nobody does, as far as I know).

[Mark Poeschl_2]

Using both ports of the FC drive in a MSL2024 does not provide redundancy. In fact, HP recommends not cabling the B port at all. See this document:

http://www12.itrc.hp.com/service/james/dispDoc.do?docURL=%2Fservice%2Fcki%2FdocDisplay.do%3FdocLocale%3Den%26docId%3Demr_na-c00680316-1&aid=SEARCH_CKI&pil=2&serStr=MSL2024

[Curtis Ballard]

Using both ports on the drive does provide redundant paths but it requires one of two configurations:

1) Backup software or OS support for dual path tape drives. HP-UX 11.31 and OVMS have OS level support for dual paths. Windows does not. Several backup apps on Windows support dual paths but I don't have an exhaustive list. Data Protector does not fully support dual paths yet.

2) If you don't have an OS or software that understands dual paths you can still plug both ports into your switch but put your failover port into an inactive zone so that the backup server only can connect to the primary port. If there is a link failure you can log into your switch remotely and switch the zoning to enable to failover port.

[Tom O'Toole]

Has anybody run some speed tests on these directly fibre connected drives on the non-overland MSL series? What is the top speed of these drives (espially LTO4) in this configuration? Thanks.