Tivoli Storage Manager for Windows: Administrator's Guide


|Planning for Tivoli Data Protection for NDMP

|

|Most of the planning required to implement a Tivoli Data Protection for |NDMP environment is related to device configuration. You have choices |about how to connect and use the libraries and drives.

|Planning for Tape Libraries and Drives used in NDMP Operations

|Many of the configuration choices you have for libraries and drives are |determined by the hardware features of your libraries. You can set up |NDMP operations with any supported library and drives. However, the |more features your library has, the more flexibility you can exercise in your |implementation.

|You might start by answering the following questions: |

|Determining Where to Attach the Tape Library

| |

|One of the first steps in planning for Tivoli Data Protection for NDMP is |to determine where to attach the tape library. You must determine |whether to attach the library robotics to the Tivoli Storage Manager server or |to the NAS file server. Regardless of where you connect library |robotics, tape drives must always be connected to the NAS file server for NDMP |operations.

|Distance and your available hardware connections are factors to |consider. If the library does not have separate ports for robotics |control and drive access, the library must be attached to the NAS file server |because the NAS file server must have access to the drives. If your |library has separate ports for robotics control and drive access, you can |choose to attach the library to either the Tivoli Storage Manager server or |the NAS file server.

|If the NAS file server is at a different location than the Tivoli Storage |Manager server, the distance may mean that you must attach the library to the |NAS file server.

|You have the option of dedicating the library to NDMP operations, or of |using the library for NDMP operations as well as most traditional Tivoli |Storage Manager operations.

|Configuration 1 -- Library Connected to the Tivoli Storage Manager Server

|For Configuration 1, the tape library must be equipped with separate ports |for robotics control and for drive access. In addition, the library |must be within Fibre-Channel range or SCSI bus range of both the Tivoli |Storage Manager server and the NAS file server.

|In this configuration, the Tivoli Storage Manager server controls |the library through a direct physical connection to the library robotics |control port. For NDMP operations, the drives within the library are |connected directly to the NAS file server. The NAS file server |transfers data to the tape drive at the request of the Tivoli Storage Manager |server. If you also want to use the drives for Tivoli Storage Manager |operations, you must provide a connection from the Tivoli Storage Manager |server to the tape drives and you must define the drives for use with the |Tivoli Storage Manager server. This configuration also supports a |Tivoli Storage Manager storage agent having access to the drives for its |LAN-free operations.

|Figure 7. Configuration 1-Library Connected to Tivoli Storage Manager Server

|Library Connected to Tivoli Storage Manager Server

|Configuration 2 -- Library Connected to the NAS File Server

|For Configuration 2, the library robotics and the drives must be |physically connected directly to the NAS file server. No physical |connection is required between the Tivoli Storage Manager server and the |library.

|In this configuration, the Tivoli Storage Manager server controls library |robotics by sending library commands across the network to the NAS file |server. The NAS file server passes the commands to the tape |library. Any responses generated by the library are sent to the NAS |file server, and passed back across the network to the Tivoli Storage Manager |server. This configuration supports a physically distant Tivoli Storage |Manager server and NAS file server. For example, the Tivoli Storage |Manager server could be in one city, while the NAS file server and tape |library are in another city.

|Figure 8. Configuration 2-Library Connected to the NAS File Server

|Library Connected to the NAS File Server

|Determining How to Use the Drives in the Library

|Drives can be used for multiple purposes because of the flexible |configurations allowed by Tivoli Storage Manager. For NDMP operations, |the NAS file server must have access to the drive. The Tivoli Storage |Manager server can also have access to the same drive, depending on your |hardware connections and limitations. All drives are defined to the |Tivoli Storage Manager server. However, the same drive may be defined |for both traditional Tivoli Storage Manager operations and NDMP |operations. Figure 9 illustrates one possible configuration for access |to drives.

|Figure 9. Tivoli Storage Manager Drive Usage Example

|Tivoli Storage Manager Drive Usage Example

|In Figure 9, all three drives are defined to the Tivoli Storage Manager |server. Each of the two NAS file servers has access to both drives 1 |and 2. The Tivoli Storage Manager server has access to drives 2 and |3.

|To create the drive access as shown in the figure, the two drives accessed |by the Tivoli Storage Manager server, drives 2 and 3, have been defined for |traditional Tivoli Storage Manager operations. You allow traditional |Tivoli Storage Manager operations to access a drive when you include the |DEVICE parameter in the drive definition. Drive 1 is not accessed by |the server, so the DEVICE parameter is not included in its drive |definition. |

|Drives connected to the NAS file server are accessed through paths. |To create the drive access for the NAS file servers in the example, you define |paths after you define the drives. You allow a NAS file server to |access a drive by defining a data mover that represents the NAS file server, |and then defining a path between the data mover and the drive. So, for |NAS File Server 1 to access drive 1 and drive 2, you define a data mover for |the file server. Then you define two paths, from the data mover to the |two drives.

|See Step 6. Defining Tape Drives for NDMP Operations for more information.

|In summary, to use drives for NDMP operations, you connect them to the NAS |file server. If you want to use drives for traditional Tivoli Storage |Manager operations, you can also connect them to the Tivoli Storage Manager |server and define them using the commands described in Chapter 7, Managing Drives and Libraries.


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