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• 2 VTL Configuration
  • 2.1 Partitions
    • 2.1.1 Partitions Summary
      • 2.1.1.1 Tasks
      • 2.1.1.2 Partition List
      • 2.1.1.3 Adding a VTL Partition
      • 2.1.1.4 Editing a VTL Partition
      • 2.1.1.5 Deleting a VTL Partition
      • 2.1.1.6 Changing Partition Mode
  • 2.2 Media
    • 2.2.1 Media Add
    • 2.2.2 Media Actions
    • 2.2.3 Media Move
    • 2.2.4 Media Unload
  • 2.3 Remote Host Access
    • 2.3.1 Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) - Data Payload Size
    • 2.3.2 Remote Host Mapping
      • 2.3.2.1 Remote Host Mapping And Groups
      • 2.3.2.2 Adding a Remote Host Access Group
      • 2.3.2.3 Editing a Remote Host Access Group
      • 2.3.2.4 Deleting a Remote Host Access Group
    • 2.3.3 Remote Hosts
    • 2.3.4 Targets
    • 2.3.5 Target Usage

VTL Configuration

The VTL page allows you to configure the InfiniGuard DDE to present its storage capacity as VTL (virtual tape library) partitions that are compatible with standard backup applications. You can add virtual tape drives and storage slots to VTL partitions, as well as create and work with virtual tape cartridges. You can also map partitions to hosts.

To access the VTL page, Select a DDE and click the Configuration menu, and then click the VTL tab.

The VTL page contains the following tabs:

• Partitions
• Media
• Remote Host Access

Partitions

The Partitions page allows you to manage VTL partitions on the InfiniGuard DDE. Use partitions to allocate the DDE virtual tape drives and storage elements to separate partitions that can be accessed by different host systems.

To access the Partitions page, on the VTL page, click the Partitions tab.

The Partitions page contains the following tabs:

Partitions Summary

The Partitions Summary page allows you to view information about existing partitions. You can also add or edit partitions, and delete partitions.
To access the Partitions Summary page, on the Partitions page, click the Summary tab

Partitions Summary Page

Partition List

The Partition List section displays the following information for all VTL partitions on the DDE:

Adding a VTL Partition

Add a VTL partition to present the storage capacity of the DDE as a VTL partition that is compatible with standard backup applications. You can add up to 64 partitions. When you add a partition, you must specify the type of physical library to emulate and configure virtual tape drives and storage slots.
The number of virtual tape drives (VTDs) totaled across all configured partitions must not exceed 512 VTDs.

To add a VTL partition:

1. Click Add.

The Add VTL Partition & Replication Settings page displays 

Add VTL Partition & Replication Settings Page

2. Under Partition Settings, enter information about the partition:

3. (Optional) Under Replication Settings, specify replication settings.

For more information about configuring replication for a partition, or to set up replication for the partition at a later time, see Replication.

4. Click Apply.

After you add a partition, you must add media and map drives to a host before the partition can be used for backups (see Media Add and Remote Host Mapping).

Editing a VTL Partition

Edit a VTL partition to modify the settings for the partition, for example, to change the emulated library model or the number of storage slots and virtual tape drives.

To edit a VTL partition:

1. Select the partition and click Edit.

The Edit VTL Partition & Replication Settings page displays.

Edit VTL Partition & Replication Settings Page

2. If the partition is online, click Offline to take the partition offline. To edit a partition, it must be offline.

3. Under Partition Settings, enter information about the partition:

4. (Optional) Under Replication Settings, specify replication settings.

For more information about configuring replication for a partition, or to set up replication for the partition at a later time, see Replication.

5. Click Apply.

6. Click Online to return the partition to an online state.

Deleting a VTL Partition

Delete a VTL partition if it is no longer needed. When you delete a partition, all data stored on the partition is lost.

To delete a VTL partition:

1. If the partition is online, select the partition and click Offline to take the partition offline. To delete a partition, it must be offline.
2. If there are tape cartridges in any of the tape drives in the partition, move the cartridges to storage slots (see Media Move). To delete a partition, all drives must be empty.
3. Select the partition and click Delete.
   
   

4. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

If the partition contains tape cartridges, they are exported from the partition before it is deleted.

Changing Partition Mode

Change the mode of a VTL partition to take it online or offline. To make backups to a partition, it must be online. To edit or delete a partition, it must be offline.

• To change the partition mode to online, select the partition and click Online.
• To change the partition mode to offline, select the partition and click Offline.

Media

The Media page allows you to manage virtual tape cartridges in VTL partitions on the InfiniGuard DDE. Backup applications can write data to virtual tape cartridges just as they would to physical media.

To access the Media page, on the VTL page, click the Media tab.

The Media page contains the following tabs:

Media Add

Use the Media Add page to add a contiguous range of virtual tape cartridges to a VTL partition. You can specify the initial location, starting barcode, media type, and media capacity. After the cartridges are created, they are available for backing up data.

To access the Media Add page, on the Media page, click the Add tab

Media Add Page

To add virtual tape cartridges to a partition:

1. In the Partition drop-down box, select the partition where the media will be created.
2. Under Add Contiguous Media, enter information about the media:

3. Click Apply.

Media Actions

Use the Media Actions page to perform actions on virtual tape cartridges. You can import, export, and remove cartridges from VTL partitions. You can also configure cartridges to be write protected to prevent access.

To access the Media Actions page, on the Media page, click the Actions tab 

Media Actions Page

To perform actions on virtual tape cartridges:

1. In the Partition drop-down box, select the partition that contains the cartridges to work with.

2. In the Action drop-down box, select the action to perform:

After you select an action, the table is updated to show only the cartridges that support the selected action. Select Show All Media in the Action drop-down box to see all cartridges.

3. (Optional) To reduce the number of cartridges displayed in the table, enter a barcode or barcode range in the Barcode Filter box and click Apply Filter.

Use a hyphen (-) to indicate a range, and use an asterisk (*) to indicate a wildcard. Separate multiple entries with commas, and do not use spaces.

Example:  Enter AAA* to display all cartridge barcodes beginning with AAA. Or enter AAA010-AAA020 to display all barcodes in the specified range. Click the Quick Tip icon [?] for additional examples.

4. Select the cartridges to perform the action on. The action is performed only for selected cartridges on the current page. Or select the check box in the table heading row to perform the action on all cartridges in the partition.

If necessary, use the controls at the bottom of the table to navigate between multiple pages of results.
Select the number of rows to display in the Show drop-down box.

5. Click Apply.

Media Move

Use the Media Move page to move a virtual tape cartridge from a source location (drive, storage slot, or I/E slot) to a destination location (drive, storage slot, or I/E slot). The location and destination must be in the same partition.

To access the Media Move page, on the Media page, click the Move tab 

Media Move Page

To move a virtual tape cartridge:

1. In the Partition drop-down box, select the partition that contains the cartridge to move.
2. If the partition is online, click Offline to take the partition offline. To move media, the partition must be offline.
3. In the Source Location drop-down box, select the type of location you want to move a cartridge from (Drive, Storage Slot, I/E Slot).
4. (Optional) If you are moving a cartridge from a drive, select the Force Unload (Virtual Tape Drives) check box to force the drive to unload the cartridge before ejecting it.
5. (Optional) To reduce the number of cartridges displayed in the table, enter a barcode or barcode range in the Barcode Filter box and click Apply Filter.

Use a hyphen (-) to indicate a range, and use an asterisk (*) to indicate a wildcard. Separate multiple entries with commas, and do not use spaces.

Example:  Enter AAA* to display all cartridge barcodes beginning with AAA. Or enter AAA010-AAA020 to display all barcodes in the specified range. Click the Quick Tip icon [?] for additional examples.

6. Select the cartridge to move from the source location.

7. In the Destination Location drop-down box, select the type of location you want to move the cartridge to (Drive, Storage Slot, I/E Slot).

8. Select the destination location to move the cartridge to.

9. Click Apply.

10. Return the partition to an online state (see Changing Partition Mode).

Media Unload

Use the Media Unload page to perform a bulk unload of virtual tape cartridges from drives or I/E slots.

To access the Media Unload page, on the Media page, click the Unload tab

Media Unload Page

To unload virtual tape cartridges:

1. In the Partition drop-down box, select the partition that contains the cartridges to unload.
2. If the partition is online, click Offline to take the partition offline. To unload media, the partition must be offline.
3. In the Show Location drop-down box, select the type of location you want to unload cartridges from (Drive, I/E Slot).
4. (Optional) If you are unloading cartridges from a drive, select the Force Unload (Virtual Tape Drives) check box to force drives to unload the cartridges before ejecting them.
5. (Optional) To reduce the number of cartridges displayed in the table, enter a barcode or barcode range in the Barcode Filter box and click Apply Filter.

Use a hyphen (-) to indicate a range, and use an asterisk (*) to indicate a wildcard. Separate multiple entries with commas, and do not use spaces.

Example:  Enter AAA* to display all cartridge barcodes beginning with AAA. Or enter AAA010-AAA020 to display all barcodes in the specified range. Click the Quick Tip icon [?] for additional examples.

6. Select the cartridges to unload.

7. Click Apply.

Cartridges are moved to a previous storage slot if available. Otherwise, they are moved to the first available storage slot.

8. Return the partition to an online state (see Changing Partition Mode).

Remote Host Access

The Remote Host Access page allows you to configure virtual media changers and tape drives on the InfiniGuard DDE to communicate with Fibre Channel hosts (initiators). You can add, edit, and delete hosts as well as view Fibre Channel target ports on the DDE.

If you do not create and associate a host access group with a partition, the virtual devices are not visible from the host, and drives cannot be destinations for move operations.

Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) - Data Payload Size

The Fibre Channel HBAs used on the InfiniGuard DDE have a maximum data payload size per frame of 2048 bytes. The Fibre Channel specification allows a maximum data payload size of 2112 bytes per frame. Fibre Channel HBAs used on backup hosts should be configured to use a maximum data payload size of 2048 bytes per frame. Failure to match the backup host maximum data payload size to the DDE maximum data payload size may result in stalled data transfers.

To access the Remote Host Access page, on the VTL page, click the Remote Host Access tab.

The Remote Host Access page contains the following tabs:

Remote Host Mapping

The Remote Host Mapping page allows you to view information about existing host access groups. You can also add or edit groups, and delete groups.

Host access groups allow backup hosts to access virtual devices on a InfiniGuard DDE. A host access group is associated with a partition, a host (a Fibre Channel initiator on the SAN), and a target (a Fibre Channel port on the DDE). This association allows the host to access one or more devices in the partition using different host LUNs on the port. To allow multiple hosts to access devices that belong to the same partition, you must create separate host access groups for each host.

To access the Remote Host Mapping page, on the Remote Host Access page, click the Remote Host Mapping tab 

Remote Host Mapping page

Remote Host Mapping And Groups

The Remote Host Mapping And Groups section displays the following information for all host access groups on the DDE:

Adding a Remote Host Access Group

Add a host access group to associate a VTL partition with a host (a Fibre Channel initiator on the SAN) and a target (a Fibre Channel port on the DDE).

To add a host access group:

1. Click Add.

The Map Remote Hosts, Define Groups page displays.

2. Enter information about the host access group:

3. (Optional) Select the Use CCL check box to use the Command and Control LUN.

4. Select the check boxes for the media changer and tape drives to add to the host access group.

The LUN assignment displays next to the device.

5. Click Apply.

Remote Host Access Group page

Editing a Remote Host Access Group

Edit a host access group to change the CCL setting. You can also add or remove virtual media changers or tape drives.
To edit a host access group:

1. Select the group and click Edit.

The Edit Remote Host Mapping page displays

Edit Remote Host Mapping Page

2. (Optional) Select the Use CCL check box to use the Command and Control LUN.

3. Select the check boxes for the media changer and tape drives to add to the host access group.

The LUN assignment displays next to the device.

4. Click Apply.

Deleting a Remote Host Access Group

Delete a host access group if it is no longer needed.

To delete a host access group:

1. Select the group and click Delete.

2. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

Remote Hosts

Use the Remote Hosts page to discover and add Fibre Channel hosts to the available host list for the InfiniGuard DDE.

To access the Remote Hosts page, on the Remote Host Access page, click the Remote Hosts tab.

To add a host:

1. Click Discover Remote Hosts to list all hosts that are known to the InfiniGuard DDE.

A host is made known to the InfiniGuard DDE if you enter the host ID on this page, or if the host logs on to one or more Fibre Channel target ports.
If you do not see the world wide name (WWN) of the host, make sure the host is connected to a Fibre Channel port on the DDE and click Discover Hosts again.

2. Enter information about the host:

3. Click Apply.

Targets

Use the Targets page to view the current target (Fibre Channel) configuration.

To access the Targets page, on the Host Access page, click the Targets tab.

The Targets page displays the Target Port and WWPN for the currently configured targets.

Select one or more targets and click Reset Target(s) to initiate a Fibre Channel reset on the selected ports. A reset causes the ports to go through LIP (Loop Initialization Protocol).

Target Usage

Use the Target Usage page to view current target and device mappings for the InfiniGuard DDE.

To access the Target Usage page, on the Host Access page, click the Target Usage tab

Each target Fibre Channel port is displayed, along with the partition and virtual media changer and tape drives (VMC and VTDs) mapped to the port