Fibre Channel (FC) is a high-speed network technology primarily used to connect computer data storage to servers in storage area networks (SAN) in enterprise storage. Fibre Channel networks are known as a Fabric because they operate in unison as one big switch. Fibre Channel mainly runs on optical fiber cables within and between data centers. Virtual tape libraries (VTLs) can ingest data over a Fibre Channel interface, which enables seamless integration with many existing backup infrastructures and processes.
The DR Series system VTL container type is designed to work seamlessly with the FC interface. With FC, the DR Series system can direct attach to NAS filers or Fibre Channel switches and supports SAN devices.
The overall steps and recommended guidelines for using and configuring a virtual tape library (VLT) with the DR Series system are described below.
Determine the following before creating a container of type VTL.
Identify the Data Management Application (DMA) that you will be using to back up data. Refer to the DR Series System Interoperability Guide for a complete list of the supported DMAs.
For the FC protocol, determine the initiator WWPN, and create the FC switch zone and enable it. (Refer to the administrator documentation for your switch for more information.) FC zoning is required to be "single target single initiator" zoned.
NOTE: Point to point cabling is not supported (directly attaching the DR Series system to another system rather then using a switch), and multi-pathing is not currently supported.
Assess the estimated size of full and incremental backups and retention periods.
NOTE: The size of the full and incremental backups will determine the tape capacity size that you set. You should use a larger tape size for full backups and a smaller size for incremental backups that have smaller retention periods. Note that faster expiration periods of incremental backups residing on smaller tapes results in the release of space back to the system for future backups.
Create Containers of Type VTL
Configure the Library in the DMA
See the DR Series system documentation, which includes DMA best practices whitepapers for your specific DR Series system at:support.quest.com/dr-series.
For more detailed information, including configuring NDMP and iSCSI protocols, please refer to the DR Series System Administrator Guide.