Configuring Virtual Tape with LAN Free Backups

[stevemail]

I have a TSM 5.5 server and I'm trying to configure several storage agents to use LAN Free Backup to a single virtual tape library.

Our plan was to give each of the LAN Free clients two - four virtual drives that they'd use exclusively, and give the TSM Server another bunch of drives.

It looks like the TSM Server must be have a path to every drive, even the ones for the LAN Free clients.

Do I really need to mount every drive on the TSM Server? I may have dozens of tape drives, that seems like an unnecessary complexity.

Can I dedicate particular virtual drives to each LAN Free node?

If I can't, how do I tell the TSM Server to not backup to particular drives (and let the LAN Free clients use them exclusively)?

The problem now is that the TSM Server is using all the available drives. Setting MAXNUMMP doesn't solve this.

[dennis_in_texas]

I am curious stevemail...has your VTL vendor been no help with this issue? I would put some pressure on them, to help you come up with a solution. What VTL are you using? Is it certified with TSM? And what does Tivoli have to say about this?

We are about to embark on something similar, with a FalconStor VTL (in a PoC, not production,) and I am curious to see what OUR results will be. I haven't even looked into the idea of dedicating virtual drives to the LAN free clients. No time. Guess I better find the time...

If we find something that might help you, I will respond. If you find a solution, please post it.

Until then, good luck!

d_i_t

[dennis_in_texas]

Hey...just thought of something. Can't you just create a second v_library in the VTL, define v_drives and v_tapes in it, and send the data from your LAN free clients to the second library, instead of the original? This keeps the mount points completely separate from each other.

[PJ]

While that would work, it would surely be a lot more complicated to set up and plan for. I'm curious. Why do you want to dedicate drives?

PJ