We also define one zone per host hba with all tape drives. Actually, since
we have multiple libraries, I do a separate zone for each hba+lib
combination. Yes, I've read and been told that a zone should only contain
one hba/device (tape drive, array adapter port).
fyi: A very long time ago on our very first san (3 servers and a IBM shark
array) we didn't use zoning (didn't now any better!!!!). All hosts saw all
the IBM Shark adapters. We relied on lun masking so each host could see
only the proper luns. We didn't understand that each hba would check out
every other hba. When we had a san error it would register on all the
attached servers. Needless to say, we learned about zoning and started
using it!!!
"Kauffman, Tom"
<KauffmanT@NIBCO.
COM> To
Sent by: "ADSM: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Dist Stor cc
Manager"
<[email protected] Subject
.EDU> Re: Tape drive zones for FC drives
- best practices
02/08/2007 10:39
AM
Please respond to
"ADSM: Dist Stor
Manager"
<[email protected]
.EDU>
My TSM server has six HBAs for tape use and my 3584 has 16 tape drives.
These are configured as 8 tape drives and 3 HBAs each on two switches.
This gives me 11 aliases per switch. I have just three zones in each
switch, one for each HBA. All eight tape drives are defined to each
zone. I've been configured this way for 5 years and have yet to see a
problem.
My aliases are a bit simple-minded -- tape_01 through tape_16 for the
tape drives, and things like 'columbia_1_2' for the tsm server (host
name columbia, I/O drawer 1, PCI slot 2). The zone names I use are based
on the HBA alias, so that would be zn_columbia_12 (and no, I don't know
what I'll do if I ever get a system with more than 9 I/O drawers :-).
Tom Kauffman
NIBCO, Inc
-----Original Message-----
From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] On Behalf Of
Schneider, John
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 6:05 PM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: Tape drive zones for FC drives - best practices
Greetings,
My habit in regards to zoning FC tape drives has always been to
put
one host HBA in a zone with all the tape drives it should see, and to
have a
separate zone for each host HBA. For example, in a situation with 2
host
HBAs and 10 tape drives, I would have two zones, one with one host HBA
and 5
tape drives, and the other with the other host HBA and 5 tape drives.
Pretty simple.
But an IBM consultant working here is telling me that the best
practice is to have a separate zone for each HBA/tape drive pair. So in
my
example above, I would have 20 zones instead of two. His claim is that
an
individual tape drive can hang all the other drives if they are in the
same
zone, but not if they are in separate ones. Has anyone seen this in
real
life?
This becomes important to me because I am about to put in new
SAN
switches, and he wants me to follow this recommendation. I have 2 TSM
servers with 4 HBAs each, 4 NDMP nodes, and 14 tape drives. Using my
scheme, I would have 12 zones, with his scheme I would have 56 zones.
That
seems like a lot of zones, and unnecessarily cumbersome.
Is it really necessary to isolate each HBA/Tape drive into a
separate zone? Do individual tape drives really hang other drives in
their
zone?
Best Regards,
John D. Schneider
Sr. System Administrator - Storage
Sisters of Mercy Health System
3637 South Geyer Road
St. Louis, MO. 63127
Email: schnjd AT stlo.mercy DOT net
Office: 314-364-3150, Cell: 314-486-2359
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any attachments are for the
exclusive and confidential use of the intended recipient. If you are not
the intended recipient, please do not read, distribute or take action in
reliance upon this message. If you have received this in error, please
notify us immediately by return email and promptly delete this message
and its attachments from your computer system. We do not waive
attorney-client or work product privilege by the transmission of this
message.
-----------------------------------------
The information contained in this message is intended only for the
personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. If
the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an
agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that you have received this document in error
and that any review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of
this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error, please notify us immediately, and delete
the original message.
|
