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Re: [Networker] new to Virtual Tape Library - what are the benefits?
2007-08-17 09:42:58
We have a few VTLs from various vendors and heavy use of ATFD devices.
We have had issues on all the VTLs - vendor issues aside, the problem is
mostly emulating a jukebox with something that isnt a jukebox. Sure,
you get speed and some management benefits, but in my view the jukebox
emulation causes more problems that it solves. Mostly in the area of
"volume" management - if you dont plan it right you can end up with a
VTL full of volumes you cant expire because they keep getting little
backups appended to them.
Basically our approach is to create many smaller virtual tapes, so once
they fill up they can sit there and be expired later on. If you have
too big a tape size they tend to be appended to longer and take longer
to expire, so your VTL capacity gets eaten up. Maybe its just the
vendor we have for one product, but I also dont trust deduplication yet
- I have seen performance issues as the VTL filled up and trying to read
it back.
Personally, I think AFTD is a better approach if you dont plan on
directly zoning the VTL to many machines and are mostly backing up over
the network. Its simple to manage (depending on what networker bug you
are hitting that week) and is easier to expand and observe. With good
storage and physical tape to clone it generally just works.
mark wragge wrote:
Hi, I am new to the use of VTL (clariion disk) and I would like to know what
the benefits of using the VTL are over using Advanced Disk Device.
Also, is there such thing as staging on a VTL? If not then what is the best
way to free up disk space when it is full - is it cloning to tape and then
re-labeling the virtual media.
Any examples of how you are using VTL and managing the media would be appreciated.
Regards, Mark
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