>>>I'm just curious to know if anybody has any experience with NAS
>>>backups via the NDMP module. In particular, I'd like to know of
>>>anybody working in an environment that has fiber-attached 3590s
>>>in a 3494 library.
>>>The TSM Administrator's Guide discusses these setups in Chapter 6,
>>>but it only mentions using SCSI libraries, not libraries of type
>>>349X. Just curious to know if it's possible (which I'm sure it
>>>*must* be), and to know if anybody has trod down this path. We're
>>>anxiously awaiting the release of 5.2 for file-level
>>>backup/restore via NDMP, and so we are beginning the preparatory
>>>steps for that.
At the time the publications were produced, only SCSI libraries
were supported for NDMP operations. Support for ACSLS libraries
was introduced in 5.1.1 and support for 349x libraries came
in 5.1.5.
>> I floated the same question out here a few months back
>>and heard nothing. In reading the documents, it sounded like you
>>used to need to attach a local tape drive to the NetApp, but in
>>recent versions, it talks about configuring a "path" to the
>>drive and using the drives already defined to TSM. But then the
>>NDMP backup is still being funneled through the TSM server to
>>get to the drive, right?
To perform NDMP operations with TSM, tape drives must be
accessible to the NAS device. This means that there must
be a SCSI or FC connection between the filer and drive(s)
and a path must be defined in TSM from the NAS data
mover to the drive(s). Some or all of the drives can also
be accessed by the TSM server, provided that there is
physical connectivity and a path definition from the TSM
server to those drives. This does not mean that data is
funneled through the TSM server for NDMP operations. It
simply allows sharing drives for NDMP and conventional
TSM operations. In fact, if the library robotics is
controlled directly by the TSM server (rather than
through a NAS device), it is possible to share
drives among NAS devices, library server,
storage agents and library clients.
>My understanding, based on the TSM Admin. Guide, is that if we
>attach our filers to the SAN (which we are most willing to do),
>then we can allow our TSM library manager server still control
>the drives, and share them with the NDMP backups.
Correct. However, you don't need a library manager / library
client configuration. You can just have a TSM server and
NAS device share drives.
>> From the documents I read, it sounds like to get it to
>>work with the data flowing directly to the tape drives, your TSM
>>server has to be part of a SAN. Ours is not part of a SAN, so
>>I'm not sure how we would hook our NetApps to our TSM server to
>>gain the benefits of NDMP.
Data flow for NDMP operations is always directly between the
filer and the drive and never through the TSM server. The TSM
server handles control and metadata, but not bulk data flow.
The TSM server does not need to be on a SAN, but if you want to
share drives between the TSM server and the NAS device, a SAN
allows the necessary interconnectivity.
Dave Cannon
Tivoli Storage Software Development
Tivoli Storage Products, IBM Software Group
dcannon AT us.ibm DOT com
|
