Adding a SAN Tape Library

Important. Follow this procedure only after adding a SAN device cluster.

Web interface

Note. This flow is for non-SAN tape libraries. For SAN tape libraries, go to Adding a Tape Library.

1. Go to Devices & Pools in the sidebar. Then select the Add device cluster button in the upper right corner to open the Add Device Cluster dialog.

1. Select Tape library as Type.

1. In the Tape Library Configuration section, provide the following parameters:

   • Name. Provide a name for the tape library. The name may only include alphanumeric characters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9), underscores (_) and hyphens (-). No other special characters are allowed. The name cannot be longer than 48 characters. No two device clusters within the Enterprise can have the same name.

   • Storage Area Network toggle. For this flow, switch the toggle on. To add a non-SAN tape library, see Adding a Tape Library.

   • Tape library type. Select your library’s manufacturer from the list, or select Generic.

   • Controller node. The controller node is a node that communicates with and controls the tape library media changer. The controller node is a special case of a device server. This is also the node where you have installed the tape library device driver. See Device Configuration Wizard. The controller node is connected to the tape library media changer over a SAN. Although this node must be running one of the operating systems specified in Manual Tape Library Installation, tape library devices (tape drives) can be attached to any controller node or NDMP node in your SAN.

     Note. Even in a SAN, you must designate one node as the primary controller node for the tape library. This node manages the robotics and messages. The drives in the tape library can be accessed from any node that can access the SAN.

     Tip. A tape library media changer can be controlled by the NDMP node, eliminating the need for a separate Windows or UNIX controller node. To enable a tape library media changer to be controlled by the NDMP node, select the NDMP node name in the Controller Node field in the Add Tape Library dialog.

   • Controller ID. Enter the complete path and name of the media changer device file on the controller node. The media changer device file contains the file handle for the tape library driver, e.g. /dev/sg6. You will find it under Device ID for the Medium Changer Device device type. as per the detect -q results. See Device Configuration Wizard.

   • Device type. Select a device type from the dropdown menu. All devices in a tape library must be the same type.

   • Using Slots. Enter the starting and ending slot numbers to use for media volumes. For example, entering 1 and 11 means for DPX that slot numbers 1 through 11 are reserved for media volumes.

   • Cleaning Slots. Enter the slot(s) used for the cleaning media. If there is only one cleaning slot, enter the slot number twice; for example, 0 through 0 indicates that slot number 0 contains a cleaning media (the default value). If there is no cleaning slot, enter -1 in each field.

   • Description. Enter an optional description of up to 48 characters.

2. Click the Configure device button in the Devices Configuration section to configure tape drives within the tape library.

Note. This flow is for SAN tape libraries. For non-SAN libraries, see Adding a Tape Library.

1. Specify the details for the first device.

   • The device name is auto-generated (and auto-updated) from the tape library name. You can edit it by hovering over the name. Note that the auto-update feature will stop once the user overrides the auto-generated name.

   • Device number. This field identifies the tape drive within the tape library. The first storage device is usually 0. This usually matches the last digit in the Device ID, but may differ depending on the tape library manufacturer.

   • There is a critical relationship between Device Number and Device ID for tape library devices. See Determining Device Number and Device ID.

   • The controller name is auto-generated from the device name.

   • Logical node name. Select the controller node for the drive.

   • Device ID. For devices controlled with a Linux machine, the path may be /dev/nst0 for the first device, /dev/nst for the second one, and so on, as per the detect -q results. For devices controlled with a Windows machine, the device IDs are typically \\.\Tape0, \\.\Tape1 and so on.

2. Click Add device path to add another path to the device from another node.

3. Click Add.

4. Click Add another device and return to item 5 as necessary, until all detected devices are added.

5. Click Save. Your tape device cluster is now added to the DPX Master Server.

   Now, proceed with adding a media pool for the tape device cluster.