Adding a Device
A device is a single standalone backup drive (for example, a DLT drive). DPX supports backups to devices on LANs, WANs, or SANs. For information on adding tape library devices, see Adding a Tape Library Device.
Guidelines for adding a device:
A device is always a member of a previously defined device cluster.
A device cannot belong to more than one device cluster.
All devices in a cluster must use the same media. For example, devices that use disk directories and devices that use tape cannot be in the same device cluster.
The media volumes used in a device cluster must be usable on any device in the device cluster.
Devices in a device cluster can be attached to the same node or different nodes. You can have as many devices as you want in a device cluster.
Tape drives must be capable of writing in variable block size mode. For some operating systems (for example, IRIX) the default device driver is for fixed block size, in which case you must obtain and install a tape device driver with variable block size write capability. These are often available from the manufacturers’ websites.
Warning! DPX uses a default tape block size of 64 KB for Windows device servers. Although current tape drives can handle this block size, there are a few older tape drives, such as an IBM QIC, that can only handle a maximum of 32 KB block size. With the default setting of 64 KB blocks, the backup will be successful on these older tape drives, but the data cannot be restored. If you suspect that any tape drives added to your Enterprise are designed for 32 KB blocks, it is a good idea to run a small test backup and restore to verify that data backed up to that drive can be restored. If the test fails, you may refer to the Knowledge Base for directions on verifying the block size capacity of tape drives and changing the block size setting. For more information about this issue, read knowledge base article 39108.
To define a new device:
Click Configure on the Function Tab bar of the window, then click Devices.
If the serial number of the device itself is available, enable the Unique ID field. To do so, from the menu bar, select Option > Allow to Update Unique ID. An asterisk indicates that the option is enabled. DPX uses the Unique ID to minimize device shifting. Unique ID is an optional field.
Open the Add Device dialog in the right pane by doing one of the following:
Right-click the device cluster name or icon to display a context menu. The selection is indicated by the selection check box next to the device cluster or tape library icon. Then select Add Device.
In the left pane, select the tape library or device cluster to which you want to add the device and do one of the following:
From the menu bar, select Device > Add Device.
On the task panel, click Add Device.
The Add Device dialog appears.
Complete the active fields in the Add Device dialog:
Device Name
Enter a name for the device (up to 48 alphanumeric characters, no spaces). This is a logical name used to conveniently refer to the device (for example, New Device).
Logical Node Name (non-SAN device only)
Note. For SAN devices, you must define Logical Node Name in the Add Device Path dialog. See Adding a SAN Device Path.
Select the name of the node to which the device is attached (for example, SALES_SERVER1) from the pull-down menu. This node must have been previously defined (via the Configure Enterprise window). You can have multiple devices on a node, up to the limit the hardware supports.
On the Device Resource Tree, the non-SAN device appears as device_name@logical_node_name.
Device ID (non-SAN device only)
Note. For SAN devices, you must define Device ID in the Add Device Path dialog. See Adding a SAN Device Path.
For devices on UNIX, Linux, and OES Linux, enter the path to the device file. For example, for Linux, the first storage device is usually
/dev/nst0. For each additional device, the number in the path increments, thus your second device would be/dev/nst1.The following table lists common Device ID nomenclature for various flavors of UNIX:
UNIX TypeFirst Device IDSolaris
/dev/sync_sa/t1d0Sun PC
/dev/sync_sa/t1d0Linux
/dev/nst0OES Linux
/dev/nst0HP-UX
/dev/rmt/c2t0d2BESTnAIX
/dev/rmt0.smcWarning! Support for some of the documented operating systems may have been discontinued.
See also. For the latest system compatibility details regarding supported hardware, file systems, applications, operating systems, and service packs, see Catalogic DPX 4.9.0 Compatibility Guide.
For devices on supported versions of Windows, the first device is normally called
\\.\Tape0. For each additional device, the number in the ID increments (i.e., your second device is\\.\Tape1). You can find this information displayed in Tape Devices in the Control Panel of the Windows node. To do so, go to the Control Panel, select Tape Devices, choose the Properties tab, select the device, and click Properties. The Device ID is referred to as the Device Map.For backing up to DiskDirectory, enter a complete path to a directory on a non-NDMP node in your Enterprise. This directory is your desired backup destination. When you add additional disk devices to the same device cluster, the management console provides the path in the Device ID field. The following rules apply to DiskDirectory configuration:
Backup to DiskDirectory is currently supported on UNIX, Linux, Windows (except 9x and NT), and OES Linux.
A disk device directory is defined for devices associated with the device cluster when you add the first device to the device cluster.
If DPX needs additional DISKDIRECTORY media in the pool to run a job it will automatically create them based on existing media names. If a backup runs out of media, DPX will automatically generate media for DiskDirectory. When free remaining media is less than five, another 100 is generated. If the media pool is empty or when the media volume serial number reaches M99999, no new media will be automatically generated for DiskDirectory.
Network mounted drives are not recommended as disk devices (directories) due to network reliability issues. However, if you choose to use a network mounted drive, you may not enter an NDMP node in the Device Node field. To use a NAS appliance as your disk device, enter the complete path to the appliance in the Device ID field.
Adding multiple disk devices to a disk device cluster can enhance performance. For example, if you want to have five tasks simultaneously running to DISKDIRECTORY, it would be necessary to define five devices in the DISKDIRECTORY device cluster.
You can manually delete an expired volser from a DISKDIRECTORY pool, but first make sure the status for the volser is EMPTY (by looking at Reports > Media Report). If you delete a volser that has not expired, restore attempts from that volser will fail.
You can back up to a disk of the device server or, for testing purposes, to a local disk.
DiskDirectory is not supported for pass-thru drivers. SSUSEPASSTHRU must not be enabled in the registry.
Related Topics:
Unique ID
Tip. This field is enabled only if you first set the Allow to Update Unique ID option using the Option menu. An asterisk indicates the option is enabled.
DPX uses the Unique ID to minimize device shifting. This optional field identifies a device uniquely. Generally, it is the hardware serial number.
Enter the serial number of the device itself. Unique ID may be determined by using the detect utility of DPX.
Warning! If the value for this field was generated by from the device itself, changing this field could result in addressing the device incorrectly.
Related Topics:
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Select Add on the task menu at the top right of the right pane. If you are unable to see the task menu, resize the right pane.
Note. After defining a SAN device, you need to add SAN device paths. See Adding a SAN Device Path.
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