HP StorageWorks 300, User Manual

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1 Introduction
This section describes the HP StorageWorks 300 virtual library system features and models.
Features
The HP StorageWorks 300 virtual library system (VLS) is a RAID disk-based SAN backup device that
emulates physical tape libraries, allowing you to perform disk-to-virtual tape (disk-to-disk) backups using
your existing backup application(s). The many bene fi ts of performing data backups to a VLS instead of
physical tape are described in Bene fi ts .
The VLS emulates a variety of physical tape libraries, including the tape drives and cartridges inside the
libraries. You determine the number and types of tape libraries a VLS emulates, and the number and type
of tape drives and cartridges included in each tape library to meet the needs of your environment. You
con fi gure the size of the virtual cartridges in your VLS, which provides even more fl exibility.
The VLS accommodates mixed IT platform and backup application environments, allowing all your servers
and backup applications to access the virtual media simultaneously. You can specify which servers
are allowed to access each virtual library and tape drive you con fi gure. You can change the default
LUNs assigned to the virtual library and tape drives for each host as needed to accommodate different
operating system requirements and restrictions.
Data stored on a VLS is easily cloned to physical tape for off-site disaster protection or long-term archival
using a backup application.
Bene fi ts
Integrating a VLS into your existing storage and backup infrastructure delivers the following bene fi ts:
• Faster backups
Backup speeds are limited by the number of tape drives available to the SAN hosts. The VLS
emulates many more tape drives than are available in physical tape libraries, allowing more hosts
to run backups concurrently.
The VLS is optimized for backups and delivers faster performance than a simple disk-to-disk solution.
• Faster single fi le restores
A single fi le can be restored much faster from disk than tape.
• Lower operating costs
Fewer physical tape drives and cartridges are required as full backups to tape are eliminated. Also,
fewer cartridges are required as small backups stored on multiple virtual cartridges can be copied to
one physical cartridge.
• More ef fi cient use of storage space
Physical tape libraries cannot share storage space with other physical tape libraries, and physical
cartridges cannot share storage space with other physical cartridges. This unused storage space
is wasted.
Storage space is not wasted in a VLS, because VLS storage space is dynamically assigned as it is
used. Storage space is shared by all the libraries and cartridges con fi gured on a VLS.
• Reduced risk of data loss and aborted backups
RAID-based storage is more reliable than tape storage.
Aborted backups caused by tape drive mechanical failures are eliminated.
HP StorageWorks
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