Quantum Scalar i6000, Installation Manual

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112 Cabling
Drive Cabling Considerations and
How Drive Connection Model Affects Library Control Paths
Cabling of the library depends largely on the drive configuration that is purchased for installation. Each drive
purchased is to be either Storage Networking (SNW) or native attach. These two drive purchase options
create different customer physical connection options and library configuration options. There are two types
of connections to define: drive data path connection and library control path connection.
Each library partition has its own library control path to consider, see Working with Library Control Paths on
page 180.
Cabling Configuration for Storage Networking Drives
Pre LTO-5 SNW Drives
Pre LTO-5 SNW drives are automatically accompanied by FC I/O blades. The FC I/O blade becomes an
aggregation point for each drive FC connection (four drive ports total per I/O blade). Two ports on each FC
I/O Blade are designated as Host or SAN ports.
• Drive Data Path Physical Connection - connect FC cable direct from drive to FC I/O blade
• Library Control Path Physical Connection – The two host/SAN ports on each FC I/O blade are the
recommended connection point for all partitions in a library. When possible, if there are multiple
partitions and therefore multiple Library Control Paths, the configuration should spread the Library
Control Paths across several FC I/O blades to minimize the single point of failure. It is logical to
combine drives from a particular partition and the Library Control Path for a particular partition on
one FC I/O Blade.
LTO-5 SNW Drives
LTO-5 SNW drives are automatically accompanied by an Ethernet Expansion blade (EEB). The EEB is NOT
a drive data path connection point. The EEB provides the library with a high speed connection point to the
tape drive. This high speed connection point allows the drive to become a “bridge” for the library control path
to the customer SAN or hosts through the drive data port.
• Drive Data Path Physical Connection – connect the primary drive data cable to the customer SAN
or host.
• Library Control Path Physical Connection – the drive data cable becomes the physical connection
for a library control path. Part of setting up a partition is to designate the control path drive for that
partition. The control path drive for a partition must be a drive that is assigned to that partition.
Cabling Configuration for Native Attach Drives
Pre LTO-5 Native Attach Drives
Pre LTO-5 native attach drives DO NOT come with any auxiliary FC I/O Blades or EEB’s
• Drive Data Path Physical Connection - connect the primary drive data cable to the customer SAN
or host
• Library Control Path Physical Connection – The primary method of connecting any library control
path is through the physical SCSI or FC connector on the library MCB.