A VTL deployment reaches a decision point: the media server has two…

Question

A VTL deployment reaches a decision point: the media server has two spare fibre-channel HBA ports on the existing SAN, but that SAN is documented for decommission next year, and the same server also has spare 10-gigabit Ethernet ports. The administrator asks whether the virtual tape could simply be presented over iSCSI on the Ethernet ports instead. What is the correct reasoning?

Accepted Answer

No, DD VTL is presented over Fibre Channel (or to NDMP clients through the NDMP TapeServer), so either build on the FC SAN and plan its migration, or move this media server to an Ethernet path such as DD Boost. — Think of DD VTL as a tape library that only plugs into a Fibre Channel fabric — there's no iSCSI socket on it. You either zone it on the SAN you've got and plan the move before that SAN retires, or you skip tape emulation and send the backups over Ethernet with DD Boost. Don't design around a transport the feature doesn't offer.

Answer

Present both transports at once and multipath the media server across them, because emulated tape devices follow the same multipath conventions that block LUNs do on any modern host.

Answer

Yes, iSCSI is a fully supported transport for presenting the virtual tape library, so present the drives and changer over the 10-gigabit Ethernet ports now and avoid building anything on the retiring SAN at all.

Answer

Transport choice here is cosmetic, since neither option can lose bytes in flight, so simply take whichever one is easier to cable and zone this afternoon and revisit later.

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