Backup Exec 2010R2 and Dell TL2000 on FC problems

[kestral]

Hello,

I'm fairly new to FC and haven't used the Symantec backup before so I'm hoping I've just made a simple mistake somewhere.

Backup Exec is running on Windows Server 2008 Standard (x64) under vSphere 4.1 with a Brocade 300 fibre switch connecting it to a Dell TL2000 tape library with an IBM ULT3580-HH5.

I'm using the machine to test the setup using the trial, and will activate the license once I'm happy with it working.

I have installed Backup Exec 2010 R2 and run the live update to collect the updates.

On the devices, I see "Device Pools/All Devices" with nothing under that tree. I feel I should be seeing a tape device there.

I also see the local machine listed, under that is "IBM 0001" and under that is the "Slots". Selecting "Slots" I can see all the slots and which tapes are where. If I unplug the fibre, the "IBM 0001" goes offline, so I would assume the fibre connection is ok.

If I right click on the "IBM 0001" and select "Initialize", and click "Run Now", I can go to the "Job Monitor" and see it run and move to the "Job History"

Any other operations just get stuck in the "Current Job" and wont run. The job status is "Ready; No idle devices are available" which again looks like the tape drive is not detected.

In device manager, I can see "Medium Changer devices" with "Unknown Medium Changer" listed. I have tried installing the Dell driver, bud this didn't seem to help.

On the vSphere client under the "Options" I have had vmware allocate a WWN to the "Fibre Channel NPIV" option.

In Computer Management under Storage, I have no removable devices listed (I had seen from other posts this may be a problem)

Does anyone have any idea why this setup is not working ?

Regards,

Andrew

[ZeRoC00L]

In Windows Device manager, can you see only the 'Medium Changer' or also an LTO5 drive ?
You should see both, if not, change your vmware configuration untill you see both.

Then install the Backup Exec Device Drivers and Configure the library withing BE.

[pkh]

There are quite stringent criteria for virtualising your media server with a tape drive.  Check this document

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH130609

I am afraid using a tape drive with a FC interface is not supported.

[teiva-boy]

Kestral.  You need to first diagnose the VMware to FC Tape connectivity.

Vmware has a limited HCL for FC devices and physical to virtual machine mapping.  I'd start there.  

After that, you can possibly contact VMware for support on getting the device functioning in Windows, following ZeroC00l's advice.

After that, things should be working better.  The stance of Symantec as per pkh is simply that they have not tested it to certifiy it.  While it probably can be made to work, Symantec will provide little help to do so.

[kestral · Accepted solution]

Thanks everyone that put it suggestions.

It turned out that all the scanning and rescanning I did on the vmware host was done without a tape in the drive. Having the tape made all the difference. It's now visible in the device manager and in BE (both the tape drive and the changer).

Regards,

Andrew

[pkh]

Do test thoroughly that you can use your tape backups to restore your system.  Since you are using an unsupported configuration,  Symantec has not done any test to ensure that your backups are o.k. and if there is something wrong with your tape backups, you cannot log a support case with Symantec.