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SAN backup of AIX environment

s390
Level 2

Hello!

I have a number of AIX clients that now backup using LAN. Due to increasing the data flow I would like to implement the backup through SAN environment. I see that the Fiber Transport Media server could be obly Solaris or Linux. Is it true?

Some words about my existing configuration and plans. Now I have AIX clients and AIX master server. AIX clients have only LAN connection to master server. Master server (AIX OS) has SAN connections to tape drives. On master server there are two 2-port FC HBA. I plan use one HBA for connecting to tape drives and another HBA for acting in a target mode for SAN connections to AIX clients. So I would like to use Media server and Master server on one AIX server. Is it possible?

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Marianne
Moderator
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I see that the Fiber Transport Media server could be obly Solaris or Linux. Is it true?

 Yes. It is true.

You cannot configure AIX Master/media server as FT Media server.

The only way to perform SAN transport from AIX clients is to configure them as SAN media servers.
This means you will install them as Media servers using Enterprise Client license.
This will enable you to configure devices and Storage units for the clients to backup themselves.
If you want to share tape drives, you will need SSO license for each tape drive to be shared.

Another alternative is to deploy a Solaris or Linux media server to be configured as FT media server.
You may even want to look at a NBU Appliance for dedupe and FT config.

s390
Level 2

Of course I want to share tape drives because I have only four drives for six AIX clients and about 12 other linux and windows clients.

Do I have to set up initiator and target ports on AIX clients that I can configure as Media Servers?

So if I will set up all four AIX clients as Media Servers then I will get a SAN backup as I would like - without additional hardware? And all politics will be configured and controlled from Masster Server (that now is and Media Server too)?

Marianne
Moderator
Moderator
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You will need additional hba's to be zoned to the tape drives. 
It is not recommended to have disk and tape on same hba's.

No need for target and initiator port like with SAN Client config.
Port config for tape access will be same as master server.

Policies and all other config will still be done on the master server.

SAN backup is not always best solution - you will definately battle with resources if we look at the amount of clients.

You will probably need to purchase additional tape drives, plus the cost of additional hba's and NBU licenses.

Compare above cost with deployment of 10Gig backup network....

s390
Level 2

My AIX clients are LPARs and they have a virtual Ethernet. Total trtoughput not exceed 1 Gbps. It is an architecture restriction. And We have no PCIe slots fo new NIC cards.

So as I understand the SAN media servers have to have four FC HBA ports connected to the SAN - two for disk storage and two for tape drives connections?

Why don't you recommend to have the same FC HBA ports for tape and disk traffic?

Marianne
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

I don't see the need for more than 1 hba for tape.
With your limited resources, you will probably not allow any of the SAN media servers to use more than 1 tape drive simultaneously.

About disk and tape on same hba - type something like this in Google search:  SAN backup disk and tape on same hba

You will find links such as these:  http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/answer/Sharing-tapes-and-disks-over-the-same-HBA-not-a-best-prac... 

Extract:

Yes, it is possible to see and share tapes and disks over the same HBA in a Fibre Channel fabric but it is not best practice to do so.
The reason for this is simple. Tape devices tend to send out a lot of SCSI reset commands on rewind and this can wreak havoc on disk data streams.
Also, tape traffic, since it is usually one long continuous data stream, will try to hog the bandwidth of the link.
If you are trying to do backups while production is running, it will affect performance.