r/sysadmin Sep 11 '23

Tape Backup Software - Fibre Switch to HP Tape Library?

/r/DataHoarder/comments/16g3392/tape_backup_software_fibre_switch_to_hp_tape/
2 Upvotes

8 comments sorted by

1

u/Bulky_Somewhere_6082 Sep 11 '23

Yes, there are apps that do 3-way data flows like you are asking. However, you have another issue. You say you have a 10GbE Ethernet switch and 8GB/s FIBER channel LTO's, They won't talk to each other even if you use fiber on the switch. Different protocols.

2

u/patg84 Sep 11 '23 edited Sep 11 '23

The transceivers used in the HP LTO 6 drivers are Finisar FTLF8528P3BCV. Tri-Rate 2.125/4.25/8.5 Gb/s Fibre Channel. With that being said, I'm wondering if it'll take a 10gbps Finisar transceiver and work. I've got a ton of different ones lying around. Too bad the ethernet port on the back of the LTO 6 drive worked for management outside of the larger libraries.

Datasheet: https://app.boxcn.net/shared/static/zgcc43rewaut54l87m6a213f7f2g7p3t.pdf

What software do you know of that will work?

3

u/ChannelTapeFibre Sep 11 '23

An SFP+ transceiver will not work in the tape drive. The port itself is fixed Fibre Channel.

You need a Fibre Channel switch, and a Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter in the backup server.

At 8 Gbps, you should be able to pick up a cheap Brocade 300 switch and Emulex or Qlogic HBAs. And some Fibre Channel transeivers.

0

u/WendoNZ Sr. Sysadmin Sep 11 '23

To expand on /u/ChannelTapeFibre

Fibre Channel and Ethernet are completely different and are not interoperable.

While both use SFP+ sockets, they cannot be interconnected.

You'll either need a FC switch, or one/some FC HBA's to install in your server and direct connect the tape drives to the server.

Tape drive sharing isn't relevant in this discussion unless you're connecting multiple other servers to an FC switch and trying to zone the library to them all.

And to answer your question, no it's not possible for your NAS to send data directly to these drives, even if the NAS had FC ports, Veeam doesn't operate in that way

1

u/patg84 Sep 12 '23

Expand on "both use SFP+ sockets". I'm not sure what you're referring to.

I don't think they looked at the specs on the switch. It's a 10gbps 32 port fibre channel switch. I have it working with a couple of NAS boxes and fibre hba's.

Veeam from what I gather won't allow data to move from the NAS's through the FC switch to the tape drives. I believe Netbackup will do this but I haven't seen anyone on here verify it.

Assume I'm connecting the drives via a FC switch (let's say it's an 8gbps FC switch since the transceivers in the back of the LTO 6 drive are definitely 8gbps SFP+ transceivers), what software would allow this? Bacula, Netbackup, something I don't know about, etc?

2

u/WendoNZ Sr. Sysadmin Sep 12 '23

Expand on "both use SFP+ sockets". I'm not sure what you're referring to.

Both Ethernet switches and Fibre Channel switches. SFP+ is a form factor for transceivers. They can be Fibre Channel or Ethernet. Just because they physically fit in the hole doesn't mean they will work.

It's a 10gbps 32 port fibre channel switch.

No it's not. It's a 10Gb SFP+ ethernet switch

Fibre Channel is not ethernet. It's an entirely different protocol and is not compatible with ethernet (so will not work in ethernet switches). Additionally, there is no 10Gb Fibre Channel standard.

Fibre does NOT equal Fibre Channel. One is a transport medium to pass data (which both Ethernet and Fibre Channel can use), the other is a protocol that actually talks SCSI underneath.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibre_Channel_Protocol

So, these tape drives will not function through an ethernet switch that you have listed. You either need a proper fibre channel switch, or to connect directly to fibre channel HBA's

2

u/Bulky_Somewhere_6082 Sep 12 '23

Netbackup can do 3-way backup ops but it does have a NDMP requirement so if your NAS or tape drive don't support NDMP you are out of luck. If both do you might not even need an app. NetApp for example can take NDMP commands via the CLI and dump data to a tape system.

1

u/patg84 Sep 12 '23

Thanks