Virtual TapeServer 6.03.42 Installation Guide

Cabling and Connecting VTS | 25
Cabling to external disk resources
VTS supports optional connectivity to a wide variety of external SCSI or Fibre Channel (FC)
storage solutions using any port that has not been reserved for a virtual tape drive.
For FC-attached external resources, identify the connector type for the device end. Source FC
cables with LC fiber connector for the VTS end and the necessary connector for the device end.
Define a storage space on the disk array for use with the Linux operating system. Then,
present a logical unit number (LUN) that refers to this storage space. Note that each LUN
should not represent more than 1TB of space.
The MSA 1500 will be configured with the storage and presenting LUNs from the factory. The
cable will be LC-to-LC and will originate on one of the FC ports on the HP VTS. It can be used
to connect directly to a FC port of the MSA1500 controller or can be connected into a FC
switch in a shared HP VTS implementation. For additional storage, the MSA 1500 is SCSI
cabled to the second unit of disks.
In regards to redundant failover between the MSA 1500 and the VTS server module, VTS
supports the following:
• Two controllers, both Active (Active-Active)
• Two controllers, one Active, one inactive (single Active controller), with no failover
support if the Active controller fails
Fibre Channel
Models supporting Fibre Channel can have one or more dual-channel fiber controllers. These
controllers have two female LC fiber connectors. If the external storage unit is a VT5905,
VT5905-B, or StorageWorks MSA 1500, use a male LC-to-LC fiber optical cable to connect the
two units. Other storage units might require a different connector.
Note As a best practice for the VT5900-E, use all 4Gb ports first then, if necessary, connect
external storage to the 2Gb ports if they are installed. The 4Gb ports cannot be used
to present virtual tape devices. The 2Gb ports may provide half the performance as
the 4Gb ports and can also be used for presenting virtual tape devices.
SCSI
If external SCSI-based storage is used to supplement a VTS server module’s internal storage,
the connection is via SCSI cable. Depending on the type of SCSI storage used, different
connectivity schemes and cables are required.
To connect VTS to SCSI-based external storage that uses a VHDCI connector, use a cable
with a male VHDCI connector on the VTS side and the appropriate (male or female) VHDCI
connector on the SCSI storage side. To determine connector specifics and termination