Tape libraries and drives for NDMP operations

Most of the planning that is required to implement backup and recovery operations that use NDMP is related to device configuration. You have choices about how to connect and use the libraries and drives.

Many of the configuration choices you have for libraries and drives are determined by the hardware features of your libraries. You can set up NDMP operations with any supported library and drives. However, the more features your library has, the more flexibility you can exercise in your implementation.

You might start by answering the following questions:

• What type of library (SCSI, ACSLS, or 349X) will you use?
• If you are using a SCSI library, do you want to attach tape library robotics to the Tivoli® Storage Manager server or to the network-attached storage (NAS) file server?
• Will you want to move your NDMP data to tape?
• How do you want to use the tape drives in the library?
  • Dedicate all tape drives to NDMP operations.
  • Dedicate some tape drives to NDMP operations and others to traditional Tivoli Storage Manager operations.
  • Share tape drives between NDMP operations and traditional Tivoli Storage Manager operations.
• Will you back up data tape-to-tape for disaster recovery functions?
• Will you send backup data to a single Tivoli Storage Manager server instead of attaching a tape library to each NAS device?
• Do you want to keep all hardware on the Tivoli Storage Manager server and send NDMP data over the LAN?