DellPowerVault™TL4000/TL2000FailoverGuide
2|Page 12/31/09 version 2.0
Alwaysrefertowww.dell.com\supportforlatestdocumentationandupdates
WhatisFailover?
FailoverisanoptionalfeatureavailablefortheDellPowerVault
TM
TL4000andTL2000Tapelibraries.
Failoverisdesignedtoprovideautomaticpathfailovertoapreconfiguredred undantpathintheevent
thatahostadapterorcontrolpathdriveis lostwithoutabortingthecurrentjobinprocess.Failover
provideserrorrecoveryonanalternatepathwhenapermanenterroroccursontheprimarypath.The
failovereventisenabledbythetapelibraryandhandledbythedevicedrivermakingittransparentto
therunningBackupApplication.
TherearetwotypesofPathFailover,DataPathFailover(DPF)andControlPathFailover(CPF).Theyare
closelyrelatedhoweverthedifference isthatDPFisanautomaticfailoversupportforthetransferof
data,whichprovideserrorrecoveryforsystemsconnectedtotapedriveswhil eCPFisanautomatic
failoversupportforthetransferofcommandstomovetapecartridges.PleaserefertotheFailover
supportedconfigurationsections ofthisdocumentforexamplesofdifferentconfigurationsthatcan be
constructed.
DellPowerVault™TL2000/TL4000ConfigurationSupportmatrix
Theconfigurationmatrixsectionprovidesaquickreferencetodriveconfigurationsthatsupportfailover
inaDellPowerVault™TL2000orTL4000library.
ImportantNote:FailoverisnotsupportedforanyconfigurationcontainingLT03drives
LT03Drives LT04Drives LT05DrivesDrive
Configuration
Supported
Drive
Failover
Support
Supported
Drive
Failover
Support
Supported
Drive
Failover
Support
SCSIFullHeight Yes No
FCFullHeight Yes No Yes No
FCHalfHeight Yes Yes*
SASFullHeight Yes No Yes No
SASHalfHeight Yes No Yes Yes*
Table1:DellPowerVault™TL2000SupportedFailoverConfigurationMatrix
*RequiresaDellPowerVault™TL2000libraryconfiguredwithtwoLT05HalfHeightdrives