Spectra T50e - Chapter 6 - Configuring and Managing Partitions; Partition Overview; Storage Partitions

Chapter 6—Configuring and Managing Partitions Partition Overview
August 2017 User Guide—Spectra T50e Library
155
PARTITION OVERVIEW
ThelibraryusesSharedLibraryServices(SLS)virtualizationtechnologyto
logicallydividethelibraryintooneormorestoragepartitions,uptoa
maximumoffourstoragepartitions(oneforeachinstalledtapedrive).
Eachstoragepartitionlookslikeaseparatephysicallibrarytotherestof
thebackupenvironment.
Bydefault,thelibraryletsyoucreateasinglestoragepartition.Ifyouneed
additionalstoragepartitions,youmustpurchaseanSLSactivationkeyto
enablecreatingtheadditionalpartitions.RefertoEnablingBlueScale
SoftwareSupport,Options,andUpgradesonpage110forinformation
aboutpurchasingandenteringactivationkeys.
Whenmultiplepartitionsareconfigured,eachpartition:
 Hasexclusiveaccesstothedrivesandslotsassignedtoit.
 Cancontroltheroboticstomovecartridgeswithinthepartition.
 SharesaccesstotheEntry/Exitslot.
Inadditiontostoragepartitions,thelibraryalsosupportscreatinga
cleaningpartitionforusewhentheAutoDriveCleanfeatureisenabled.
Thecleaningpartitiondoesnotcountagainstthenumberoflicensed
storagepartitions.
Thefollowingsectionsprovideinformationthatisusefulasyouconfigure
thepartitionsinyourlibrary.
Storage Partitions
Functional Overview Astoragepartitionisusedtostorethedata
cartridgesthatareusedwiththelibraryandyourstoragemanagement
software.Thelibraryrequires,ataminimum,onestoragepartitiontobe
configuredbeforeyoucanusethelibrary.Eachstoragepartitionmusthave
aminimumofoneslotandat
leastonedriveassignedtoit.Theslots
assignedtostoragepartitionscountagainstthelicensedcapacityofthe
library.
Theroboticcontrolpathforeachstoragepartitionisprovidedbyoneofthe
drivesassignedtothepartition.Thisdriveisreferredtoastheexporting
drive.TheSCSImotioncommandsusedtocontroltheroboticsaresent
fromthehosttologicalunitnumber1(LUN1)oftheexportingdrive.The
exportingdrivepassesthecommandstotherobotics.SCSIcommandsto
controltheoperationofthedriveitselfaresentfromthehosttoLUN0of
thedrive.
Important
Unless it is configured as a Global Spare, a drive can only be assigned to one
storage partition at a time; it cannot be shared by multiple partitions.