HP StoreEver MSL6480 Tape Library User and Service Guide

You must provide a Fibre Channel cable for each tape drive in the library. The tape drive has an
LC-style connector.
Most supported tape drives have two FC ports. Only one port may be used at a time, but both
ports can be connected for path fail over if your application supports path fail over. If you are
using only one port, you can use either port.
Direct connection
If you plan to connect the library directly to the server, you will need a 2 Gb, 4 Gb, 8 Gb, or 16
Gb Fibre Channel HBA. An 8 Gb or faster HBA is recommended for LTO-5 or LTO-6 tape drives
for optimal performance. Check the EBS matrix at http://www.hp. com/go/ebs to verify that your
HBA is supported on your server and qualified for the library.
A server that uses FC disks needs at least two FC ports. Using the same port for disk and tape
access will cause performance degradation.
SAN connection
All switches between the host and the library must be of the appropriate type. A 2 Gb switch in
the path may result in performance degradation when backing up highly compressible data.
Configure zoning on the Fibre switch so only the backup servers may access the library. See the
switch manual for information on zoning.
Planning the SAS configuration
WARNING! Only HP SAS RAID controllers are supported for use with the library. For supported
controllers see the EBS compatibility matrix at: http://www.hp.com/go/ebs.
About SAS
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) is a computer bus technology mainly used to transfer data to and from
storage devices, including disk drives and tape drives. SAS-2 (LTO-5 and LTO-6) is designed to
transfer data at 6 Gb/sec.
SAS cables and connectors
SAS uses serial connections, with a direct connection between the host server and each of the
storage devices. This eliminates the need to configure SCSI busses and assign SCSI IDs, as is
required for parallel SCSI devices.
Most SAS HBA ports have four SAS channels. A tape drive uses one channel, so each HBA port
can support up to four tape drives. You can use a cable with one connector on each end, but only
one channel will be used. The SAS fanout cable recommended for use with the library can connect
up to four SAS tape drives to a single SAS HBA port.
Planning the installation 21