Usage Models - HP VS160 - StorageWorks DLT Tape Drive Troubleshooting Manual

Usage models

The tape drive (B) can be used in a standalone or network environment. In a network
environment, anything less than Gigabit Ethernet may limit performance. The tape drive
should always be directly attached to a VHDCI SCSI connector on the storage server (A), as
shown in Figure 1.
A RAID disk subsystem is recommended. A single disk, particularly a fast disk such as a 15K
RPM drive, will also be sufficient, but be aware of other factors that can affect performance—
such as, compressibility of data, disk fragmentation and the number of files. You can use our
free performance assessment tools, which are available standalone or integrated into HP
Library & Tape Tools, to check tape performance and test whether your disk subsystem can
supply data at the optimum transfer rate. You can also use these tools to calibrate your restore
performance and maximal tape performance with more compressible data. See also
"Optimizing performance" on page 27.
Other models
The tape drive may work with other usage models, such as network attach storage (NAS) and
storage area networks (SAN), but HP does not currently provide technical support for
installing and using standalone DLT VS160 tape drives with these architectures. Similarly,
connection to fibre channel may be possible, if you purchase and install a fibre channel/SCSI
bridge, but it is not currently a supported option.
Please check www.hp.com/go/connect for the latest supported configurations.
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