TAOS - Networked Storage
Networked Storage Enables Improved Management of Today's
Boundless Storage Growth
Putting
storage on your network allows for your storage to be centralized
or consolidated, while allowing storage resources (such as
disk or tape drives) to be shared by multiple systems. The
advantages of networked storage for your company include:
improved management and control of the storage, better cost-sharing
of hardware, and improved operating efficiency of the network.
What is the impact of attaching automated tape libraries
in a networked storage environment?
Many environments use automated tape libraries to perform
backup and recovery processes that ensure data and operational
security. Legacy systems (built on SCSI), in addition to different
network technologies (Fibre Channel and Ethernet), present
many challenges to putting a tape library in a networked storage
environment. The Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) was
never designed to allow for different targets (like tape drives)
to talk to different controllers. It was always assumed that
one controller would exist for multiple targets. This is not
the case for networked storage, which can have many systems
and therefore many controllers talking to a given device.
Fibre Channel provides a solution to this problem by allowing
systems and devices to connect through a high-speed Fibre
Channel switch. While Fibre Channel is a popular solution
in higher-end data centers, it has been cost prohibitive in
small to mid-sized data centers.
For smaller data centers that do not have large enough budgets
to implement a Fibre Channel storage network, Ethernet is
emerging as a viable solution. Companies can create a separate
Internet Protocol (IP) network dedicated to storage access.
This solution allows them to leverage the knowledge and equipment
that already exist (in the form of training and infrastructure)
in the creation of the storage network.
There is a cost-effective, easy-to-implement solution
to current technology challenges.
No matter what technology you choose for networking
your storage, the Tape Appliance Operating System (TAOS™)
from Spectra Logic® will support your implementation. TAOS
is a software platform which enables centralization and sharing
of a tape library's resources in a networked storage environment.
TAOS comes pre-installed on any of the interface options available
with a Spectra Logic TreeFrog® or Gator™ tape library product.
And, for the data center that wants to incorporate both Fibre
channel and IP SAN protocols, a Spectra Logic tape library
with TAOS can be divided into logical libraries that can be
dedicated to either of these protocols - within the same physical
library.
TAOS facilitates networked storage in a Fibre Channel environment.
A tape library with TAOS in a Fibre Channel
environment will not only be able to share the library while
centralizing all backups, it will also be able take advantage
of a Serverless Backup option. Serverless Backup minimizes
the CPU load on the servers that handle the backup. This is
done by transferring the data from the primary (disk) storage
directly to the tape library without going through a server's
memory (which requires CPU cycles). The end result is faster
backup and restore times with minimal impact to production
systems.
TAOS facilitates networked storage in an Ethernet or Gigabit
Ethernet environment.
Customers using TAOS on a tape library in an Ethernet or Gigabit
Ethernet environment have the option of Network Data Management
Protocol (NDMP) or Internet Tape Protocol (ITP) for sharing
and centralizing data. NDMP allows multiple Network Attached
Storage (NAS) filers to share the tape library, while ITP
provides the same capabilities for Windows (NT, 2000), Sun
Solaris and Linux servers. One emerging protocol gaining acceptance
with many storage vendors providing IP networked connectivity
is Internet SCSI (iSCSI). iSCSI is a standard used
by servers and storage devices to communicate via IP over
Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet. Spectra Logic is involved in
the development of this standard and will support iSCSI when
available.
Don't be discouraged by the complexity of implementing
automated tape backup in a networked storage environment.
Management of a tape library in a networked storage topology
can certainly be complex. To ease this burden, TAOS is equipped
with many tools, such as a Web interface to collect and configure
information, alerts to notify operators or administrators
of any problems, and a simple code-download procedure to support
new capabilities and protocols as they emerge.
Whether Fibre Channel or Ethernet, networked storage is undeniably
the direction in which companies are moving as storage grows.
TAOS and Spectra Logic tape libraries provide the ultimate
flexibility to allow any size data center to operate in these
complex environments.
For more information, please download the
TAOS
data sheet (pdf format)
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