I've been in a management meeting discussing tape backup for zLinux (about time).
I agreed to the following and now time to see if it is doable. As a Proof of Concept: 1. Take one of our IBM 3590 E11 drives, detach it from our current Controller. 2. Attach the drive to a fibre channel (was FICON but reconfigured as FCP). Access the tape drive for backup/restore purposes from multiple Linux images (we will manually make sure that only one image is actively using the drive at any one time). When we are satisfied that all of this works, put everything back the way it was. This will be done over one or more weekends. My impression is that there isn't different VSE/Linux tape drives. VSE accesses the drive via a controller that has multiple 3590 drives attached to it. And that a 3590 drive can be directly attached via FCP to the Linux side. So, did I open my mouth an insert foot? We are getting conflicting info on whether a SCSI switch is required, or just a nice thing to have. Phase 2 will have us acquiring a couple IBM 3590 E11 drives (autoloaders, if usable in Linux, is a good thing). Phase 3 may involve adding a switch for easier management of the tape drives. I don't dare think we would ever get to a Phase 4 (some sort of backup product/tape manager), but if some one get some grant money.... Thanks Tom Duerbusch THD Consulting ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@vm.marist.edu with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information on Linux on System z, visit http://wiki.linuxvm.org/
