Dell PowerVault TL4000 - Manual (Page 52)

active/passive cluster failover. LAN-free drive sharing is not supported. Ultrium 3
and Ultrium 4 SAS drive sleds use the SFF-8088 connection at the drive sled end
and SFF-8088 or SFF-8470 at the host adapter end.
Fibre Channel Interface
Fibre Channel allows for an active intelligent interconnection scheme, called a
Fabric, to connect devices. Everything between the ports on Fibre Channel is called
the Fabric. The Fabric is most often a switch or series of switches that takes the
responsibility for routing.
The library allows the selection of the following Fibre channel port behaviors:
v LN Port: (default setting) - an automatic configuration that tries arbitrated loop
first, then switched fabric
v L Port - arbitrated loop
v N Port - point to point protocol in a switched fabric topology
Cables and Speeds
Ultrium 3, Ultrium 4, Ultrium 5, and Ultrium 6 Fibre Channel tape drives use LC
duplex fiber optics cables.
The maximum distances that the library supports on a Fibre Channel link is
determined by the link speed, the type of fiber (50-micron or 62.5-micron), and the
device to which the library is attached.
If the library attaches to an HBA (Host Bus Adapter), refer to the distances that are
supported by the HBA. If the library attaches to a switch, the supported distances
are:
v For a multi-mode 50-micron cable:
– 1-Gbit link speed = up to 500 m (1640 ft)
– 2-Gbit link speed = up to 300 m (984 ft)
– 4-Gbit link speed = up to 175 m (574 ft)
– 8-Gbit link speed = up to 150 m (492 ft)
v For a multi-mode 62.5-micron cable:
– 1-Gbit link speed = up to 300 m (984 ft)
– 2-Gbit link speed = up to 90 m (295 ft)
– 4-Gbit link speed = up to 50 m (164 ft)
– 8-Gbit link speed = up to 21 m (68 ft)
Note: Minimum distance for both 50 micron and 62.5 micron is 2 m (6 ft).
The library uses 50-micron cables internally. Therefore, you must use a 50-micron
cable to attach to the library's port. To attach to a 62.5-micron SAN, you must
attach the 50-micron cable to an active port, such as a port on a switch.
Using Zoning to Isolate Devices and Enhance Security
For security reasons, it is important to limit the devices that a server or servers can
recognize or access. Also, some performance configurations and SAN
configurations can result in a device being seen multiple times from the same
server. For example, if you have two HBAs from the same server connected to an
Ultrium Tape Drive in the library, the drive will be detected and appear as two
logical devices. That is, there will be two special files for one physical device.
Zoning can address these issues.
3-10 Dell PowerVault TL2000 Tape Library and TL4000 Tape Library User's Guide