Setting Up Tape Library Sharing

Applies To: System Center Data Protection Manager 2007

The System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2007 library-sharing update allows you to use a single library across multiple DPM servers. The following illustration shows the topology after you install the update.

• The tape library is typically a collection of tape drives that automatically mount and dismount tape media. The tape library must be in a storage area network (SAN) environment.

• The library server is a server on which DPM 2007 and the library-sharing update are installed, with the Medium Changer enabled.

• The client server is a server on which DPM 2007 and the library-sharing update are installed, with the Medium Changer disabled.

Installing the Library Sharing Update

Perform the following steps to install the library-sharing update:

1. Install the update on a server that has DPM 2007.

   Warning

   Your server may restart without warning.

2. Identify the library server for each library. You can do this by enabling Medium Changer from Device Manager.

   Important

   You must disable Medium Changer for all the other DPM servers sharing the library.

3. Configure the DPM servers to use the shared library.

   • Run the following command on all the servers that are sharing the library but do not have Medium Changer enabled:

     DPMinstallpath\DPM\Setup\ AddLibraryServerForDpm.exe –DpmServerWithLibrary FQDN of LibraryServer

   • Run the following command on the server that has Medium Changer enabled, for each of the servers it supports. For example, if your library server supports three servers, you will run this command three times.

     DPMinstallpath\DPM\Setup\ AddLibraryServerForDpm.exe –ShareLibraryWithDpm FQDN of client DPMServer

   • Run the following command on the all DPM servers except the one you want to set as the global database for library client servers.

     Warning

     Do not confuse this with the library server.

     Note

     Before running the following command, you must ensure that the login account used by the two DPM services SQL Server (MS$DPM2007$) and SQL Server Agent (MS$DPM2007$) is configured as a domain user that is a member of the local Administrators group on the server, rather than a local account, which is configured by default.

     DPMinstallpath\DPM\Setup\ SetSharedDpmDatabase.exe –instanceName globalDPMSQLservername\instancename

   • Open any DPM server or library server and perform a rescan followed by a rescan or refresh on the other computers.

     Note

     The quickest way to get all media visible on all DPM servers is to perform a rescan followed by a detailed inventory and then mark a number of media as free on one of the servers. Then perform a refresh on the other servers.

After you have installed and configured the library-sharing update, you can use the shared tape library as if each DPM server had its own tape library.

Turning on AutoRefresh on the DPM Server

You can set the interval for Autorefresh with DPM Management Shell by using the Set-DPMGlobalProperty cmdlet. The syntax for the cmdlet is as follows:

Set-DPMGlobalProperty -DPMServerName DPM ServerName -LibraryRefreshInterval time interval in minutes

You must set LibraryRefreshInterval to a value greater than or equal to five (5). Setting it to less than five automatically resets it to zero (0), which means the refresh will not happen.

Handling Library Server Failure

In the case of the library server failing, DPM will detect the failure and raise an alert. All tape jobs scheduled to run during the time the server is down will be failed. DPM will check at 20 minute intervals to see if the server is working again.

You can resolve the library server failures in the following ways:

• Check the library server and fix any problem that might have made it fail.

• Promote another server as the library server.

• Wait for the library server to come back online.

Migrating the Library Server

If you do not want to wait for the library server to come back online, you can promote one of the other computers to be the library server.

The procedure to promote a server as a library server is as follows:

1. Run SetSharedDpmDatabase.exe –removedatabasesharing on all the client DPM computers.

2. Run AddLibraryServerForDpm.exe -dpmserverwithlibrary <FQDN of old LCS> -remove on the all client DPM computers. Ensure that the DPM Administrator Console on all client DPM computers is running properly.

3. Enable Medium Changer on the computer you want to promote as the new library server.

4. Run AddLibraryServerForDpm.exe -dpmserverwithlibrary <FQDN of new Lib Server> on all client DPM computers.

5. Run AddLibraryServerForDpm.exe –SharelibrarywithDPM <FQDN of Client> on new library server for each of the DPM computers.

6. Run SetSharedDpmDatabase.exe –instancename <Instance Name of new library server> on each of the client DPM computers.

Known Issues

DPM Management Shell cmdlets for library sharing will work only on the local computer.