How to Setup Tape Library Sharing

Applies To: System Center Data Protection Manager 2010

With System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2010, you can share a single tape library across multiple DPM servers. The following illustration shows the topology of a shared library.

• The tape library is typically a collection of tape drives that automatically mount and dismount tape media.

  Note

  The tape library must be in a storage area network (SAN) environment.

• The library server is a computer on which DPM 2010 is installed, the library-sharing command has been run, and the medium changer is enabled.

• A library client is a computer on which DPM 2010 is installed, the library-sharing command has been run, and the medium changer is not enabled.

Setting up Library Sharing

Use the following steps to set up library sharing:

1. On the computer that will be the library server for the shared library, enable the medium changer by using Device Manager.

2. On each library client computer, ensure that the medium changer is not enabled.

3. Run the following commands to configure the DPM servers to use a shared library:

4. On each library client computer, open an elevated Command Prompt window, and then run the following commands:

   cd <system drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft DPM\DPM\Setup

   AddLibraryServerForDpm.exe –DpmServerWithLibrary<FQDN of library server>**

   where <FQDN of library server> is the fully qualified domain name of the library server.

5. On the library server computer, open an elevated Command Prompt window, and then run the following commands one time for each library client. For example, if your library server supports three library clients, you must run this command three times on the library server.

   cd <system drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft DPM\DPM\Setup

   AddLibraryServerForDpm.exe – ShareLibraryWithDpm<FQDN of library client>**

   where <FQDN of library client> is the fully qualified domain name of the library client.

6. On each library client computer, open an elevated Command Prompt window, and then run the following commands:

   Important

   Do not run these commands on the library server.

   Note

   Before you run the following commands, on all library client computers ensure that both the SQL Server (MSDPM2010) and SQL Server Agent (MSDPM2010) services use a domain user account as the logon account, not a local account, which is the default configuration, and that the domain account that is used is a member of the local Administrator group on all of the computers that are sharing the library.

   cd <system drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft DPM\DPM\Setup

   SetSharedDpmDatabase.exe –InstanceName<SQLServer\Instance>**

   where <SQLServer\Instance> is the computer name and the name of the instance of SQL Server on the library server.

7. In DPM Administrator Console on the library server, perform a rescan, and then perform a rescan or refresh on each of the library client computers.

   Note

   The quickest way to see all media on all of the DPM servers is to perform a rescan on each, followed by a detailed inventory. Next, on any one of the servers, mark a number of media as free, and then perform a refresh on the other servers.

After you have configured library sharing, you can use the shared tape library as if it were attached to each DPM server.

Turning on AutoRefresh for the DPM Server

You can set the auto-refresh interval for the library by using the Set-DPMGlobalProperty cmdlet in DPM Management Shell. The syntax for the cmdlet is as follows:

Set-DPMGlobalProperty -DPMServerName <DPMServerName> -LibraryRefreshInterval <LibraryRefreshInterval>

where <DPMServerName> is the computer name of the DPM server and <LibraryRefreshInterval> is the 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 does not occur.

Library Server Failure

If the library server fails, DPM detects the failure and raises an alert. All tape jobs scheduled to run fail while the library server is down. DPM checks at 20-minute intervals to see if the library server is working again.

If you cannot resolve the problem on the library server, or do not want to wait for the library server to come back online, you can promote another DPM server as the library server.

To promote another DPM server to library server

Use the following procedure to promote another server to library server:

1. On each library client computer, open an elevated Command Prompt window, and then run the following commands:

   cd <system drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft DPM\DPM\Setup

   SetSharedDpmDatabase.exe –RemoveDatabaseSharing

   AddLibraryServerForDpm.exe –DpmServerWithLibrary<FQDN of the library server>-remove**

   where <FQDN of library server> is the fully qualified domain name of the old library server.

   Note

   Also ensure that the DPM Administrator Console is functioning correctly on each library client.

2. On the computer that you want to promote as the new library server, enable the medium changer in Device Manager.

3. On the computer that you want to promote as the new library server, open an elevated Command Prompt window, and then run the following commands one time for each of the library client computers:

   cd <system drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft DPM\DPM\Setup

   AddLibraryServerForDpm.exe –ShareLibraryWithDPM<FQDN of client library>**

   where <FQDN of client library> is the fully qualified domain name of the library client.

4. On each library client computer, open an elevated Command Prompt window, and then run the following commands:

   cd <system drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft DPM\Setup

   SetupSetSharedDpmDatabase.exe –InstanceName<SQLServer\Instance>**

   where <SQLServer\Instance> is the computer name and the name of the instance of SQL Server on the new library server.

Known Issues

DPM cmdlets that apply to library sharing only work when they are run on the local computer.