Support for Dual TCP/IP and Redundant Electronics

Note – This section is applicable only to SL3000 and SL8500 libraries.

Redundant Electronics and Dual TCP/IP are optional features for SL3000 and SL8500 libraries.

Dual TCP/IP protects library/host operations from network failures by providing two library TCP/IP ports, typically configured on separate subnets. In the event of network disruptions or failure on one subnet, the library/host connection automatically fails over to the other port.

Redundant Electronics protects against hardware failures on the library controller by providing two separate and fully functional library controller cards — an active and a standby. If the active controller experiences significant errors, library control can be switched to the standby card, with minimal disruption to library and host operations.

See the library User’s Guide for complete details about these features.

Library IP Addresses for These Features

Depending on which of these features are activated — Dual TCP/IP, Redundant Electronics, or both — an SL3000 or SL8500 library can have one, two, or four IP addresses. However, review the following section, “Configuring the STA Connection to Support These Features”, to determine what is supported by STA.

Configuring the STA Connection to Support These Features

STA is capable of maintaining uninterrupted connections with up to two library IP addresses at a time. Therefore, on a given library you can configure STA to support either Dual TCP/IP or Redundant Electronics, but not both.

When you configure the STA connection to the library, you must always specify a primary library IP address. In addition, you can optionally specify a secondary IP address, depending on the feature configuration of the library and which feature you want STA to support.

Note – For libraries with both features, it is recommended that you configure STA to support Redundant Electronics, as this feature is more critical to maintaining continuous library operations.

If STA is configured to support Dual TCP/IP, it will maintain a connection with the library in the event of a port failover.

If STA is configured to support Redundant Electronics, it will maintain a connection with the library in the event of a controller card switch. After a Redundant Electronics switch completes, you must perform a connection test and a data collection in order to verify the library connection and retrieve current library configuration data. See “Managing Library Connections” in the STA Data Reference Guide for details.

TABLE 1‑1 summarizes the recommended library IP addresses to use when configuring the STA connection to the library.

TABLE 1‑1 Recommended Library IP Addresses for STA Connection

Activated Features	Primary Library IP	Secondary Library IP
Neither	2B port	N/A
Dual TCP/IP only	2B port	2A port
Redundant Electronics only	active card 2B port	standby card 2B port
Both1	(see footnote)	(see footnote)

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Choose between either the Redundant Electronics or Dual TCP/IP configurations detailed above. The Redundant Electronics configuration is recommended.

Additional Configuration Considerations for Dual TCP/IP and Redundant Electronics

Related Information

See the following topics for additional details:

In addition, consult your network administrator and Oracle support representative to ensure the proper network configuration.