1. Administrator's Guide
  2. Library Partitioning
  3. Guidelines for Partitioning

Guidelines for Partitioning

There are several steps that you must follow when you are partitioning a library. They are:

  1. Plan your new configuration.
  2. Schedule an outage to partition or re-partition a library.

    When a library is re-partitioned, the library drops its communication to all hosts managing all partitions, even if their partitions are not affected by the change.

    Note:

    ACSAPI clients cannot be assigned to a physical partition of a library, just as they cannot be assigned to an ACS.
  3. Have your service representative license and enable partitioning on the SL8500 or SL3000.
  4. Move cartridges from locations where they would not be accessible to locations that will still be in a partition managed by ACSLS.
  5. Create your partitions using the SL Console. Refer to the SL Console help for instructions.
  6. Activate partitioning using ACSLS as described in Partitioning a Library or Changing Partition IDs.
  7. You must configure ACSLS to a partitioned library using acsss_config by specifying that the library is partitioned and entering the partition number.

Plan Your New Configuration

Plan your new partitioned configuration ahead of time.

  • Organize the cartridges and drives for performance.

  • If you will do a lot of enters into and ejects from a partition, an SL8500 partition should include at least one of the bottom three rails. Partitions with few enters and ejects can be on the top rail.

Minimize Disruptions when Partitioning an SL8500 or SL3000

When an SL8500 or SL3000 is partitioned or the partitions in an SL8500 or SL3000 are modified, access to your data is affected. Tape drives and cartridges that were managed by one host server may be managed by a different host.

Changes in Configuration

Changes in configuration occur when a:

  • Library configuration has changed

  • Library has been re-partitioned and the partition managed by ACSLS has changed (a message is displayed)

  • Library capacity has changed and the cells reported as available to ACSLS have changed

  • When LSM Configuration or capacity have changed

When the configuration may have changed, you are notified by ACSLS Event Log and Event Notification messages.

Keeping Outages to a Minimum

The following procedures provided below ensure that outages are minimized, with continued access to your data. These procedures explain how to:

  • Partition an un-partitioned SL8500 or SL3000 into two or more partitions.

  • Modify the partitions in an SL8500 or SL3000 that is already partitioned.

  • Merge a partitioned SL8500 or SL3000 so it is a single, un-partitioned ACS.

Challenges

The biggest challenges arise when: LSMs (SL8500 rails) are removed from a legacy SL8500 partition; or cells and drives are removed from an SL3000 or enhanced SL8500 partition.

Refer to the procedures for Moving Cartridges Before Removing Cells from a Partition for details.