Dynamic Disk Configuration

Magnetic volumes with a built-in Fiber Channel (FC) adaptor are visible over a Storage Area Network (SAN) to multiple MediaAgents. Such a magnetic volume can be configured as a shared magnetic library between multiple MediaAgents in the CommCell.

The following section provides guidelines on how these magnetic volumes must be configured in the Operating System:

The disk that you plan to use as a dynamic shared disk must support SCSI-3 persistent reservation.

Refer to the hardware manufacture's documentation or use the ScsiCmdTool to see if SCSI-3 persistent reservation is supported. (For more information on how to use the ScsiCmdTool, see ScsiCmd Tool.
Hardware zoning must be implemented so that only the designated MediaAgents can detect and control the disk device.

Verify and ensure that the disk is visible to the Operating system of the designated MediaAgents. This can be done by opening the Computer Management window from each of these MediaAgents. Make sure that the disks are visible to the operating system under the Device Manager level, as shown in the sample image.

From the Device Manager right-click each of the disk drives and then click Properties.

From the Disk Properties tab, make sure that Write Cache Enabled option is disabled.
If hardware zoning is correctly implemented, the disk will be visible only in the designated MediaAgent computers. The disk will not be visible to other computers.
Again from the Computer Management window, under Disk Management, ensure the following:
  • The disk must be freshly formatted.
  • The disk is configured as a Basic disk.
  • The disk is configured with a single partition.
  • The disk is mounted with a drive letter.

This is illustrated in the sample image.