Re: BRMS backup target options other than VTL

Good catch on using a switch Larry. I realize that switches are a bit
pricey. But we've always went that way.

If you're thinking of a switch you may want to really dive into the deep
end of the pool. We are using redundant IBM 8969-F24 switches. At one DC
we have two Power 10's with 4-5 lpars of IBM i each. Each lpar can back up
simultaneously to the DD. When we went to Power 10s we also went to SAN
storage. So, getting your switches now plan for growth and keep your
opportunities open for SAN. With as much redundancy as our BP put in with
multiple cards for the DD6900 and multiple cards for the SAN across two
vios partitions we're using a vast majority of the ports on these two 24
port switches. Oh, these switches are single power supply so, yeah, two
are pretty vital for our setup.
Our other DC still has a Power 9 with internal disks. We are planning on
upgrading the switches there to these same models. The current switch we
are using is out of support and we don't stomach that well. This is an
upgrade path that we have to phase in due to budget. Switches first, SAN
next, new Power system NST than next year.
Big selling point for the SAN was immutable copy using IBM Lab Services
Safe Guarded Copy. We take ransomware threats seriously.

On Sat, Jan 27, 2024 at 8:08 PM Larry "DrFranken" Bolhuis <
midrange@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Well in theory the DD device might support iSCSI (I don't know, not a DD
guy) but that would let you connect to it via Ethernet instead.

Don't know why the fiber channel card won't talk. Given you have a
number of devices backing up to the DD I figure you have a switch so
that should handle speed differences.

If you have no switch, then you can't go above 8G speed on the server.
No direct attach with 16G critters.

- L

On 1/26/2024 9:53 AM, Bob Schwartz wrote:

Can BRMS backup to something other than tape/VTL?

Question for the group:
I was wondering if BRMS can backup to a backup appliance such as a

Dell-EMC

DataProtect DD6400?
similar to what Veeam does, using the network, over Ethernet? Or, does

BRMS

have to see a VTL on ISCSI or FiberChannel?
I don't want to go to the cloud - at least not now.

A little background:
We are in the middle of upgrading our DataDomain backup appliance(s) to
DD6400, along with other data center hardware.
The Power 8 is scheduled to go to Power 10 in a few months.

Currently our IBM Power 8 server is running IBM i/OS V7R4. We use BRMS

for

all backup functions.
BRMS writes to a VTL hosted on a Dell-EMC DataDomain DD6300. The DD6300

is

attached to the Power 8 by fiber channel
The DD6300 also is a backup target for Veeam. We use Veeam to backup
everything, but the IBM i (Windows, Linux SQL ...etc.).
The DD6300 replicates everything to an offsite DD6300 in another

facility.

Problem or obstacle:
The new DD6400 fiber channel card can't talk to the existing fiber

channel

card in our Power 8 server.
I can keep backing up the Power 8 to the DD6300 until the new Power 10
server is up and running.

Thank you in advance,

Bob Schwartz
Director of Technology Services
Glynn County Board of Education
5505 Altama Ave
Brunswick, GA 31525

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