Dynamic SCSI Switch

Share a tape drive or library between systems .... Automatically

Overview

To save money on Hardware and Maintenance costs it can be desirable to share a Tape Drive or high value peripheral, between two or more host computers. However, it is generally not possible to connect the SCSI bus of one host computer to that of another via the shared peripheral.

Switches are used to share Tape Drives between hosts, but the control of switching (when and how to switch, and switched termination) can problematic. Dynamic SCSI Switches overcome these problems by allowing peripherals to be connected to both hosts simultaneously, whilst controlling access.

Using the SCSI Reserve/Release mechanism, the drive is connected simultaneously to all hosts and shared between them. If the drive is in use by one host and another host attempts access, it will receive a device reserved or busy response, until the original task is complete.

All Peripheral Vision's Dynamic SCSI Switch solutions are 100% compatible with IBM AS/400, RS/6000, Microsoft NT, HP 9000, Sun, DEC Alpha and most other computer systems.

Each host believes it owns the tape drive with backups scheduled from normal host applications. The Dynamic SCSI Switch will work automatically with most backup software.

All the connections are fast wide differential SCSI 3, which allows up to 40 Mbyte per second transfer rate.

The informative LED's provide data on the current Bus Activity, Bus Ownership andTermination Power.

This compact solution is available in either black or white and can be supplied as a desktop, rackmount or inOEMintegration formats.

Advantages

Some of the advantages of using a Dynamic SCSI Switch are:

• Simple, dependable way to maximise
• the value of a SCSI tape drive.
• Switching is dynamic - no physical or electronic switching is required.
• Hardware only solution - no special software or patches.
• Simple installation.
• Zero overhead: 40 Mbyte per second bandwidth - full drive performance retained
• Continuous availability to both hosts - ‘drive in use’ message sent to second host
• Save on hardware and maintenance costs whilst gaining space.
• Available as a third and/or fourth host attachment forIBM3590 drives.
• Host fail-over protection for SCSI Raid orTape Libraries.

Specifications

Performance / Transfer Rate
Sustained 40MB/sec

Reliability
Expected MTBF of 200,000 hours (verification ongoing)

Interface
Differential, Fast-Wide SCSI 3, 68 way Micro ‘'D'’ female connectors

Power
110-240 VAC
Auto-sensing 50-60 cycles

Environmental Conditions
Operating : 5%C to 40%C
Non Operating : -40%C to 70%

Physical Characteristics
Enclosure has an A4 Footprint

Dimensions
2 way: 292mm x 211mm x 64mm
4 way: 292mm x 211mm x 106mm

Weight: 4kg

Warranty

Two year return to base

Supported Drives

Here is a list of the supported drives:

• IBM 3590
• IBM 3570
• 3580
• Fujitsu
• StorageTek
• Qualstar
• Overland Data
• DLT
• AIT
• 8mm.

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