We are implementing an EVault disk-to-disk backup system and I had a
question about zoning.

Most of our servers have only one HBA, they're not critical systems.
We have a NetApp R200 SATA system that will be used only for backups.
Can I zone my McData 4500's to the R200 as well as my primary SAN and
utilize the 2Gbit path to the R200 instead of my 1Gbit network?

I would think that a direct pipe to the R200 over fiber would be a
great performance boost over having to go through my network switches
to the vault server to the R200.

Thanks in advance,

JT.

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jtjohnson@faegre.com (JT Johnson) wrote in
news:b09ab426.0410151227.239d421d@posting.google.com:

> Most of our servers have only one HBA, they're not critical systems.
> We have a NetApp R200 SATA system that will be used only for backups.
> Can I zone my McData 4500's to the R200 as well as my primary SAN and
> utilize the 2Gbit path to the R200 instead of my 1Gbit network?

It's not really a question of the zoning, it's a question of whether or not
your R200 and your HBA's support IP over FC. Emulex HBA's amongst others do
definately support IPoFC (although OS support might be hit or miss), but i
don't believe you'll find support on the R200.

> I would think that a direct pipe to the R200 over fiber would be a
> great performance boost over having to go through my network switches
> to the vault server to the R200.

You should be correct on this one. If all of your gear supports IPoFC, the
bandwidth and traffic offloading of the FC link could give you a boost. In
reality, i'd go buy gigabit networking, though 

--
/Jesper Monsted

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