One or more drives can be designated as control path drives.
Select Enable Control Path from the Actions menu to
designate a control path drive. Drives that are enabled as control paths are identified with the
icon shown in Figure 1. Note that it is possible
for a logical library to have no control path drives.Figure 1. Control path drive icon
Using multiple control paths for any single, configured logical library provides the following benefits:
Allows access to the logical library by multiple servers
Provides communication failover so that if one control path fails, host communication for the
entire library is not lost
Note: Use the Path Failover feature (feature code 1682) to enable the host
device driver to resend a command to an alternate control path for the same logical
library.
Access to the logical library is on a first-come, first-served basis. Each control path for a
logical library can accept commands while the library is in use by another control path.
Control path drives should not be removed from a logical library that is performing jobs. If the
logical library is not actively being used, control path drives can be removed from a logical
library only after all non-control path drives have been removed or a different control path drive
has been assigned.
