Tape aliasing overview
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Aliasing simplifies the process of device identification. Aliasing binds a physical path name (PPN) or a serial number (SN) of a tape or a medium changer to a persistent, but modifiable alias name.
The following table describes how tape aliasing enables you to ensure that a tape drive (or tape library or medium changer) is always associated with a single alias name:
| Scenario | Reassigning of the alias |
|---|---|
When the system reboots |
The tape drive is automatically reassigned its previous alias. |
When a tape device moves to another port |
The alias can be adjusted to point to the new address. |
When more than one system uses a particular tape device |
The user can set the alias to be the same for all the systems. |
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When you upgrade from Data ONTAP 8.1.x to Data ONTAP 8.2.x, the tape alias feature of Data ONTAP 8.2.x modifies the existing tape alias names. In such a case you might have to update the tape alias names in the backup application. |
Assigning tape aliases provides a correspondence between the logical names of backup devices (for example, st0 or mc1) and a name permanently assigned to a port, a tape drive, or a medium changer.
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st0 and st00 are different logical names. |
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Logical names and serial numbers are used only to access a device. After the device is accessed, it returns all error messages by using the physical path name. |
There are two types of names available for aliasing: physical path name and serial number.