NETWORKING

1. I cannot connect to the Web Interface and cannot ping 10.10.10.10
A: Check that the unit has power and is turned on
Ensure that the Ethernet cable is securely in the port and that the lights are on
Alter the IP address of the LAN interface on your host machine to be within the same subnet (10.10.10.3 for example)?
On Bridges with 2 LAN ports the two network ports are setup by default to 10.10.10.10 and 10.10.10.12, you should at least be able see one of these.
Power cycle the Bridge

2. How do I ping an IP from the Bridge?
A: If you log into the Bridge, then navigate to the connections page, on the left hand side there is a link to network ping. Click on that link and you’ll be brought to the network ping page. Within that page, enter the IP address you wish to ping and click ping.

3. I have stopped the NTP service but it doesn’t seem to have made any difference.
The current version of the product does not support unloading of services on the fly, after stopping a service you will need to reboot the Bridge.

4. If I set the frame size up to 9000 on the Bridge, the client loses connection.
Ensure you have rebooted the Bridge after changing the MTU size
Ensure that Jumbo packets are enabled on all the ports that are involved in this “configuration” from inside the Switch or on the NIC if directly connected
To test the jumbo frame connectivity you can use ping in the following manner:

From Windows
ping -f -l (packet size) (IP address)

From Linux
ping -M do -s (IP address)
This will send packets of the size (packet size) without fragmenting them on the network level.

For ESX Users
There is also a possibility that Jumbo Frames will require enabling on your ESX (experimental jumbo frames are available in 3.5, supported in 4.0), but will likely require configuration on the ESX vswitch: https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?legacyId=1007654

5. The NTP is set correctly but the time is incorrect.
The Bridge uses UTC time from the NTP server, this is the time that is displayed in the logs.

MANUALS/FIRMWARE/SUPPORT

1. Where can I get a new user manual?
A: The latest user manuals can be downloaded from here

2. What is the latest version of the firmware?
A: Details of the latest firmware for every product can be found here

3. Where can I get the latest firmware?
A: The latest firmware for all products can be downloaded from here

4. How do I perform a firmware update?
A: Extract the firmware from the .zip file
Log into the Web GUI
Navigate to the firmware update page
Click the browse button
Navigate to the location where you have extracted the firmware
Select the firmware
Click on upload
When the process is complete reboot your Bridge

5. I have some questions that aren’t addressed here, whom should I call?
A: You can email support@4bridgeworks.com and/or call +44 1590 615 444 and ask for support.

6. I have a problem how do I get in touch with support?
A: There are 3 ways to get in touch with the Support team:
Email: support@4bridgeworks.com
Web support form: http://www.4bridgeworks.com/support/
Telephone: +44 1590 615 444

In order to help the Support team to quickly resolve your issue please ensure you have the following available to hand:
Model, Firmware version, Details of initiators and devices. In some cases they may ask for a copy of the Bridge’s logs

DEVICES

GENERAL

1. My system will not recognize my tape drive. It gives me an error of unknown device.
A: If you see ‘unknown device’ in the Operating System then it is most likely to be a driver problem.

2. I have plugged a new device into the Bridge but it isn’t showing up.
A: The Bridges do not currently support hot plugging so after connecting a new device, a reboot is required.

3. I have a new SCSI Bridge and I can not get it to see the drive.
A: If you have mapped the drive on the Bridge by selecting it in the ‘SCSI Target’ page in the GUI, Ensure the LUN is set to ‘0’ if it is the only device. Device LUN’s must be added sequentially. It does not matter which Port & ID you use for the device, as long as it is not the same as another target.
After attaching the target to the unit, a reboot may be needed to see the target. Hot plugging should be ok with Fibre Channel and SAS, but NOT with the SCSI. Hot plugging SCSI will likely damage the SCSI bus chips.
If you have a HVD host controller connected to the Bridge (an LVD unit). This will cause the Bridge’s SCSI controller to disconnect from the SCSI bus; likely to cause error messages recorded in the log. In this case we would suggest, either inserting a HVD-LVD converter or an alternative SCSI controller card in your host.

ISCSI

1. iSCSI login does not work.
A: Check that you are connecting on the correct port to the correct IP address
If CHAP is enabled, ensure you are using the correct username, initiator secret and target secret
If being used, ensure that Jumbo packets are enabled on all the ports that are involved in this “configuration” from inside the Switch or on the NIC if directly connected.
The user manual details how to use iSCSI Logon for the different versions of windows

2. When I run “iscsiadm” to log on the iSCSI targets, I get 8 tape drives instead of 4.
A: By default the iSCSI initiator will log into a device using all available network paths (each creating a separate iSCSI session).
Each iSCSI session established creates a device, which is why you are seeing 8 tape drives.

3. The Bridge can see all the different volumes on my legacy device. When I try to see them as a device, there is nothing there. I therefore cannot assign the volume to a drive letter.
A: You do not need to assign the connected devices a drive letter through the iSCSI initiator, they will appear under the Windows Device Manager. From the Disk Management section you can initialise the devices and assign a drive letter.

SCSI

1. The Bridge is not seeing my SCSI tape drive.
A: Power cycle the Bridge
Check your terminator on the SCSI bus. Our units each have an internal terminator. A feature also found in the majority of SCSI Host Bus Adaptors. Without them it can cause signals to reflect back on a SCSI bus, causing all kinds of errors.
It is also worth noting that the SCSI bus (cable) should be no more than 6 metres long.
In addition, if any of your devices attached to your SCSI bus are connected via a Narrow SCSI port, tick the check box next to the label ‘Disable Wide Transfers’ in the ‘SCSI Initiator’ of the GUI. This will slow the communication down. However, if your target device is connected via a Narrow SCSI port, half of the data sent over the SCSI bus will be left floating and will not be read by the backup device.

FC

1. The FC LUN order does not stay the same after a reboot. After the Bridge has had a reboot, the iSCSI target connections are reversed, and so the FC LUN order is changed too.
A: If you navigate through the GUI to the FC Target page, select port map and map devices manually will stop this from happening.

2. I cannot get the Bridge to see the drive to set up the addresses.
A: Ensure the SFP’s have been pushed in completely and are securely in the ports
Power cycle the Bridge and drive
You can check the Bridge/ SFP’s by looping the FC cable from FC port 1 back to FC port 2.

The orange LED next to each FC port should remain on solid (no flashing) to represent a link present.
The green LED next to each FC port should begin to flash to display the link speed.
The green LED will flash once, twice or three times, before a short pause and flashing again. Once means the link speed is 1Gb, twice means its 2Gb, and three flashes represents a link speed of 4Gb.
If the orange LED’s continue to flash and do not go solid, or the green LED’s do not flash at all. Please ensure the FC cable crosses over.

SAS

1. How does the SAS Bridge connect to multiple SAS devices with a single SAS port?
A: SAS devices are connected via point-to-point cable to the Bridge.
A SAS breakout cable, which we can provide, can connect up to 4 SAS devices to each SAS port on the Bridge.

GUI

1. I’ve forgotten my password.
A: If you have lost the admin password it is possible to reset it with help from Bridgeworks.
First ensure that there is nothing entered into the user field and then type PASSWORDRESET into the password field.
The unit will respond with a challenge key.
Copy this key into an email along with your name, company and contact details – you must include your company’s personal email address for security purposes.
Send this email to support@4bridgeworks.com and a key will be returned for you to enter into the key field.
Press the reset button once you have entered the key – this will reset the admin user password back to admin.

2. Can you please send me the password-reset key?
A: In order to send a password reset key, you must first send the password challenge key to support@4bridgeworks.com.

SETUP

1. Can you advise the correct instruction of setting up multi-path in Linux for my tape drives?
A: Unfortunately Linux does not provide a working multi-path environment for tape drives. Multi-pathing can be achieved for disks using multiple sessions, however this leads to a potential incorrect ordering of the data on tape. The only multi-path option available to tape drives is multiple connections to a single session.

2. Does the left-hand Initiator port correspond to the left-hand target port?
No. All of the devices that are found on any initiator port are mapped automatically to all FC ports.

3. The only configuration that was done was to assign an IP address, subnet mask and default gateway for the bridge. Is there other configuration that needs to be done?
Only Bridges with any iSCSI connections require additional configuration, all other Bridges should work using their current, automatic settings.

4. I have just bought one of these but I do not have a windows machine with which to set it up. Do you have any info on how to do this via Linux?
The steps to setup remain unchanged regardless of operating system, the only thing that differs is how to achieve each step.
Due to the wide variety of Linux operating systems available, it would be impossible for us to provide instructions for each one.

5. I’ve plugged everything in but the Bridge is not doing anything and nothing lights up and the fans don’t appear to be spinning.
Check that the power cable is securely in
The power is turned on and the Bridge is switched on at the back.

PERFORMANCE

1. With multiple connections and 1 session to a single drive, I am not achieving the expected transfer rate. What can be the cause? Would it be valid to have multiple sessions from the same host?
Some versions of windows send Test Unit Ready commands to the drive every second, this can degrade the performance of our Bridge. A Microsoft knowledge base article has details on how to disable this: https://www.betaarchive.com/wiki/index.php?title=Microsoft_KB_Archive/842411

2. LUN migration speed is slower than expected
Check that disk caching is enabled from your host, Windows (for example) will disable this by default.

3. When I am running two jobs taking data from different disk drives, the speed dropped for each drive.
Set the connection speeds to auto and power cycle the Bridge.

COMPATIBILITY

1. Do your Bridges support any sort of emulation?
Our Bridges do not support any type of emulation, prior to purchase please ensure that your Initiating system supports the device or devices that you are trying to connect.

2. Does the Bridge support iSCSI target multi-pathing and load balancing?
The Bridge does not currently support iSCSI target multi-pathing or load balancing although iSCSI target multi-pathing is planned for the SANrockIT SSiS150 in a future release.

3. Can you provide info on compatible SFP modules?
We would recommend using a Finisar 4Gb SFP

4. Is the FICON protocol supported?
FICON is the IBM proprietary name for their Fibre Channel protocol, which our units do not support.

5. Can we connect the Fibre Channel Bridge to a SCSI Initiator or does it only support SCSI devices (e.g. Tapes, disk drive, etc)?
The Tamar Fibre channel Bridge only supports SCSI devices and not hosts, the SCSI connect product allows SCSI hosts to connect to a Fibre channel network.

6. What backup software is compatible with your Bridge?
We test against all of the major backup software including Symantec, Netvault, Netbackup, Commvault, Amanda and the standard Windows backup.

7. What drives are compatible with your Bridge?
We test against LTO1, 2, 3 and 4 full height and half height and also support LTO 5

FAQs

NETWORKING

MANUALS/FIRMWARE/SUPPORT

DEVICES

GENERAL

ISCSI

SCSI

FC

SAS

GUI

SETUP

PERFORMANCE

COMPATIBILITY

ANSWERS…

NETWORKING

MANUALS/FIRMWARE/SUPPORT

DEVICES

GENERAL

ISCSI

SCSI

FC

SAS

GUI

SETUP

PERFORMANCE

COMPATIBILITY

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