The most critical criteria for designing data protection solutions in an enterprise SAN are how well the architecture delivers solution-level reliability and interoperability in complex networks. Additionally, increasing business requirements demand data protection solutions that provide higher value and ROI than they have historically.

A controller-based architecture for tape libraries is designed to meet these requirements. Controllers add advanced intelligence between the tape library and the SAN environment, simplify management and resolution of network access issues, and serve as a platform to provide advanced features such as library partitioning and path failover. The HP StorageWorks Extended Tape Library Architecture enhances the backup and restore functionality for today's and future generations of tape libraries.