Question : Problem: Using Cisco 3560\3750 SFP port for Tape Library

I am going to be setting up a tape library. I am told with the library that I'm getting that there are two ways to set it up,

[svrs to be backed up]----->thru the lan---->[backup svr]--->SCSI--->[tape library]

or

[fiber nic]------>[fiber bridge]------>[tape library]

My question is, can I use a cisco switch (3560\3750) and plug the tape library in one of the spf ports on it?

I want to buy the switch to act as the 'fiber bridge' and since it's a gb switch and all the servers have gb nics, i just want them to have a gb connection to the tape library which itself is connected by fiber.

Also, in buying the switch, it says the SFP ports are empty, do I need to purchase a specific gbic or fiber module to plug into the spf port? And i'm assuming this module will depend what type of fiber connection is coming off the tape library, would that be correct? like SC to LC or someting another

Answer : Problem: Using Cisco 3560\3750 SFP port for Tape Library

Sorry, but I must disagree with putting all files on one partition.

Partitioning (still) helps performance and recoverability.  Not everything done in the [70s,] 80s and 90s was wrong :-).

Performance notes:
1) Queue length is a factor in I/O performance.  A single partition = a single drive letter = a single i/o queue = poorer performance.  Because:
2) One partition = serial I/O only; multiple partitions = parallel I/O, one/two per partition occuring at the same time.
3) Too many widely varying accesses to the same physical drive can force more and longer head seeks to get to the needed data on the drive (to be fair, given the size of partitions now, this is often true, albeit to a somewhat lesser degree, even for separate partitions).
4) More drive channels also gives better throughput, and one partition can have at most two channels, AFAIK (at least at any reasonable cost).

Recoverability:
1) Even a mirrored partition can sometimes *completely* fail, i.e., both copies fail at/about the same time.  If *all* files are on that one partition, *everything* is lost.  If the db, backups and logs are on separate drives, you can always completely recover from a full loss of one of them.