Virtual Tape Library Slots

  • You must add tape to the library and mark it as free in order to prevent future backups from failing. In my case, I have 96 Tapes available. Select all and click Mark as cleaning tape. When the Tape slots are marked as cleaned, click Refresh and you will see the Tape slots are Empty now and ready to be used. Create New Protection Group.
  • When creating a virtual tape library for use by ACSLS, the tape identifiers for that library should match the traditional 6-character volume label format supported in ACSLS. The VTL Console allows you to create a StorageTek VTL library which exceeds the limits that are supported by ACSLS (10,000 slots, 100 drives).

I reused one of tape magazines from the old library in the new one. Needless to say I ended up on the well trodden path of DPM 2010 now showing me 2 tape libraries with one of them being offline. But just for the added twist, half my slots showed on the old library and half on the new one. Virtual Tape Machines accurately emulates the behavior of both of the most common tape speeds of 15 and 30 ips. Engineers who use tape sometimes choose which speed to use based upon the material they’re recording, since the bass response can differ a great deal between the two speeds.

This project is just getting underway

The goal of this project is to create an enterprise class tape library using open source tools and readily available materials such as 3d printed parts

When looking at a modern tape library it is readily apparent that only one part of the device is actually beyond the home hobiest: the tape drive itself.Everything else, the metal chassis, the plastic magazines, the plastic tape robot, the embeded computer controlling it all, are all reproducable with readily avaiable tools.We are working on generating an opensource design for a functioning enterprise grade tape library where the only part requiring support from a vendor will be the tape drive itself, and the server running the management software.

Costs

Features in a tape library can cost:

  • $5,000.00 per tape drive
  • $400.00 per tape slot
  • $1,200.00 per power supply

Formed library name in the tape device list, while if I select the virtual library, the manufacturer and firmware is all unkown. And if I inventory the library, Acronis gives me the same 'Failed to inventory the library: It has no slots.'

Tape

For example a popular name brand tape library with 48 tape slots and 4 LTO drives tends to cost $60,000.00, with an annual support cost of over $10,000.00.I believe a comperable opensource tape library can be built for $25,000.00 (with spares!) using mostly COTS and 3d printed parts, requiring less than half the budget. Larger multi hundred tape slot models will save an even larger percentage.

Components

The innitial version of the design will leverage COTS parts and existing tools in the opensource arena to assemble a functioning tape library:

  • mhvtl - Opensource virtual tape library project to emulate a tape library that modern backup software knows how to communicate with
  • COTS server - to handle the IO with the tape libraries
  • Linux iSCSI - to present a tape library to remote systems, and translate the robotics moving the tapes
  • Arduino - Receiving instructions over serial and moving tapes appropriately
  • 3d printed robot parts - to be designed and released opensource
  • 3d printed tape magazines - to be designed and released opensource
  • COTS or custom manufactured to spec rackmount server chassis - to house the LTO tape drives, the robot and magazines
  • COTS redundant power supply
  • COTS LTO tape drives
  • Metal stock for slides the robot will need to keep the tape mover precise

The design will be extensible, designed to a rackmount footprint that can be scaled the a required number of rack units in height, to meet your requirements for tape slots or active tape drives, from 4U to 48U. Emphasis will be put into allowing for multiple tape pickers in a single chassis, but innitial versions will only accomodate one tape picker. Hopefully future upgrades to multiple tape pickers will simple be a mater of purchasing COTS NEMA motors, motor controllers, and 3d printing additional parts.

Preventive Service Planning


Abstract

Configuration information for Quantum DXi4800 & DXi9000 Series Virtual Tape Libraries

Content

Quantum DXi4800
Quantum DXi9000
Quantum DXi9100

Starting Storage Slot Address
Starting Entry/Exit Slot Address
4096
16

Notes:
1. Quantum DXi4800 & DXi9000 Series are enterprise disk backup solution. These virtual tape libraries (VTL) can emulate various Quantum media changers and drives.

Free Virtual Tape Library

2. Barcodes are supported.

3. ELEMent=AUTODetect in the DEFINE/UPDATE DRIVE command is supported.

4. Application Managed Encryption (AME) is not supported.

5. Drive Encryption, Logical Block Protection , and WORM are not supported.

6. Quantum DXi4800 can emulate up to 150 drives per systems; 64 drives maximum per partition.

7. Quantum DXi9000 Series can emulate up to 512 drives. However, IBM Spectrum Protect Server may support less than 512 drives. See Technote 1364225 for information about the maximum number of devices that the IBM Spectrum Protect device driver can support on each platform.

Tape

8. The following Library ID's require IBM Spectrum Protect V8.1.11 or a subsequent maintenance release

  • QUANTUM DXi4800
  • QUANTUM DXi9000

9. Device identifications and firmware levels used during validation

Quantum DXi9000 and DXi9100 (Validated with TSM 7.1.0)

Library ID : QUANTUM DXi6900 --- Firmware : 100A
Drive ID : IBM ULTRIUM-TD5 --- Firmware : A5M0
Drive ID : HP ULTRIUM 5-SCSI --- Firmware : I30Z

Slots

Quantum DXi4800 (Validated with TSM 7.1.1)

Library ID : QUANTUM DXi4700 --- Firmware : 100A
Drive ID : IBM ULTRIUM-TD5 --- Firmware : A5M0
Drive ID : HP ULTRIUM 5-SCSI --- Firmware : I30Z

Virtual Tape Library Free

Quantum DXi9000 and DXi9100 (Validated with IBM Spectrum Protect 8.1.11)

Library ID : QUANTUM DXi9000 --- Firmware : 100A
Drive ID : IBM ULTRIUM-TD5 --- Firmware : A5M0

Quantum DXi4800 (Validated with IBM Spectrum Protect 8.1.11)

Library ID : QUANTUM DXi4800 --- Firmware : 100A
Drive ID : IBM ULTRIUM-TD5 --- Firmware : A5M0

10. If the emulated tap drives are IBM Ultrium tape drives, the IBM device driver is required. The IBM device drivers are available at IBM Fix Central. Choose the following options from the drop-down menus.

  • Product Group -> System Storage
  • System Storage -> Tape systems
  • Tape systems -> Tape drivers and software
  • Tape drivers and software -> Tape device drivers
  • Platform -> Select the platform for the device driver


Related technotes

  • Technote 7012510 - RELABELSCRATCH parameter supported for DEFINE and UPDATE library commands (for Virtual Tape Libraries)
  • Technote 1425849 - General Virtual Tape Library Considerations For Tivoli Storage Manager Servers
  • Technote 1470193 - IBM Spectrum Protect server support for NFS


Library and drive may require different minimum IBM Spectrum Protect levels. Therefore, ensure that both library and drive hardware are supported. See 'Supported Devices for AIX, HP-UX, Solaris and Windows' or 'Supported Devices for Linux' for more support information including minimum supported version levels and supported platforms.

Internal Use Only


2. The VTL can emulate the following libraries:
Quantum Scalar® 24, i40/80, 100, i500, i2000 and i6000
3. The VTL can emulate the following drives:
DLT7000, SDLT 320, SDLT 600, DLT-S4, LTO-1, LTO-2, LTO-3, LTO-4, LTO-5

InfiniGuard B-Series B4260N and B4212N with InfiniGuard version 3.0 (Validated with TSM 8.1.5)

Library ID : QUANTUM DXi6900 --- Firmware : 100A
Drive ID : IBM ULTRIUM-TD5 --- Firmware : A5M0
Drive ID : HP ULTRIUM 5-SCSI --- Firmware : I30Z

InfiniGuard B-Series B4260 with InfiniGuard version 2.0 (Validated with TSM 7.1.0)

Library ID : QUANTUM DXi6900 --- Firmware : 100A
Drive ID : IBM ULTRIUM-TD5 --- Firmware : A5M0
Drive ID : HP ULTRIUM 5-SCSI --- Firmware : I30Z

[{'Business Unit':{'code':'BU054','label':'Systems w/TPS'},'Product':{'code':'SSEQVQ','label':'IBM Spectrum Protect'},'ARM Category':[{'code':'a8m50000000Ci5XAAS','label':'Server'}],'ARM Case Number':','Platform':[{'code':'PF002','label':'AIX'},{'code':'PF016','label':'Linux'},{'code':'PF033','label':'Windows'}],'Version':'All Version(s)','Line of Business':{'code':'LOB26','label':'Storage'}}]

Virtual Tape Library Open Source

Document Information

Virtual Tape Library Slots Software

Modified date:
30 November 2020

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