Dell Powervault LTO6 User Manual

Dell™P o werVault™LTO Tape User's Guide

User's Guide

Note!

Before using this information and the product it supports, be sure to read the general information under Notices in the Dell PowerVault LTO Tape Drive User's Guide.

NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your system.

NOTICE indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem.

CAUTION indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice.

Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, and PowerVault, are trademarks of Dell Inc. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.

v Internal Drive Model Numbers: LTO Ultrium 6-H, LTO Ultrium 5-H, LTO Ultrium 4-H, LTO Ultrium 3-H

v External Drive Model Numbers: CSEH 001, LTO4-EH1, LTO3-EH1

v Rack Mount Model Number: 2U Storage Rack A

Initial release: November 2012

Figures ...............v

Tables ...............vii

Chapter 1. Introduction .......1-1

Overview ...............1-1

Encryption ..............1-2

Specifications and Features .........1-3

Tape Backup Software ..........1-4

Front Panel ..............1-4

Rear Panel ..............1-6

Chapter 2. Setting Up the Tape Drive 2-1

Pre-installed Internal Drives ........2-1

Installing Internal Drives .........2-1

Installing the Internal Drive - Step-By-Step

Instructions .............2-1

Installing External and Rack Mount Drives . . . 2-5

Installing the External Drive - Step-By-Step

Instructions .............2-5

Verifying Drive Operation ........2-7

Loading Device Drivers .........2-7

Ethernet Service Port Procedures ......2-8

Chapter 3. Using the Tape Drive . . . 3-1

Operating the Drive ...........3-1

Loading, Unloading, and Write-Protecting

Cartridges ..............3-2

Caring for Tape Cartridges .........3-5

Cleaning the Tape Mechanism ........3-7

Obtaining Drivers and Firmware Upgrades . . . 5-1 Selecting a Diagnostic or Maintenance Function . . 5-1

General Guidelines ...........5-8

Methods of Receiving Errors and Messages . . . 5-9

Descriptions and Corrective Actions .....5-10

Drive Status .............5-13

Drive Maintenance ...........5-14

Fixing SAS Connectivity Problems ......5-15

Resolving Media-Related Problems ......5-16

Removing an Internal SAS Tape Drive .....5-16

TapeAlert ..............5-17

Recovering a Tape Cartridge ........5-20

Chapter 6. Specifications ......6-1

General Specifications ...........6-1

Internal Drive .............6-1

External Drive .............6-2

Rack Mount Drive ............6-3

Chapter 7. Getting Help .......7-1

Technical Assistance ...........7-1

Dell Enterprise Training and Certification ....7-3

Problems with Your Order .........7-3

Product Information ...........7-3

Returning Items for Warranty Repair or Credit . . 7-3

Before You Call .............7-3

Chapter 8. Contacting Dell ......8-1

Appendix. Regulatory Information . . A-1

Chapter 4. Using the Tape Backup

Software..............4-1

Chapter 5. Troubleshooting .....5-1

Glossary .............B-1

Index ...............X-1

iii

iv Dell PowerVault LTO Tape Drive User's Guide

Figures

1-1. PowerVault Internal Model ......1-1

1-2. PowerVault External Model ......1-2

1-3. PowerVault Rack Mount Model .....1-2

1-4. Front Panel............1-4

1-5. Rear Panel of Internal SAS Tape Drive 1-6 1-6. Rear Panel of External SAS Tape Drive 1-6 1-7. Rear Panel of the Rack Mount Tape Drive 1-7

2-1. Air Intake Area ..........2-2

2-2. Install the Drive ..........2-3

2-3. Mounting Holes on Tape Drive .....2-4

2-4. Attaching SAS Cable ........2-4

2-5. Secure the Drive ..........2-5

2-6. Connecting the SAS cable .......2-6

2-7. Connecting two SAS Hosts to one Tape

Drive..............2-7

3-1. Turning on the External Drive .....3-1

3-2. Turning on the Rack Mount Drive 3-1

3-3. Resetting the Drive .........3-2

3-4. LTO Ultrium Data Cartridge ......3-3

3-5. Loading .............3-4

3-6. Setting the Write-Protect Switch .....3-5

5-1. Drive Status page .........5-14

5-2. Drive Status page - details ......5-14

5-3. Drive Maintenance page .......5-15

vi Dell PowerVault LTO Tape Drive User's Guide

Tables

1-1. LTO Generation Specifications .....1-3

1-2. SCD, Ready/Activity LED, and Fault LED

Descriptions ...........1-5

3-1. Supported Functions of Compatible Media

Types..............3-2

3-2. Environmental Specifications ......3-6

5-1. Diagnostic and Maintenance Function Codes

and Descriptions ..........5-2

5-2. General Troubleshooting .......5-8

5-3. Methods of Receiving Errors and Messages 5-10 5-4. Descriptions and Corrective Actions 5-10 5-5. TapeAlert Flags and Descriptions 5-17

6-1. General specifications ........6-1

6-2. Internal Drive specifications ......6-1

6-3. External Drive specifications ......6-3

6-4. Rack Mount drive specifications.....6-3

7-1. Diagnostics Checklist ........7-4

vii

viii Dell PowerVault LTO Tape Drive User's Guide

Chapter 1. Introduction

v “Overview”

– “Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Interface” on page 1-2

v “Encryption” on page 1-2

v “Specifications and Features” on page 1-3

v “Tape Backup Software” on page 1-4

v “Front Panel” on page 1-4

v “Rear Panel” on page 1-6

Overview

The LTO PowerVault tape drive is a high-performance, high-capacity tape storage device that is designed to back up and restore data and archive and retrieve files in an Open Systems environment. The drive can be integrated into a system (internal model) or can be provided as a separately packaged desktop unit (external model). There are six generations of the Dell PowerVault tape drives in the LTO series of products.

Figure 1-1 shows the internal model of the tape drive. Figure 1-2 on page 1-2 shows the separately purchased external model of the tape drive. Figure 1-3 on page 1-2 shows the rack mount model.

Figure 1-1. PowerVault Internal Model

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1-1

Figure 1-2. PowerVault External Model

Figure 1-3. PowerVault Rack Mount Model

Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Interface

A drive with a SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) interface can be linked directly to controllers. The SAS interface offers the following advantages over the traditional SCSI interface:

v SAS enables multiple devices (up to 128) of different sizes and types to be

connected simultaneously with thinner and longer cables.

v Its full-duplex signal transmission supports up to 6.0 Gb/s.

v SAS drives can be hot-plugged.

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Encryption

The Tape Drive has Application Managed Encryption (AME) functionality. You must have an application that supports encryption to use the drive's encryption capability. For more details, consult your application support documentation.

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Specifications and Features

Specifications

Table 1-1. LTO Generation Specifications

Specification LTO6 LTO5-140 LTO4-120 LTO3-80

Native Capacity 2500 GB 1500 GB 800 GB 400 GB

2.5:1 Compressed Capacity

2:1 Compressed Capacity

Maximum Native Data Transfer

Compressed Maximum Data Transfer*

Media Partitioning**

Data Safe Mode**

Encryption Status LED

PowerVault Generation

6250 GB NA NA NA

5000 GB 3000 GB 1600 GB 800 GB

160 MB/s 140 MB/s 120 MB/s 80 MB/s

400 MB/s 280 MB/s 240 MB/s 160 MB/s

X X NA NA

* Assumes compression. The capacity and transfer rate you realize in practice depends on the data set, which affects the actual compression ratio. LTO6 supports

2.5:1 compression. LTO5-140 and below support 2:1 compression.

** This feature must be supported by your tape backup software.

Features

The tape drive has the following features:

v Built-in read-after-write verification for a high level of data integrity

v Burst data transfer rate of 600 MB per second

v 512 MB of read/write cache memory

v Intelligent LTO-DC dual-mode compression algorithm

v Failsafe leader capture mechanism with pin pick error recovery

v Reads cartridge memory in LTO cartridges

v TapeAlert support for improved diagnostic and troubleshooting

v Two 6 Gb Serial Attached SCSI interface

v Speed matching (The drive can slow down to match the system data rate.)

v Sleep mode for energy conservation

v Backward read and write compatibility dependent on generation

v Compatible with all cartridges dependent on generation that bears the official

Ultrium LTO logo. See Table 1-1 for more information.

Chapter 1. Introduction 1-3

v Will interchange tapes with other LTO tape drives that bear the official Ultrium

LTO logo

v Support for WORM (Write Once Read Many) using WORM media

v Data encryption capability using LTO Ultrium 4, 5 and 6 media

v Ethernet interface for transferring drive firmware and dumps only (not an iSCSI

interface)

v Diagnostics of the drive over the ethernet service port (not an iSCSI interface)

Tape Backup Software

You need backup software that supports the Dell PowerVault tape drive. As a general rule, native backup applications (such as NTBackup and tar) do not provide the required data streaming rate to get the full performance of your tape drive. It is recommend that you use a backup application that provides better memory management as well as other useful features, such as TapeAlert. For the latest supported software versions, go to the Dell support website at http://support.dell.com or visit the support site of your backup software vendor.

Front Panel

Figure 1-4. Front Panel

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1 Eject button 4 Single-character display (SCD)

2 Ready/Activity LED 5 Single dot

3 Fault LED 6 Encryption Status LED

1. Eject button. The eject button enables you to perform several functions. These functions are described in detail in Chapter 3, “Using the Tape Drive,” on page 3-1.

2. Ready/Activity LED. The front panel of your Dell PowerVault LTO tape drive has a green Ready/Activity LED providing information about the state of the tape drive. The LED can be solid on or flashing when lit. See Table 1-2 on page 1-5 for more descriptions.

3. Fault LED. The front panel of your Dell PowerVault LTO tape drive has an amber fault LED indicating the drive has encountered an error, is not in a normal operational status, or needs cleaning. See Table 1-2 on page 1-5 for more detailed description.

1-4 Dell PowerVault LTO Tape Drive User's Guide

4. Single-character display (SCD). This LED presents a single-character code for

diagnostic/maintenance functions, error conditions, and informational messages.

5. Single dot. This single-character display is blank during normal operation. When a single dot illuminates and flashes on the display, the drive has created a dump of vital technical data to drive memory.

6. Encryption status LED. This white LED indicates all data (except for the label information) on the cartridge is encrypted. (LTO5 and LTO6 cartridges only).

Table 1-2. SCD, Ready/Activity LED, and Fault LED Descriptions

Condition of green Ready/ Activity LED

Off Off Off Off Off The tape drive has no power or is

On Solid Off Off

Flashing once per second

Off On/Solid Off On Solid On/Off The tape drive is in maintenance mode

Off On Solid Off Flashing once

Off Flashing

Condition of amber Fault LED

Off On or Off Off Off The tape drive is reading from the

once per second

Condition of white encryption LED

Off On Solid Off An error occurred and the tape drive

Condition of the SCD Panel

Off or

per second

Condition of the SCD Dot

Off The tape drive is powered on or (if a

On/Off Executing the selected option while in

Meaning of LEDs and SCD Panel and SCD Dot

powered off.

solid character display) needs cleaning.

tape, writing to the tape, rewinding the tape, locating data on the tape, loading the tape, or unloading the tape. The Encryption LED will be On if all the data on the cartridge is encrypted during these drive operations. The Ready/Activity LED also flashes green if the tape drive contains a cartridge during the power on cycle. In this case, the drive completes POST and slowly rewinds the tape (this process may take approximately 13 minutes). The Ready/Activity LED stops blinking when the drive completes the recovery and is ready for a read or write operation. To eject the cartridge, press the unload button.

or is displaying an error code on the SCD in maintenance mode option 9.

maintenance mode.

or media may require service or drive may require cleaning.

displays in the single

Note the code on the single character display, and then go to the error code table in the troubleshooting section to determine the meaning of the error codes.

If a cleaning cartridge must be loaded.

appears on the SCD, a

Chapter 1. Introduction 1-5

Table 1-2. SCD, Ready/Activity LED, and Fault LED Descriptions (continued)

Condition of green Ready/ Activity LED

Condition of amber Fault LED

Off Flashing

Condition of white encryption LED

Condition of the SCD Panel

Condition of the SCD Dot

Off Off Off The drive is updating firmware. twice per second

Off Flashing

Off Off Off The drive detected an error and is once every 2 seconds

Rear Panel

Meaning of LEDs and SCD Panel and SCD Dot

performing a firmware recovery. It will reset automatically.

Figure 1-5. Rear Panel of Internal SAS Tape Drive

1 SAS connector 3 Library interface

2 Ethernet - not iSCSI - for

4 LED controls for library drive sled

transferring firmware and dumps only

Figure 1-6. Rear Panel of External SAS Tape Drive

1 Power connector 3 SAS connectors

2 Fan enclosure 4 Ethernet - not iSCSI - for transferring

firmware and dumps only

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Figure 1-7. Rear Panel of the Rack Mount Tape Drive

1 Power connector 3 SAS connectors

2 Fan enclosure 4 Ethernet - not iSCSI - for transferring

firmware and dumps only

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Chapter 1. Introduction 1-7

1-8 Dell PowerVault LTO Tape Drive User's Guide

Chapter 2. Setting Up the Tape Drive

v “Pre-installed Internal Drives”

v “Installing Internal Drives”

– “Installing the Internal Drive - Step-By-Step Instructions”

v “Installing External and Rack Mount Drives” on page 2-5

– “Installing the External Drive - Step-By-Step Instructions” on page 2-5

v “Verifying Drive Operation” on page 2-7

v “Loading Device Drivers” on page 2-7

v “Ethernet Service Port Procedures” on page 2-8

Pre-installed Internal Drives

Dell performs the installation and setup of internal tape drives that are shipped as part of a system. If tape backup software is included in your system, refer to the installation instructions included with the software.

For the latest supported software versions, go to the Dell support website http://support.dell.com or visit the support site of your backup software vendor.

Installing Internal Drives

If your internal tape drive is not pre-installed, the installation instructions are described in the following sections:

Installing the Drive — Prerequisites

The Dell PowerVault tape drive isa6GbSASdevice with a burst transfer rate of 600 MB per second. It is recommended that you use a dedicated SAS host bus adapter for this tape drive.

Mounting Bay

You need one industry-standard, 5 1/4 inch, half-height bay in which to install the PowerVault tape drive. The only supported mounting configurations are horizontally with the base of the drive parallel to the ground, or vertically with either the left or right side of the drive parallel to the ground.

Install and configure the drive according to the instructions provided in the Dell documentation for your system.

Mounting Hardware

Most systems use trays or rails to mount the tape drive. If the mounting hardware is pre-installed, you can simply slide the drive into the mounting bay. Some systems do not use slides or rails and drives must be fixed in place with screws.

Installing the Internal Drive - Step-By-Step Instructions

Procedure

1. Unpacking the Drive

2-1

Unpack the tape drive and store the packaging. You may need the packaging if you return the unit for service.

A period of time is required if the temperature of the drive when unpacked is different than the temperature of its operating environment (measured at the front of the bezel near the air intake area; see 1 in Figure 2-1). The recommended time is 4 hours after the drive has been unpacked or 1 hour after any condensation that you can see has evaporated, whichever is greater. To allow the drive to adjust to its new environment, apply the following measures:

v If the drive is colder than its operating environment and the air contains

sufficient humidity, condensation may occur in the drive and damage it. When the drive has warmed to the operating temperature range (greater than 10 degrees C or 50 degrees F) and no danger of condensation is present (the air is dry), warm the drive more quickly by powering it on for 30 minutes. Use a scratch tape to test the drive before inserting a tape that contains data.

v If the drive is hotter than its operating environment, the tape can stick to the

drive head. When the drive has cooled to the operating temperature range (less than 40 degrees C or 104 degrees F), cool the drive more quickly by applying airflow for 30 minutes. Power on the drive and use a scratch tape to test it before inserting a tape that contains data.

If you are uncertain about whether the temperature of the drive is within the recommended operating range or the humidity is sufficient to cause condensation, allow the drive to adjust to its new environment for the full 4 hours.

Figure 2-1. Air Intake Area

1 Air Intake Area

2. Removing Power from the System

a. Power-off the system.

b. Disconnect the power cord from both the electrical outlet and the system.

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3. Preparing the Mounting Bay in Your System

CAUTION: To avoid personal injury or damage to the system or tape drive, ensure that the system power cord is disconnected before you install the drive.

Refer to your system's documentation for instructions on how to prepare the mounting bay to receive the tape drive.

4. Attaching Mounting Hardware

If your system requires special rails or other hardware to install the tape drive, mount them on the tape drive in this step.

If your system does not require special mounting hardware, proceed to step 5.

5. Installing the Drive

Slide the tape drive into the open bay, aligning the tray or rails with the slots in the bay, as shown in Figure 2-2.

Figure 2-2. Install the Drive

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If your system does not use mounting hardware, check that the holes in the chassis are aligned with the holes in the side of the tape drive (see Figure 2-3 on page 2-4).

Chapter 2. Setting Up the Tape Drive 2-3

Figure 2-3. Mounting Holes on Tape Drive

1 M-3 mounting screw holes

Do not secure the drive with screws at this point because you may have to move the drive to get the cables in place.

6. Attaching SAS Cable

Attach the system SAS cable to the drive SAS connector, as shown in Figure 2-4.

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Figure 2-4. Attaching SAS Cable

1 SAS cable

2 Power cable

7. Securing the Drive

The tape drive can now be secured to the system as shown in Figure 2-5 on page 2-5. There are several ways to secure the drive. If the drive is on rails or in a sled, then push it in place. Some systems require the drive to be inserted into a media bay and attached directly to the system with screws.

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2-4 Dell PowerVault LTO Tape Drive User's Guide

Figure 2-5. Secure the Drive

8. Connecting Host System Power and Testing Power to the Tape Drive

Connect the power cord to the system and to the electrical outlet. To ensure that the drive is receiving power, watch for the following indicators while turning on the power to the system:

a. The single-character display presents a series of random characters.

b. The single-character display becomes blank (not lit).

c. The Fault LED briefly turns on, then the ready/activity LED turns on solid.

Installing External and Rack Mount Drives

Installing the Drive — Prerequisites

The SAS tape drive has a burst transfer rate of 600 MB per second. It is recommended that a dedicated host bus adapter is used for the tape drive.

Your system must have a properly installed and configured SAS host adapter or a SAS controller on the motherboard (if available) with driver software that supports the tape drive. Do not connect to a RAID controller channel; RAID controller channels are for disk drives only.

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Installing the External Drive - Step-By-Step Instructions

Procedure

1. Positioning the Tape Drive

Position the tape drive convenient to the system. The only restrictions are the length of the power cord and the length of the SAS cable. The following locations are recommended:

v Away from high-traffic areas, especially if the floor is carpeted.

v Out of copy rooms to avoid toner and paper dust. Do not store paper

supplies next to any unit.

v Away from moving air, such as doorways, open windows, fans, and air

conditioners.

Chapter 2. Setting Up the Tape Drive 2-5

v Off the floor.

v Where the tape cartridge can easily be inserted.

Only the following mounting positions are supported:

v In a horizontal or vertical position for external drives.

v In a horizontal position for rack mounted drives.

Notice: The external tape drive should not be stacked. Do not place anything

on top of the unit.

2. Connecting Power

An external Dell PowerVault Tape Drive will operate using any voltage in the range 100–240 volts (50–60 Hz). No adjustment is needed. To connect your drive to the power supply, proceed as follows:

a. Plug the power cable securely into the socket on the rear panel of the drive.

b. Plug the other end of the power cable into a grounded power outlet.

c. Power on the tape drive by pressing the power on/off button. The tape

drive runs the POST, which checks all hardware except the drive head.

3. Connecting the SAS Cable

Attach one end of the SAS cable to the SAS host adapter card installed in the system. Attach the other end of the SAS cable to the SAS connector on the rear panel of the tape drive. The cable can be up to 5 m (16.4 ft) long. This configuration is shown in Figure 2-6.

Figure 2-6. Connecting the SAS cable

1 System 4 Drive SAS connector

2 SAS host adapter card 5 Tape Drive

3 SAS cable

To connect a second system to the tape drive, attach one end of the second SAS cable to the SAS host adaptor installed in the second system. Attach the other end of the second SAS cable to the other SAS port on the rear panel of the tape drive. This configuration is shown in Figure 2-7 on page 2-7.

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Figure 2-7. Connecting two SAS Hosts to one Tape Drive

1 Tape Drive 4 SAS host adapter card

2 Drive shaft connector 5 System

3 SAS cable

Note: Unlike SCSI, the SAS architecture does not support daisy changing.

4. Configuring the Tape Drive to the Host

Power on the tape drive. Refer to your system and application software manuals to configure the tape drive for use.

Verifying Drive Operation

After you install the drive hardware, verify that it is functioning properly before you store your valuable data. Turn on the system. For external drives, turn on the drive before you turn on the system.

The tape drive will run its Power-On Self Test (POST), which checks all hardware except for the drive head. The single-character display will present a series of random characters, and then become blank (not lit). The fault LED will flash once, then the Ready/Activity LED will turn on solid.

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Verify that the tape drive installation was successful. Following the instructions given with your Tape Backup Software application, write test data to a tape, read the test data from the tape, and compare the data read from the tape with the original data on disk.

Loading Device Drivers

Microsoft Windows Server

This section describes how to install the Microsoft®Windows Server®Device Drivers for the tape drive.

Notice: Some backup software applications do not require device drivers to be

loaded and, in some cases, installing device drivers could interfere with proper functioning of the application. See the documentation for the respective application prior to loading these drivers. The latest drivers are available at http://support.dell.com.

Chapter 2. Setting Up the Tape Drive 2-7

Ethernet Service Port Procedures

To update the drive’s firmware using the ethernet interface:

Note: The drive uses a limited version of FTP protocol to communicate on the

ethernet interface. It is recommended to use a simple, command line FTP session, such as the DOS command prompt, when communicating with the drive. This product is not intended to be connected directly or indirectly by any means whatsoever to interfaces of public telecommunications networks. When the IP address has been changed to the customer LAN or DHCP has obtained a new address, the default address of the tape drive will still be available. This does not create a LAN conflict as the customer LAN address takes operational preference. The default address will not conflict with other drives having the default address. When the drive comes online the drive checks if the default address is on the LAN and will not become active while another drive is active. This is acceptable operation and at times a multi-drive LAN may see different drives with accessible default address.

1. Obtain the latest drive firmware from the web. Go to http://support.dell.com.

2. Connect an ethernet patch cable to the drive’s ethernet interface and to a

computer. In order to meet electromagnetic immunity requirements, a shielded ethernet cable is required.

3. Create an FTP session between the drive and the computer. The drive’s default IP address: 169.254.0.3.

4. At the user prompt, type guest and press Enter.

5. At the password prompt, press Enter. No response is needed.

6. Type bin to set the communication mode to binary.

7. Type put firmware name to transfer the firmware to the drive. Replace firmware

name with the actual firmware file name. The drive will reset automatically when the transfer is complete and the FTP session will be lost. Type quit to end the FTP session.

8. After the drive resets, the new firmware will be loaded on the drive.

9. Remove the ethernet patch cable from the drive’s ethernet interface.

Capturing a drive dump using the ethernet interface

Another way to capture a drive dump is using the ethernet port. To capture a dump on the drive using the ethernet interface follow the steps below.

Note: The drive uses a limited version of FTP protocol to communicate on the

1. Connect an ethernet patch cable to the drive’s ethernet interface and to a computer. In order to meet electromagnetic immunity requirements, a shielded ethernet cable is required.

2. Create an FTP session between the drive and the computer. The drive’s default IP address: 169.254.0.3.

3. At the user prompt, type guest and press Enter.

4. At the password prompt, press Enter. No response is needed.

5. Type bin to set the communication mode to binary.

6. Type mget *.dmp to transfer a drive dump to the computer. If a dump already

exists, the drive will show you the dump name and ask if you want to transfer

2-8 Dell PowerVault LTO Tape Drive User's Guide

it to the computer. Type y to transfer the existing dump or n to skip this dump file. Then the drive will ask if you want a forced dump. Type y to force a dump and to transfer the forced dump to the computer, or type n to skip forcing a dump.

7. Type quit to end the FTP session.

8. Remove the ethernet patch cable from the drive’s ethernet interface.

Chapter 2. Setting Up the Tape Drive 2-9

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Chapter 3. Using the Tape Drive

v “Operating the Drive”

v “Loading, Unloading, and Write-Protecting Cartridges” on page 3-2

v “Caring for Tape Cartridges” on page 3-5

v “Cleaning the Tape Mechanism” on page 3-7

Operating the Drive

Turn on the external drive by pushing the power on/off button on the front panel (Figure 3-1). Turn on the rack mount drive by pushing the power on/off button on the front panel (Figure 3-2).The tape drive runs its Power-On Self-Test (POST). At the end of the hardware self-test, the ready/activity LED must be solid green.

Figure 3-1. Turning on the External Drive

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1 Power On/Off Button

Figure 3-2. Turning on the Rack Mount Drive

Resetting the Drive

You can reset the drive without powering off the drive and system. This may be necessary if the drive stops responding. To do this, press and hold the eject button on the front panel of the tape drive for 10 seconds (Figure 3-3 on page 3-2). The drive forces a dump of vital technical data to drive memory and overwrites the existing dump. The drive then reboots to allow communication.

3-1

Figure 3-3. Resetting the Drive

1 Eject Button

Loading, Unloading, and Write-Protecting Cartridges

Use only LTO Ultrium format cartridges with your drive, as specified in the LTO Ultrium standard. Ensure that only one label is stuck to the label area of the cartridge. Do not use nonstandard labels, and do not stick anything to the cartridge other than in the label area.

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The Dell PowerVault LTO Tape Drive is compatible (see Supported Functions of Compatible Media Types) with the cartridges of its predecessors. Below is a

description of the functions that are supported on the different compatible media types:

Table 3-1. Supported Functions of Compatible Media Types

LTO

Cartridge

Generation

6 846 2500 6250 Yes No No No

6 WORM 846 2500 6250 Yes No No No

5 846 1500 3000 Yes Yes No No

5 WORM 846 1500 3000 Yes Yes No No

4 820 800 1600 RO Yes Yes No

4 WORM 820 800 1600 RO Yes Yes No

3 680 400 800 No RO Yes Yes

3 WORM 680 400 800 No RO Yes Yes

2 609 200 400 No No RO Yes

1 609 100 200 No No No RO

1 319 50 100 No No No RO

1 203 30 60 No No No RO

1 97 10 20 No No No RO

Tape

Length

(nominal)

(m)

Data Capacity

(native) (GB

Data Capacity (compressed

)

(GB

)

PowerVault

Generation

)

LTO 6

PowerVault

Generation

LTO 5

PowerVault

Generation

LTO 4

PowerVault

Generation

LTO 3

3-2 Dell PowerVault LTO Tape Drive User's Guide

+ 65 hidden pages

Dell Powervault LTO6 User Manual

Contents

Figures

Tables

Chapter 1. Introduction

Overview

Encryption

Specifications and Features

Tape Backup Software

Front Panel

Rear Panel

Chapter 2. Setting Up the Tape Drive

Pre-installed Internal Drives

Installing Internal Drives

Installing the Internal Drive - Step-By-Step Instructions

Installing External and Rack Mount Drives

Installing the External Drive - Step-By-Step Instructions

Verifying Drive Operation

Loading Device Drivers

Ethernet Service Port Procedures

Chapter 3. Using the Tape Drive

Operating the Drive

Loading, Unloading, and Write-Protecting Cartridges