Quantum LTFS User Manual
Quantum LTFS (Linear Tape File
System) User Guide
Introduction 3
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Intended usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Supported configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Linux: Installation and configuration 5
Downloading and Installing Quantum LTFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
To uninstall LTFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Mac OS X: Installation and configuration 7
Downloading and installing Quantum LTFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
To uninstall LTFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Using Quantum LTFS 8
How to use LTFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Usage details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Troubleshooting 12
General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Shared libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Using Quantum LTFS to check the cartridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Frequently asked questions 13
Contacting Quantum 15
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Quantum LTFS (Linear Tape File System) User Guide
6-67105-01 Rev B
December 2010
Made in the USA. Quantum Corporation provides this publication “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or
implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Quantum
Corporation may revise this publication from time to time without notice.
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
© 2010 Quantum Corporation. All rights reserved. Your right to copy this manual is limited by copyright law. Making copies
or adaptations without prior written authorization of Quantum Corporation is prohibited by law and constitutes a
punishable violation of the law.
TRADEMARK STATEMENT
Quantum, the Quantum logo, DLT, DLTtape, the DLTtape logo, SuperLoader, Scalar, StorNext, and DXi are registered
trademarks of Quantum Corporation, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Preserving the World's Most Important Data.
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Vision are trademarks of Quantum. LTO and Ultrium are trademarks of HP, IBM, and Quantum in the U.S. and other countries.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Specifications are subject to change without notice.
2 Contents
Quantum LTFS (Linear Tape File System) User Guide
Introduction
This guide provides information about Quantum Linear Tape File System
(Quantum LTFS) Software. Quantum LTFS makes tape self-describing, file-based,
and easy-to-use and provides users with the ability to use standard file
operations on tape media for accessing, managing and sharing files with an
interface that behaves like a hard disk. In addition, Quantum LTF S provides the
ability to share data across platforms, as you would with a USB drive or memory
stick.
Note: A firmware update may be required. Quantum LTFS will check and tell
you if your tape drive needs updating.
Features Quantum LTFS includes the following features:
• Provides all you need to use LTO–5 tape media like a disk
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• Based on open source software, subject to EULA terms and LGPL 2.1
requirements
• Precompiled application versions provided for supported platforms
• Full source code available
• Supported on Linux® and Mac OS® X
Benefits In addition to the wide range of benefits that Quantum LTO-5 Tape drives have
to offer, Quantum LTO-5 with Linear Tape File System (LTFS) functionality also
delivers:
• Faster access to data: When a tape is mounted, the files and directories
stored on it appear on the desktop in the same way as a disk directory
listing.
• Simple drag and drop: Quantum LTFS increases ease of use, simply drag and
drop files to and from the tape.
• Compatibility across your environment: Tape media written using Quantum
LTFS is self-describing so that data retrieval from tape is independent of any
hardware or software platforms.
• Increased data mobility: Easily share content to increase data mobility; tapes
written with the Quantum LTFS application can be exchanged more easily
between users working in different operating systems, using different
software and in different locations.
• A single storage media standard. Unify organization-wide file sharing with
Quantum LTO-5. Tapes can move across libraries and vendors with the ease
of video cassettes, while files on tape can be accessed using straightforward
drag-and-drop.
Introduction 3
Quantum LTFS (Linear Tape File System) User Guide
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Intended usage The Quantum LTFS application presents the contents of the tape like a disk
volume. However it is important to bear in mind that it is not a true disk, and
therefore there are some best practices to follow to ensure satisfactory
performance and a good user experience.
1 Quantum LTFS is designed to work best in a single-user environment, where
just one user is copying files to or from the tape. Multiple users or processes
trying to write and/or read at the same time will result in poor performance
due to the sequential access nature of tape.
2 For the same reasons, the tape drive should not be shared between different
systems. A single tape drive should be connected to a single host bus
adapter (HBA).
3 The expected usage model is to transfer large files between systems, by
mounting the tape on one system, writing the files, un-mounting, mounting
on the second system, and reading the files. Treating the tape volume as a
true random access device (for example frequently reading and updating
individual files) will not perform as well as streaming large files to/from
tape.
4 The Quantum LTFS application will work in conjunction with graphical file
explorer programs such as Nautilus (on Linux). However because these types
of applications tend to try to pre-read files in the directory, using the
graphical explorer window may lead to poor performance. Optimum
performance will be enjoyed by using a terminal window and issuing shell
commands to copy data, view directory contents etc.
5 The Quantum LTFS application utilizes a block size of 512 KB. Older Host Bus
Adapters may not support that block size, which would prevent being able
to create or mount an LTFS volume.
6 Tape activity may continue for several minutes after un-mounting an LTFS
volume. Do not attempt to remove the tape cartridge, power down the
system or tape drive, or delete the folder where the LTFS volume is
mounted, until all tape activity has finished. Check the front panel LEDs and
wait for them to stop flashing. Attempting these actions before tape activity
has finished may cause corruption of the tape format.
7 Quantum LTO 5 tape drives are optimized for high speed data transfer. For
best results, when copying data to or from an LTFS volume, utilize a device
which can sustain a transfer rate of at least 50 MB/s.
Architecture Quantum LTFS is a user space application, making use of the FUSE kernel mode
subsystem included in Linux systems. On the Apple® Mac OS platform it uses
the MacFUSE module.
Supported configurations
Quantum LTFS supports:
• LTO–5 Tape Drives with SAS interfaces
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.4 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• SuSE Enterprise Linux (SLES) 11 Service Pack 1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6, 32-bit kernel only)
4 Introduction
Quantum LTFS (Linear Tape File System) User Guide
Note: See the Compatibility Matrix on www.quantum.com/LTFS for the latest
details on supported operating system and hardware configurations.
Linux: Installation and configuration
When using Quantum LTFS with Quantum LTO-5 tape drives, the following
components are required:
• A drive firmware revision that supports dual partitioning. Quantum LTFS will
check and tell you if your tape drive firmware needs updating
• The software package that contains the “run-time” executable, this can be
found at
• The FUSE kernel module and shared libraries
Note: XTalk version 6.4.1.1 or later provides a new "LTFS check" test that
www.quantum.com/LTFS.
determines whether or not dual partitioning and LTFS are supported.
XTalk is not supported under Mac OS.
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Downloading and Installing Quantum LTFS
To download and install Quantum LTFS:
1 Before starting to install and use Quantum LTFS, you must ensure that the
FUSE kernel module is present and loaded.
To check whether FUSE is installed, the following commands may be used:
For RHEL:
$rpm‐qifuse
$rpm‐qifuse‐libs
For SLES:
$rpm‐qifuse
$rpm‐qilibfuse2
* If the module is not present on your system, you must first obtain and
then install it.
For RHEL 5, Update 4 or later:
The required FUSE packages are fuse and fuse-libs, version 2.7 or later.
For SLES 11:
The required FUSE packages are fuse and libfuse2, version 2.7 or later.
* If FUSE cannot be installed via an RPM package, the source code may be
downloaded from the following location:
http://fuse.sourceforge.net/
* After FUSE has been installed, the following command may be used to
check whether the module is loaded:
Linux: Installation and configuration 5
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