Tape library IBM TS3100 and backup exec 2012

In the Windows Device Manager, check that your tape library is listed as an Unknown Medium Changer with a Microsoft driver and is functioning correctly.  Also, make sure that your tape drives are function correctly.

If either the tape library or the tape drives are not listed in the Device Manager, then BE will not be able to use them.

David, I am not sure if I am correct in assuming that the Library is connected over Fibre channel as this is the only supported interface for this library with Backup Exec.

Is the whole library, i.e 2 tape drives and medium changer visible in the Windows Device Manager.

If it is visible there, make sure that the Medium changer is running with Microsoft Drivers and is listed Unknown medium changer and both the Tape drives are using Symantec drivers. If they are running OEM drivers then use tapeinst.exe (Backup Exec program folder) and install Symantec drivers (Reboot if prompted).

Once everything is visible in Windows Device Manager with proper drivers, the library should be visible in Backupexec and can be used for backups.

As for Windows Server 2012, there is a beta SP released, which will allow you to backup these servers using a remote agent. Windoes Server 2012 is not supported as a media server currently and there is no public eta available on this.

Hello again,

Device library is connected through a SAS cable/card.

I have been checking in the device manager and I can see the LSI Adapter, SAS2 FAlcon -storport, and also IBM ULT3580-HH6 SCSI sequential Device, but i see no reference to tape library.

Do you mean if the library is connected through SAS interface, backup will never be able to work with it?

Thank you very much.

Kind Regards.

David.

...the fact that the robotics don't show up in Device Manager lead me to believe there is some sort of incompatibility between the SAS card and the library.

Make sure that the SAS card supports tape libraries. If it doesn't organise a card that does...

Thanks!

Hi,

Thank you for all for your answers, I have just contacted IBM Support and I am waiting for theirt call. Once Windows is able to see it I will update the discussion.

Thank you a lot,

David.

Make sure that your HBA does not support RAID, with the exceptions listed in the document below

Support policy for HBA that feature RAID

Hello again,

I have just talk to IBM support and now I can see medium changer in the device manager. it was a problem with firmware of the library. It appears as unknown medium changer, but I can see it.

I have tried again to discover the library in storage configuration, tape storage, install drivers for tape devices, but I had no new result. So I have unistalled every symantec driver and install it again, and finally I can see the library.

Thank you all for your support. 

kind regards.

David.

...it MUST show up as "Unknown Medium Changer" in Device Manager. This is correct.

Thanks!

1) As PKH said, make sure you are not using a RAID SAS HBA, unless it is one of hte few that are supported.

2) I beleive that you have an issue with the "control path" (or lack thereof).  Since I believe that you are only connected to one of the two tape drives, you are only seeing one tape drive in Windows device manager.  To see both tape drives in Windows Device Manager, you would need two connections to the library.

The robotic library is typically a LUN device ot one of the tape drives.  So depending upon which tape drive you connect to, you have a 50/50 chance of seeing that robotic library.  To resolve this, you can either reconfigure the library to add/change the control path OR you can connect to the other tape drive.

If you intend to hook this library up to two different servers, you probably want to create hardware partitions on the library.  when that happens each of the tape drives will present a control path to the server.