Hi Experts,
I need to know how can we get the details of tape media via command in netbackup.
Manufacture:-
Capacity:
Model:-
Type:-
Basically tapes hardware specs... Pls help.
Why do you need this information from NetBackup? Seems to me it's like asking Ford to identify the fuel you've put into the tank. Check the pump instead of looking in the gas tank.
the only info you will get is using <netbackup_dir>\volmgr\bin\vmquery -m <mediaid>
Not sure how much info it will give you though. NetBackup only needs to know the Type (NetBackup type)
media ID: A01000
media type: 1/2" cartridge tape (6)
barcode: A01000L4
status: 0x0
SHORT ANSWER:
You need to track media manually, as the media is loaded in the robot.
LONG ANSWER
You would be better off using the library software to get media information. Your library may not be able to provide this information either.
For Netbackup to have information about a tape it would have to get the information from the tape library. The tape library would have to get the information from the tape.
How would the library determine what sort of tape you have placed inside?
I think that the only way to get information about a tape is to load each tape in to the drive and read the header. However, I don't think that a tape header contains the information you are looking for.
It is better to keep track of your media with an asset tracking system before you place the media in the robot. Then you can track the media by barcode from there forward.
Some people use L6 barcodes to track LTO-6 tapes. If you put an L6 barcode on an LTO-4 tape then your system is ruined.
NOTE:
Density HCART designations in Netbackup are arbitrary. You can make them whatever you want. Netbackup doesn't know or care. It needs to be set to match your manual tape tracking process.
The manufacturer is read off the RFID chip inside the cartridge by NBU, via the drive - nothing to do with the library. I dont think we store it but it is displayed in the bptm log, somewhere around the time the tape is mounted - you might have to turn the verbose level up, not sure.
The other values can be deterined from vmquery.
That's amazing. I've never seen a tape with RFID on it. I think those cartridges cost extra.
Why do you need this information from NetBackup? Seems to me it's like asking Ford to identify the fuel you've put into the tank. Check the pump instead of looking in the gas tank.
LOL! Excellent comparison Will!!!
In 15 years with NBU I have never tried to get this info from NBU.
NBU does not need or store this info.
Capacity is not something that NBU knows. It simply writes until the tape driver returns 'media full' message.
NBU will then mark tape status as Full. Capacity depends on type of data and compressibility.
Take a cartridge in your hand.
You should be able to find the info your looking for.
If the tape library is at a remote location, ask someone to take a picture or photostat and send it to you.
Always use the native capacity on the cartridge when doing capacity planning (due to to types of data).
It should look similar to these pictures:
http://www.backupworks.com/productimages/fujifilm-tape/Fuji_LTO6.jpg
http://www.storagenewsletter.com/images/public/sites/StorageNewsletter.com/articles/0icono12/maxell_lto_ultrium_6.jpg
http://www.backupworks.com/productimages/ibm-tape/IBM_LTO6.jpg
http://www.backupworks.com/productimages/quantum-tape/Quantum_LTO6.jpg
Nope, all LTO tapes have RFID chips ... and some other types as well I believe, though in the main, we only see LTO type, anothing else is a bit of a rare treat.
Imation do a product called 'Secure Scan' which reads the data off teh chip (there is quite a lot of info on there) and runs analysis on it, not sure if it is still available thought.
https://support.imation.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1099
They actually cam e in to my previous place of work and ran an early version of this product (the protype I believe ...) and spent a day scanning about 1200 tapes from one of our libraries that was having a few problems - they identified 15 faulty tapes, just from the chip.
They could determin that the tapes had an issue at xx GB written point (cant remember the exact value) - this corresponded to the data written to the outside edge of the tape (LTO start to write the data in the physical middle of the tape, at the end the heads move out a bit and write in the other direction, at some point the heads are writing right on the edge of the tape).
This was concluded as physical damage to the edge of the tape, either they were dropped at some point of had suffered 'shoe-shining' which loosens the tape pack inside the casing, then any physical moment (even the vibration from the robot grabbing the tape from/ to the slot or drive) could damage to any 'strands' of tape that pertrudes above the tape pack, due to the tension in the tape being reduced by having been run below the streaming speed for the drive.
So the RFID chip is in the label.You can put any label you want on the media. You can still put an old DLT label on an LTO cartridge and the robot will think it's a DLT. This is why I say that media tracking is manual. You give the label meaning. It has no intrinsic meaning. For the RFID chip to have all the information that you claim it does the drive would have to write this information to the chip before eject. This information may not be accurate.
You cannot read the information on the outside edge of the tape wirelessly.
There are a lot of variables here. Most importantly the drive manufacuterer would dictate what information is placed on the RFID tag if the tape has such a label. The point is that Netbackup would not have this information. I wouldn't tell people to expect their hardware to have a bunch of features without knowing what their hardware is.
From Wikipedia:
Every LTO cartridge has a cartridge memory chip inside it. It is made up of 256 (128 on LTO-1, 2 and 3) blocks of memory, where each block is 32 bytes for a total of 8 KB (4 KB on LTO-1, 2 and 3). This memory can be read or written, one block at a time, via a non-contacting passive RF interface. This memory is used to identify tapes, to help drives discriminate between different generations of the technology, and to store tape-use information.
Every LTO drive has a cartridge memory reader in it. The non-contact interface has a range of 20 mm.[57] External readers are available, both built into tape libraries and PC based. One such reader, Veritape, connects by USB to a PC and integrates with analytical software to evaluate the quality of tapes.[58] This device is also rebranded as the Spectra MLM Reader[59] and the Maxell LTO Cartridge Memory Analyzer.[60]
"So the RFID chip is in the label.You can put any label you want on the media. You can still put an old DLT abel on an LTO cartridge and the robot will think it's a DLT. This is why I say that media tracking is manual. You give the label meaning. It has no intrinsic meaning. For the RFID chip to have all the information that you claim it does the drive would have to write this information to the chip before eject. This information may not be accurate."
No, the chip is inside the plastic case, if you break open an old lto tape you will find it in one of the corners.
It is true that some, but not all, libraries identfy tape type via the barcode label - this has nothing to do with the chip.
The chip does indeed have the information I mentioned - understanding and formatting it is another matter as in it's raw format it's a bit meaningless. The information is accurate, there is no reason for it not to be and I've never seen any evidence that it isn't.
LTO is a standard, it was jointly developed by three manufacturers if I recall correctly - all tapes have the chip and to the very best of my knowledge, the information stored in the chip is identicle no matter which tape brand.
