Do I need to change hcart for tape LTO4 when I have library robotics has drive LTO5?

[Paulo_Mendez]

Do I need to change  hcart for  tape LTO4  when I have library robotics has drive LTO5?

[Marianne]

LTO5 drives can read and write LTO4 tapes, but in NBU the densities must match. So, if you drives are hcart2, the media must be hcart2 as well.

[Vijay8007]

You can use Drive type as HCART for LTO4 / LTO5 drives and tapes and this is supported in Netbackup.

Also Netbackup do not have any specific types which can be used for LTO4 / LTO5 drives or tapes.

[Paulo_Mendez]

then it must be changed to drive LTO5 hcart2  for Tape LTO4 hcart ?

[Omar_Villa]

Like Marianne said if they dont match you need to change them.

[Paulo_Mendez]

Is it necessary to create a storage unit type  hcart for LTO4 because currently the storage unit type is hcart2 for LTO5  ?

[Andy_Welburn]

Do you have LTO4 drives or just media?

Do you have LTO5 media or just drives?

I'm presuming that you only have LTO5 drives (& maybe media) & only LTO4 media......

If you have LTO5 drives (and media) & LTO4 media (but no drives), then ensure that the media type (i.e. HCART or HCART2) match throughout - media, drives, storage units.

[Will_Restore]

change media type:

  vmchange -new_mt

change drive type:

  tpconfig -update -drive -type

[Paulo_Mendez]

When I make the change hcart  to LTO5 drive so you can write and read LTO4 tapes, the backup fails and gives me the drive down state Drive LTO5 How to be the cause of the error?; Does the error rate is the storage unit is not present with code 96?

[Marianne]

Down drives and status 96 are different issues.

For status 96, you need to confirm that drive type in robot number matches density and robot number as well as available media of same density in same robot number.

To troubleshoot down drive(s) you need VERBOSE entry in vm.conf (in volmgr folder) on media server. Restart NBU after adding the entry. Reason for DOWN drive will be logged in syslog on Unix media server and Event Viewer Application log on Windows next time the drive goes down.

[Paulo_Mendez]

drive LTO5  has been changed to  hcart LTO4 media, the storage unit is also type hcart, services resumed but the error persists.

Please I need support in terms of the error message

29-11-2011 15:30:09 - mounting A00011
29-11-2011 15:30:09 - Info bptm(pid=2884) INF - Waiting for mount of media id A00011 on server sun245 for reading.
29-11-2011 15:30:09 - granted resource A00011
29-11-2011 15:30:09 - granted resource IBM.ULTRIUM-HH5.000
29-11-2011 15:30:14 - Error bptm(pid=2884) error requesting media, TpErrno = Robot operation failed     
29-11-2011 15:30:14 - current media A00011 complete, requesting next resource IBM.ULTRIUM-HH5.000:Disponibles:A00011
29-11-2011 15:30:20 - awaiting resource IBM.ULTRIUM-HH5.000:Disponibles:A00011 A pending request has been generated for this resource request.
     Operator action may be required. Pending Action: All drives down.,
     Media ID: A00011, Barcode: --------, Density: hcart, Access Mode: Write,
     Action Drive Name: N/A, Action Media Server: N/A, Robot Number: 0, Robot Type: TLD,
     Volume Group: 001_00000_TLD, Action Acs: N/A, Action Lsm: N/A
    
29-11-2011 15:38:44 - end Erase; elapsed time: 00:10:53
error requesting media (tpreq)(98)

[Marianne]

error requesting media, TpErrno = Robot operation failed  

Operator action may be required. Pending Action: All drives down.

Use the GUI or 'vmquery -m A00011' to get slot number for this tape.

Next, use robtest to test mount/dismount from drive.

See http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH83129

examples:

s d returns the status of all drives

s s returns the status of all slots

m s1 d1 moves the contents of slot 1 into drive 1.

unload d1 rewinds the tape in the drive and releases the read/write head

m d1 s1 moves the tape from drive 1 into slot 1

Please also share more info about your environment:

NBU version
OS on Master/robot control host
New robot? If so make/model?

It seems that you are using tapes without barcodes?
"Media ID: A00011, Barcode: -------- "

Some robots (e.g. STK) will not mount non-barcoded media.

Please also remember to add VERBOSE to vm.conf (and restart NBU after adding entry) for further troubleshooting.

[Paulo_Mendez]

Also update the EMM with Mappings_v199, 

The data that you request are as follows:

O.S Windows 2008 R2 Standard.

Netbackup 7.1 (Master and Media Servers)

Tape Library RLS8444H  SAS

Drive IBM LTO 5 SAS

please if you can validate if it supports Qualstar robotic library RLS8444H SAS ?

Sincerely

[Marianne]

Supported Qualstar robots on p. 112 & 113 of NetBackup 7 Hardware Compatibility List (HCL):    http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH76495

[Paulo_Mendez]

Qualstar tape library appear RLS FC and SCSI type in nbu_7x_hcl-2.pdf, the type library is RLS8444H SAS, there no problem for the type of connection Netbackup Level?

[Marianne]

You are correct - SAS connection is not listed.

[Paulo_Mendez]

Do you know if Symantec Netbackup 7.1 has been tested with this library robotics (RLS8444H SAS)?

[Marianne]

Sorry - no idea. I just know what's in the compatibility guide. The latest one is dated 20 Nov 2011. The assumption is - probably not....

Please see the following on p. 4 of the HCL :

Qualified hardware listed in this document is tested through the Symantec Technology Enabled Program (STEP). If you would like to have hardware considered for inclusion on this HCL, please contact your hardware partner to ensure they are a member of STEP and have submitted a request to have their product qualified with NetBackup. Information on STEP is available at http://www.symantec.com/partners/programs/technology-partners/step.jsp

[Mark_Solutions]

You may find that what ever you have done is trying to put an LTO5 tape in an LTO4 drive - the library itself should refuse this and if not it will fail to read it when it does put it in the drive.

I think in view of how much is in this thread it would be good to ping things down a little please so that we are all clear .... so

1. How Many tape libraries do you have

2. how many tape drives in each and are they LTO4 or LTO5 or a mixture

3. What are your LTO4 tapes currently set as (hcart / hcart2?)

4. What are your LTO5 tapes currently set as (hcart / hcart2?)

5. how many storage units do you have and of what density.

What i am thinking is that if you have LTO4 drives in the same library that has LTO5 drives and they are all set to be the same then NetBackup could request that an LTO5 tape be put into an LTO4 drive and this will fail.

In your above error if IBM.ULTRIUM-HH5.000 is LTO4 and A00011 is LTO5 then you will get the error - i am guessing it is not the case but it may be the library refusing it if you have your barcode labels wrong on the tapes - for example if A00011 has a bar code of A00011L4 then the library will not put it in an LTO5 drive, even if it is an LTO5 tape - it would need a L5 on the end

Hope all of this helps - get back with the details based on what i have covered above

[Paulo_Mendez]

1.- are 2 tape drive LTO5

2.-Only LTO4 tapes without barcode

3.-are as hcart2 and should be as hcart and continuing the problem of writing about these LTO4 tape, made the change to drive LTO5 of hcart2 to hcart

4.-currently do not have tapes LTO5, I am using LTO4 tapes

 5.-Three Three Storage Unit

• One for the LTO3 as hcart3 to retrieve information from those tapes
• One for LTO5 as hcart2 to write and read tapes LTO5
• One for LTO4 as hcart to write and read LTO4 tapes, which are the tapes I am using

I'm also using a barcode rule as hcart3 my question is Should I create an additional barcode rule  tapes LTO4 with barcode L4 type hcart  ?