IBM HPSS manual Multiple Media Support, Supported Platform/Driver/Tape Drive Combinations

9840C drives should not be used in conjunction with either 9840A or 9840B drives.

Table 2. Supported Platform/Driver/Tape Drive Combinations

Platform	Driver	Device(s)
AIX	IBM	3580	(Gen3, Gen4), 3592 (Gen2,
		Gen3)
	Native	3580	(Gen3, Gen4), 9840 (C, D),
		9940	(A, B), T10000 (A, B)
Linux	Native	3580	(Gen3, Gen4), 3592 (Gen2,
		Gen3), 9840 (C, D), 9940 (A, B),
		T10000 (A, B)
IRIX	Native	3580	(Gen3)

The “Driver” column uses the following abbreviations:

IBM	IBM SCSI Tape Device Driver (Atape)
Native	AIX, IRIX, or Linux native SCSI Tape Device Driver

Older tape drives (3590, 3590E, 3590H, 9840 (A & B), 3580 (Gen1 & Gen2), 3592 (Gen1 & Gen2), DST-312, DST-314) will continue to be supported for existing HPSS sites until they

can be upgraded.

3.4.4.1. Multiple Media Support

HPSS supports multiple types of media for certain drives. Listed in the following table is a preference list for each media type that can be mounted on more than one drive type. When the PVL starts, it determines the drive type that each type of media may be mounted on. It makes these decisions by traversing each media type’s list and using the first drive type from the list that it finds configured in the system. For example, referring to Table 2, it can be seen that a single-length 3590E tape will mount on a double-length 3590E drive if and only if there are no single-length 3590E drives configured in the system.

IBM 3592 and 3580 tape technologies support multi-generation reads and writes. The HPSS PVL which is responsible for creating the mount list, does not know the difference between a read and a write request. Thus the PVL will first attempt to mount a particular generation of cartridge into the same generation of drive. If the drives matching the generation of the cartridge are all busy, then it will attempt to mount the cartridge into the next generation drive (if available). For example, if a system has 3580 (LTO) Gen2, 3580 (LTO) Gen3, and 3580 (LTO) Gen4 cartridges and drives, a

3580 (LTO) Gen2 cartridge would be mounted into a 3580 (LTO) Gen2 drive (if not busy). If all the 3580 (LTO) Gen2 drives were busy, it would then attempt to mount the 3580 (LTO) Gen2 cartridge into a 3580 (LTO) Gen3 drive.

Since 3580 LTO tape drives support reading (but not writing) of two previous generations (e.g. 3580

HPSS Installation Guide	July 2008
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