StorageTek 6 manual Managing Cleaning Cartridges, Manual Tape Transport Cleaning

Messages are written to the console if any over-use cleaning cartridges are found in the ACS, how many were found, and if an over-use cleaning cartridge has been kept in the ACS. These messages help the operator manage cleaning cartridges in the ACS.

Managing Cleaning Cartridges

Appropriate numbers of compatible cleaning cartridges must be available to clean the transports attached to an LSM. While there is no minimum number of cleaning cartridges, optimally, each LSM should contain multiple cleaning cartridges for each type of transport attached to the LSM. This ensures that automated cleaning avoids pass-thrus for cleaning cartridges.

If all transports in an LSM are scheduled for cleaning at the same time (by a scheduled or operator-entered CLean command), each LSM should contain one cleaning cartridge for every tape transport attached to the LSM.

Managing cleaning cartridges is especially important when automatic ejection of over-use cleaning cartridges has been disabled by the MNTD EJctauto command. On a regular basis, these cleaning cartridges must be identified, ejected from the ACS, and replaced with new cleaning cartridges.

Use the Volume Report utility to identify over-use cleaning cartridges. Select the cleaning cartridges by volser range and sort the output by use:

VOLRpt VOLser(CLN000-CLN999) SORT(USE) DEScend

The ‘‘Cln Use’’ column on the report identifies:

N = Not usable cartridges (including spent cleaning cartridges)

M = Over MAXclean, for over-limit cleaning cartridges

Spent and over-limit cleaning cartridges are also identified on the SLSCDATA flat file requested by the VOLDATA parameter. Volume data is mapped by the SLUVVDAT macro. Volumes that are not usable (i.e., spent) are identified by VOLNOUSE. The MAXclean value that applies to a cleaning cartridge is carried in the VOLMXCLN field.

Manual Tape Transport Cleaning

If auto-cleaning is disabled, tape transports must be cleaned manually. This process can be performed without entering the LSM.

Two methods that may be used to accomplish this task are:

•issue a Mount command to mount a cleaning cartridge on the transport. When cleaning is complete, enter a DISMount command to remove the cleaning cartridge from the transport.

•use an automated operations package to mount and dismount the correct cleaning cartridge(s) on the transport(s). Coordination and setup is required to implement this

Chapter 2. Host Software Component Functions 41

1st ed., 6/30/04 - 312579601