MSL6060 + E1200 router firmware updates

[Mark Bly]

We have two MSL6060 tape libraries at different sites.
Both libraries contain 4 Ultrium 460 tape drives and 2 E1200 routers (2 drives per router)

There was a gap of a few months between the purchase of each library but they have been set up identical (wiring etc)

I recently compared the firmware of each library and discovered that they were not at the same level:

Site A
Library Firmware: 4.23
E1200 Firmware: 5.01.04
Ultrium drive: F38W

Site B
Library Firmware: 4.23
E1200 Firmware: 5.3.0b
Ultrium drive: F43W

I am keen to get the firmware upgraded but need to know of any potential problems (I do not want to be responsible for ruining our backup strategy)
We have HP support for both of these libraries. Is it possible to get an HP engineer to perform the upgrades?

Both of the libraries are attached to HP-UX servers and use Data Protector 5.0 for backups.
I am worried that if I upgrade the E1200 router firmware the device files on HP-UX will change or worse still a re-boot of the HP-UX system would be required.

One thing that I did notice was that an ioscan on a system attached to the library with the newer E1200 firmware showed the Library controller, 4 drives and the E1200 router. An ioscan on a system attached to the other library did not show up the E1200 router but the library controller and drives were shown.
Is this due to the firmware level?

The library with the older firmware has had a few issues with backups failing due to a scsi reset. The HP-UX systems and the library have been zoned on the Brocade switch and all device files have been set up as no-rewind devices but still a reset on the SAN appears to interrupt a running backup. This is usually seen when one of the servers in the zone is re-booted. Could this be due to the E1200 firmware level?

Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

Regards,

Mark

[Kurt Beyers.]

Mark,

the FW upgrade can easily be performed by using eg the web based gui of the NSR (Utilities - FTP session) and the web based gui of the library itself. Or use a serial connection to the library and the NSR (different serial cables required). Mostly I use the web based gui to perform the upgrade. Just connect a laptop with a crossover cable to exclude any network issues. You can sak HP to perform the FW upgrade, but you will probably have to pay for it (depending on your contract, a FW upgrade is only done when you have a HW issue with a library and there is a HW support contract).

Concerning the ioscan that does see the NSR router on one library and don't see it on the other lbirary. I think that this is caused because the NSR is present in the device mapping of the first library and has been removed from the device mapping in the second library. I remove it always from the device mapping. The NSR does not need to be controlled by ay of the hosts.

Concerning the SCSI reset if a server in the SAN is rebooted. I rather would blame your backup software for this. With DataProtector you can reboot any server in the SAN while backups are running without any issues.

Check the issue list that is fixed with the new FW and see if it applies to your environment.

I do a FW upgrade only when I'm dealing with an issue that is fixed with the new FW, this does not happen very frequently.

Of course make sure that the FW of drives and NSR's in the same library is of the same revision.

best regards,
Kurt

[Mark Bly]

Kurt,

Thanks for the reply.

I am still concerned about the SCSI resets.
We also use Data Protector 5.0 (fully patched)but even after following the recommended steps to prevent resets we still experience problems.

1. Set all devices in HP-UX to no rewind
2. Disable EMS monitoring of tape drives
3. Put servers and Tape Library in same zone

Any ideas as to what else can cause this issue? (Non of our Windows servers can see this Library - I am aware that these can cause issues)


I am also concerned about the device files in HP-UX changing if I upgrade the NSR. We use the 'Auto Assigned' option for our Default Map.
Are you aware if this happens and would I need to reboot the HP-UX box?


Regards,

Mark

[Mark Bly]

Closing old thread.