compaq or IBM drives in 20/700

[Alper Ozdemir]

Hi All,

is it possible to use Compaq-IBM's DLT drives or IBM ultrium drives in HP Tape Library 20/700? If yes, do we need any additional mounting kit?

[Duncan Edmonstone]

I would say that technically yes it may be possible, but you can expect a lot of resistance from HP from a support perspective.

HTH

Duncan

[Breider · Accepted solution]

Not only are there support issues, there may very well be firmware inconsistancies. Those drives have never been integrated, and therefore never tested in that environment. The other problem is that the drives in the 20/700 have a special mounting tray/power supply chassis that may not work with those other drives from a power or hardware mounting perspective...

-Barry

[David Ruska]

Just to reemphasize what Barry said, the drives assemblies are unique to each type of library. In addition to mechanical mounting and electrical connections, the drives need a variant of firmware specifically for the library they are in. For example, the STK libraries use OMX-105 variant of DLT drive firmware. Likewise each Ultrium drive will typically have a specific variant of firmware for each library type they integrate into. Lastly, the library firmware itself needs to be integrated with the specific drive both from a electrical and mechanical interaction point of view. Thus, only use a drive module specifically integrated with the library hardware and firmware you have.