How do i know if the tape dirve is bootable or not?

[Deborshi Dutta]

This is a general querey regarding the tape drives. I wonder if someone can tell me the way to find out if a tape drive is bootable or not and how do I make a tape drive bootable if that is possible?

[Torsten.]

What server model and OS do you have in mind?

[Deborshi Dutta]

If it is OS specific and server model specific then I am not sure of how it will impact the bootable feature of the drive. But for eg, we could say W2K3 server on any compatible ML server.

[Torsten.]

Keep in mind there are not only proliant servers and not only windoz systems.

HP Integrity and HP 9000 servers are able to boot from almost every HP tape drive (if you write the boot files to the tape).

Regarding proliants see

http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storageworks/drs/index.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

and

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/tape/OBDR/Compatibility_Matrices.pdf

[Wei Jung]

OBDR is supported only in stand alone drives and DAT72x6 autoloaders.

As Torsten said, the matrix is in here:
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/tape/OBDR/Compatibility_Matrices.pdf

You do have to acknowledge that it is not only the drive the requirement but also it is needed to have a Backup Utility capable of creating bootable cartridges.

[Deborshi Dutta]

Thank you very much for the reply. Is there any utility which we can use to make a drive bootable and are there any other feature apart from the OBDR which will let us know if the drive is bootable or not?

Regards,
Deborshi Dutta

[Wei Jung]

It is explained in the OBDR user guide for Proliants

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/tape/OBDR/user_guide.pdf