MSL 6030 with two different drives (LTO-2 and LTO-3)

[Mindaugas]

Hi,
have somebody ever used such configuration?
Backup software - Veritas BE.

I cannot find information, how library works with different tape drives and media.
Does library by default understand how to manage this configuration?

Thank You.

[Bruno J. Melo]

Hi,

Yes, it's possible. But you need to set up the media pools according. When you configure a Job you should define which tape drive you want to use and which media pool. That way you won't end up using LTO4 media on the LTO3 tape drive or vice-versa...

HTH

[RTMJ]

1. This can be troublesome in terms of tape handling, when you mix different drive types in a single library. More work for human.

2. You have 2 different types of tape drives (lto-2 and lto-3)installed in the library. So what type of tapes are you using? Are you also going to mix lto-2 and lto-3 tapes? Take note that your lto-2 tape will work on a lto-3 drive. But your lto-3 tape will not work in a lto-2 drive.

3. You have to also be careful with performance issue.

[Mindaugas]

Yes, the tapes will be mixed, but as I understood from Bruno post, it can be controlled assigning tapes into pools.
RTMJ, please explain a bit more about "performance issue", why it have to arise.

[Leon Mimpen]

Compatibility:
LTO3 drive + LTO3 tapes: read / write
LTO3 drive + LTO2 tapes: read
LTO2 drive + LTO3 tapes: none
LTO2 drive + LTO2 tapes: read / write

Performance:
It is recommended to connect both drives to a separate SCSI bus / adapter.
This is only an issue if you want to use the drives simultaneously.

Regards,

Leon