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Adding a Tape Library Device

A tape library device is a single media drive in a tape library (for example, a DLT drive). supports backups to tape libraries on LANs, WANs, or SANs. For information on adding standalone devices, see Adding a Device.

Guidelines for adding a tape library device:

  • A tape library device always belongs to a previously defined tape library.

  • A tape library device cannot belong to more than one tape library.

  • All devices in a tape library must use the same media (for example, DLT).

  • Tape drives must be capable of writing in variable block size mode. For some operating systems (for example, IRIX) the default device driver is for fixed block size; in such case, you must obtain and install a tape device driver with variable block size writing capability. These are often available from the manufacturers’ websites.

Warning! DPX uses a default tape block size of 64 KB for Windows device servers. Although current tape drives can handle this block size, there are a few older tape drives, such as an IBM QIC, that can only handle a maximum of 32 KB block size. With the default setting of 64 KB blocks, the backup will be successful on these older tape drives, but the data cannot be restored. If you suspect that any tape drives added to your Enterprise are designed for 32 KB blocks, it is a good idea to run a small test backup and restore to verify that data backed up to that drive can be restored. If the test fails, you may refer to the Knowledge Base for directions on verifying the block size capacity of tape drives and changing the block size setting. For more information about this issue, read the knowledge base article 39108.

To define a new device:

  1. Click Configure on the Function Tab bar of the window, then click Devices.

  2. Open the Add Device dialog in the right pane by doing one of the following:

    • Right-click the tape library name or icon to display a context menu. The selection is indicated by the selection check box next to the tape library icon. Then select Add Device.

    • In the left pane, select the tape library to which you want to add the device and do one of the following:

      • From the menu bar, select Device > Add Device.

      • On the task panel, click Add Device.

    The Add Tape Library Device dialog appears.

  3. Complete the active fields in the Add Device dialog:

Device Name Enter a name for the device (up to 48 alphanumeric characters, no spaces). This is a logical name used to conveniently refer to the device (for example, SALES_DRIVE1).

Logical Node Name (non-SAN device only)

Note. For SAN devices, you must define Logical Node Name in the Add Device Path dialog. See Adding a SAN Device Path in the DPX 4.10 Reference Guide.

Select the name of the node to which the device is attached (for example, SALES_SERVER1) from the pull-down menu. This node must have been previously defined (via the Configure Enterprise window). You can have multiple devices on a node, up to the limit the hardware supports.

On the Device Resource Tree, the non-SAN device appears as device_name@logical_node_name.

Device Number This field identifies a device within the tape library. The first storage device is usually 0. For each additional device, the Device Number increments (i.e., your second device would be 1).

There is a critical relationship between Device Number and Device ID for tape library devices. See Determining Device Number and Device ID.

Device ID (non-SAN device only)

Note. For SAN devices, you must define Device ID in the Add Device Path dialog. See Adding a SAN Device Path in the DPX 4.10 Reference Guide.

For devices on UNIX, Linux and OES Linux, enter the path to the device file. For example, for Linux, the first storage device is usually /dev/nst0. For each additional device, the number in the path increments, thus your second device would be /dev/nst1.

The following table lists common Device ID nomenclature for various flavors of UNIX:

Warning! Support for some of the documented operating systems may have been discontinued.

  • For devices on supported versions of Windows, the first device is normally called \\.\Tape0. For each additional device, the number in the ID increments (i.e., your second device is \\.\Tape1). You can find this information displayed in Tape Devices in the Control Panel of the Windows node. To do so, go to the Control Panel, select Tape Devices, choose the Properties tab, select the device, and click Properties. The Device ID is referred to as the Device Map.

See also. Device Detection

Unique ID

Tip. This field is enabled only if you first set the Allow to Update Unique ID option using the Option menu. An asterisk indicates the option is enabled.

This optional field identifies a device uniquely. Generally, it is the hardware serial number.

Comment Enter an optional comment up to 48 characters.

  1. Select Add on the task menu at the top right of the right pane. If you are unable to see the task menu, resize the right pane.

Note. After defining a SAN device, you need to add SAN device paths. Adding a SAN Device Path in the DPX 4.9.x Reference Guide.

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