General Information on the 7205 DLT Tape Drive


Environment

OS Level: AIX Version 4.2.1
Type/Model: 990

Problem

General information on the 7205 DLT tape drive is requested.

Solution

General information on the 7205 DLT tape drive is provided below.

NOTE: This drive is very sensitive to block size. For example, using a block size of 1024 and backing up 32GB of data will take approximately 22 hours. 32GB of data backed up at a block size of 30,000 will take approximately two hours. Small block sizes have a significant impact on performance, but only a minimal impact on capacity. However, 2.6 format (density) and 6 format (density) are significantly impacted in capacity by using small block sizes because they do not pack the data in the internal block. Users should ensure the block size they select is supported by their application. Compression will depend upon the type of data. A compression ratio of 2:1 is assumed for this compressed capacity.

The optimal block size for this drive is 262144 or, to take advantage of variable length, block size should be 0 (zero).

If the block size is set to zero, optimal performance for commands are as follows:

Valid media types for the 7205 tape drive

__________________________________________________________________________
|   TAPE  |  DLT260  |  DLT600 |  DLT2000 | DLT2000x|  DLT4000 | DLT7000 |
|_________|__________|_________|__________|_________|__________|_________|
| DLTTapeI|I 2.6 GB  |   6 GB  |   10 GB  |         |          |         |
|_________|__________|_________|__________|_________|__________|_________|
| DLTTapeI|Ixt       |         |          |  15 GB  |          |         |
|_________|__________|_________|__________|_________|__________|_________|
| DLTTapeI|          |         |          |         |   20 GB  |  35 GB  |
|_________|__________|_________|__________|_________|__________|_________|

Definition of status lights

__________________________________________________________________________
| STATUS LIGHT    | COLOR  | STATE            | OPERATING CONDITION      |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
| Lights on the Left                                                     |
|_________________ ________ __________________ __________________________|
| 2.6             | Green  | On               | The tape is recorded in  |
|                 |        |                  | 2.6GB format.            |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
|_________________ ________ __________________ __________________________|
| 6.0             | Green  | On               | The tape is recorded in  |
|                 |        |                  | 6.0GB format.            |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
|_________________ ________ __________________ __________________________|
| 10.0/15.0       | Green  | On               | The tape is recorded in  |
|                 |        |                  | 10.0/15.0GB format.      |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
|_________________ ________ __________________ __________________________|
| 20.0            | Green  | On               | The tape is recorded in  |
|                 |        |                  | 20.0GB format.           |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
|_________________ ________ __________________ __________________________|
| 35.0            | Green  | On               | The tape is recorded in  |
|                 |        |                  | 35.0GB format.           |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
|_________________ ________ __________________ __________________________|
| Compress        | Green  | On               | The compression mode is  |
|                 |        |                  | enabled.  (Compression   |
|                 |        |                  | can only be done in 10,  |
|                 |        |                  | 15, 20, or 35GB          |
|                 |        |                  | density.)                |
|                 |        |__________________|__________________________|
|                 |        | Off              | The compression mode is  |
|                 |        |                  | disabled.                |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
|________________________________________________________________________|
NOTE: In a read operation, indicators will reflect the density and compression written on the tape.
_________________________________________________________________________
| Lights on the Right                                                    |
|_________________ ________ __________________ __________________________|
| Write Protected | Green  | On               | The tape is write        |
|                 |        |                  | protected.               |
|                 |        |__________________|__________________________|
|                 |        | Off              | The tape is write        |
|                 |        |                  | enabled.                 |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
|_________________ ________ __________________ __________________________|
| Tape in Use     | Green  | Blinking         | The tape is moving.      |
|                 |        |__________________|__________________________|
|                 |        | On               | The tape is loaded and   |
|                 |        |                  | ready for use.           |
|                 |        |__________________|__________________________|
|                 |        | Off              | No cartridge is loaded.  |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
|_________________ ________ __________________ __________________________|
| Use Cleaning    | Yellow | On               | The drive needs          |
| Tape            |        |                  | cleaning, or the data    |
|                 |        |                  | tape is defective.       |
|                 |        |__________________|__________________________|
|                 |        | Remains on after | The cleaning tape failed |
|                 |        | you unload the   | to clean the drive.  Try |
|                 |        | cleaning tape.   | another cleaning tape.   |
|                 |        |__________________|__________________________|
|                 |        | After cleaning,  | There is a problem with  |
|                 |        | turns on again   | the data cartridge.      |
|                 |        | when you reload  | Clean the drive again,   |
|                 |        | the data         | then try another data    |
|                 |        | cartridge.       | cartridge.  If the       |
|                 |        |                  | problem persists, refer  |
|                 |        |                  | to "Maintenance Analysis |
|                 |        |                  | Procedures" in Chapter 3 |
|                 |        |                  | of the 7205 35GB         |
|                 |        |                  | External Digital Linear  |
|                 |        |                  | Tape Drive Model 311     |
|                 |        |                  | Service Guide.           |
|                 |        |__________________|__________________________|
|                 |        | Comes on after   | The cleaning cartridge   |
|                 |        | inserting        | has expired.  Replace    |
|                 |        | cleaning         | the cleaning cartridge.  |
|                 |        | cartridge.       |                          |
|                 |        |__________________|__________________________|
|                 |        | Off              | The cleaning is          |
|                 |        |                  | complete, or cleaning is |
|                 |        |                  | unnecessary.             |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
|_________________ ________ __________________ __________________________|
| Operate Handle  | Green  | On               | It is safe to operate    |
|                 |        |                  | the cartridge            |
|                 |        |                  | insert/release handle.   |
|                 |        |__________________|__________________________|
|                 |        | Off              | Do not operate the       |
|                 |        |                  | cartridge insert/release |
|                 |        |                  | handle.                  |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
|________________________________________________________________________|
| All Lights                                                             |
|_________________ ________ __________________ __________________________|
| All Lights on   |        | Blinking         | An internal error has    |
| the Left        |        |                  | occurred.  Refer to      |
|                 |        |                  | "Maintenance Analysis    |
|                 |        |                  | Procedures" in Chapter 3 |
|                 |        |                  | of the 7205 35GB         |
|                 |        |                  | External Digital Linear  |
|                 |        |                  | Tape Drive Model 311     |
|                 |        |                  | Service Guide for more   |
|                 |        |                  | information.             |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
| All Lights on   |        | Blinking         | An internal error has    |
| the Right       |        |                  | occurred.  Refer to      |
|                 |        |                  | "Maintenance Analysis    |
|                 |        |                  | Procedures" in Chapter 3 |
|                 |        |                  | of the 7205 35GB         |
|                 |        |                  | External Digital Linear  |
|                 |        |                  | Tape Drive Model 311     |
|                 |        |                  | Service Guide.           |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|
| All lights on   |        | On               | The Power-On Self Test   |
| the Left AND    |        |                  | (POST) is starting.      |
| Right           |        |__________________|__________________________|
|                 |        | Blinking         | An internal error has    |
|                 |        |                  | occurred.  Refer to      |
|                 |        |                  | "Maintenance Analysis    |
|                 |        |                  | Procedures" in Chapter 3 |
|                 |        |                  | of the 7205 35GB         |
|                 |        |                  | External Digital Linear  |
|                 |        |                  | Tape Drive Model 311     |
|                 |        |                  | Service Guide.           |
|_________________|________|__________________|__________________________|




[ Doc Ref: 9538445765378     Publish Date: Apr. 28, 2000     4FAX Ref: none ]