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NAME

na_tape - Information on the tape interface

DESCRIPTION

The Data ONTAP system supports up to 64 local tape drives (tape drives connected directly to the system). The tape drive interface follows a UNIX-like device name allowing use of a rewind, norewind or unload/reload device. The device name can be the classic cstnd format, or of the format c.name.d where:

c
describes the rewind/unload characteristic of the device. Use r to specify the rewind device, use nr to specify the norewind device, or use ur to specify the unload/reload device. The norewind device will not rewind when the tape device is closed. The unload/reload device is used with sequential tape loaders and will unload the current tape volume and attempt to load the next tape volume (note that the server will wait up to one minute for the next volume to become ready before aborting the reload of the next volume). The rewind device will rewind the tape volume to beginning-of-tape on close.

st
the st portion of the device name is always present in the classic format, and is one of the options in the name format. It specifies that you are requesting a SCSI tape device.

n
the alias number (in decimal) of the tape drive to use. The st and n parameters together - stn constitute a tape "alias". See the storage alias command for information about tape aliases and device addresses.

d
the density (or format) to use for tape write operations. Consists of one of the four letters l (low), m (medium), h (high) or a (advanced).

name
specifies a tape alias, an electrical name or a serial number(SN) corresponding to the tape device. The electrical name and SN formats can contain an optional parameter for the device SCSI logical unit. This parameter is expressed as Llun. See the storage alias command for further information about the format of the name parameter.

Each tape device is automatically associated with an alias. If an alias assignment does not already exist at the first discovery of a tape device, the system will create an alias for it. FC and SAS devices receive SN aliases, and SCSI devices receive electrical aliases by default. The alias will remain associated with the SN or electrical name -- even through boot -- until the alias is changed.

The storage alias and storage unalias commands allow the user to view existing aliases and delete aliases respectively. The storage alias command also allows the user to change an existing alias name or to assign the alias prior to a tape device being discovered. You can assign the tape alias by specifying the alias name with the electrical name or serial number with the storage alias command.

EXAMPLES

The density specifications for an Exabyte 8505 8mm drive:
         l  Exabyte 8200 format, no compression
         m  Exabyte 8200 format with compression
         h  Exabyte 8500 format, no compression
         a  Exabyte 8500 format with compression

Examples of tape drive names:

         nrst0l
         nr.st0.l
         r.9a.1L1.a
         ur.switch1:5.h
         nr.SN[HU104514FJ].m

The sysconfig -t command displays the tape drives on your system, the device alias associated with each tape device, and the device's available density settings. The following is an example of the output from a sysconfig command on a system with one tape device attached:

toaster> sysconfig -t

  Tape drive (0.6)  Exabyte 8505 8mm
  rst0l  -    rewind device,         format is: EXB-8200   2.5GB
  nrst0l -    no rewind device,      format is: EXB-8200   2.5GB
  urst0l -    unload/reload device,  format is: EXB-8200   2.5GB
  rst0m  -    rewind device,         format is: EXB-8200C  (w/compression)
  nrst0m -    no rewind device,      format is: EXB-8200C  (w/compression)
  urst0m -    unload/reload device,  format is: EXB-8200C  (w/compression)
  rst0h  -    rewind device,         format is: EXB-8500   5.0GB
  nrst0h -    no rewind device,      format is: EXB-8500   5.0GB
  urst0h -    unload/reload device,  format is: EXB-8500   5.0GB
  rst0a  -    rewind device,         format is: EXB-8500C  (w/compression)
  nrst0a -    no rewind device,      format is: EXB-8500C  (w/compression)
  urst0a -    unload/reload device,  format is: EXB-8500C  (w/compression)

The storage show tape command shows the electrical name, WWN and serial number associated with the device and the corresponding alias:

toaster> storage show tape

  Tape Drive:         0.6
  Description:        Exabyte 8505 8mm
  Serial Number:      IE71E024
  World Wide Name:
  Alias Name(s):      st0
  Device State:       available

SEE ALSO

na_dump(1), na_mt(1), na_storage(1), na_sysconfig(1)


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