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Tape devices and configurations you can use with the storage system

You can use different types of tape devices and configurations on your storage system.

The storage system can read from or write to these devices when using NDMP:

When you use NDMP to back up the storage system to attached tape libraries, you need to set the tape library autoload setting to Off. If the autoload setting is On, the storage system uses the tape library the same way it uses a stand-alone tape drive and does not allow medium changer operations to be controlled by the NDMP backup application.

Naming conventions for tape libraries

Historically, the following names were always used to refer to tape libraries:

  • mcn or /dev/mcn
  • sptn or /dev/sptn

In a specific tape library name, n is a number. For example, mc0, spt0, /dev/mc0, and /dev/spt0 all refer to the same library.

To view the tape libraries recognized by your system, use the sysconfig -m command on the storage system console. To see what names are currently assigned to any libraries, use the storage show mc command on the storage system. Tape aliasing is also used to refer to tape drives, and you can see the aliases of tape drives using the storage show tape command.

Example

The following is an example of an output from the storage show mc command:

filerA> storage show mc
Media Changer:         2.3
Description:           SPECTRA 10000
Serial Number:         7030290500
World Wide Name:       WWN[2:000:0090a5:00011c]
Alias Name(s):         mc0
Device State:          available (does not support reservations)