IBM Tape Backup System (TS3100) with LTO-4 Fiber Channel Connectivity

[PGlover]

I just purchased a IBM TS3100 tape backup system from Ebay several days ago. The unit comes with a LTO-4 tape drive with 2 Fiber Channel connections.

I need some advice on the setup and configuration of the unit. Here are some questions I have.

1. Do I need a dedicated physical backup server (WIN 2012 or WIN 2016 server) to connect the unit to or can the backup server be a VM? Additionally, I do have 2 physical SAN Servers (FreeNas server and WIN 2012 server running Storages Spaces) running in my home data center right now.
2. Can the unit connect directly to my 10G SFP+ switch (Brocade LB6M)?
3. What cables and Fiber Channel card do I need to connect the tape library to a backup server or a switch?
   
4. What backup software do I need to control the tape unit?
   

If there are others that have this unit, please provide some comments on your setup. I pretty sure I will have more questions as well.

 

[PGlover]

Anyone?

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Anyone?

The IBM TS3100 and TS3200 are the Dell Powervault TL2000 and TL4000. They are great libraries as long as they weren't shipped with the picker unlocked or tapes in the magazines.

The Ethernet port is a generic port used for monitoring and maintaining the library. That's where you update both the library and drive firmware.

Each drive needs a connection, either directly to a host or via an iSCSI option card in one of the slots. But that only gets you GigE speeds to your tape.

Any FC (for your FC drive) or SAS (for SAS drives) non-RAID host adapter should work, as long as it is supported by your operating system and backup software.

IBM hides their firmware behind a paywall, but you can find it other places like on Lenovo's site. The IBM machine type is 3573. Note that many OEMs (like Dell) have firmware but it will only apply to libraries / drives that have a matching personality. Lenovo and Overland use generic IBM firmware, so that's a good place to start.

 

[PGlover]

Thanks for the advice. The first order of business is to find the latest drivers and firmware for the unit. Next I will concentrate on connecting the unit to my WIN 2012 or 2016 Server.

I purchased a Qlogic QLE2462 FC HBA from Ebay last night. I hope the adapter will work. For cables, it looks like I need a LC to LC fiber cable I think.

 

[PGlover]

The IBM TS3100 and TS3200 are the Dell Powervault TL2000 and TL4000. They are great libraries as long as they weren't shipped with the picker unlocked or tapes in the magazines.

The Ethernet port is a generic port used for monitoring and maintaining the library. That's where you update both the library and drive firmware.

Each drive needs a connection, either directly to a host or via an iSCSI option card in one of the slots. But that only gets you GigE speeds to your tape.

Any FC (for your FC drive) or SAS (for SAS drives) non-RAID host adapter should work, as long as it is supported by your operating system and backup software.

IBM hides their firmware behind a paywall, but you can find it other places like on Lenovo's site. The IBM machine type is 3573. Note that many OEMs (like Dell) have firmware but it will only apply to libraries / drives that have a matching personality. Lenovo and Overland use generic IBM firmware, so that's a good place to start.

Terry .. It looks like the Overland Neos T24 unit is the same as the IBM TS3100 unit. Do you think the firmware and drivers for the Overland unit will work with the IBM unit?

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Terry .. It looks like the Overland Neos T24 unit is the same as the IBM TS3100 unit. Do you think the firmware and drivers for the Overland unit will work with the IBM unit?

I don't know. The filename has "OVERLAND" in it and the full filename is OVERLAND_BL2_R_5_20_3_20e.fbi. The latest Dell firmware is E.70 / 3.20e. IBM's site (paywalled) is at E.80, filename IBM_3573_R_E_80_3_20e.fbi. Here are the E.80 and prior releases fixlist, so you can check to see how out-of-date your library firmware is. Generally the library firmware isn't as important as the drive firmware unless you are installing a newer model of drive.

It might be possible to swap the library controller card to a Dell MU355 and then use Dell library firmware. Here is one for $13.00 with free shipping. You can use an IBM drive in a (real) Dell library - I'm doing that with a LTO6 SAS drive right now.

In my experience, the Overland tape drive firmware (here) works on IBM-branded drives.

What does your unit report the library and drive firmware is? You can get that from the web interface on the library - you don't need to have the drive's FC (or SAS) connection hooked up.

 

[PGlover]

So based on some research, it looks like the following firmware and drivers are available:

Tape Library Microcode E80 (I think this is specific for IBM and must be downloaded from the IBM site)
Tape Drive Firmware for IBM LT04 FC Full Height (it looks like the firmware is available on the Overland site)
Windows 2012 or 2016 Tape Device Drivers (it looks like the firmware is available on the Overland site)

Please confirm.

 

[PGlover]

I have had no luck in downloading the latest Tape Library firmware ( IBM_3573_R_E_80_3_20e.fbi) for IBM TS3100 unit. It looks like the firmware version in my unit for the tape library is 8.50 from 2010. For the tape drive, the firmware version is 97F2 from 2010 as well.

If anyone has access to the IBM website and can download the latest firmware for the IBM TS3100 tape library and drive, please PM me.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

I have had no luck in downloading the latest Tape Library firmware ( IBM_3573_R_E_80_3_20e.fbi) for IBM TS3100 unit.

Did you try the Lenovo site as I suggested? I quickly found this (note - hotlinking may not work, you may have to copy and paste the URL into your browser (and you need Javascript enabled, too).

Click "Software and Utilities", then scroll down to "TS3100 and TS3200 Tape Library Microcode E80". Click the triangle to expand it. Download the IBM_3573_R_E_80_3_20e.fbi file (and optionally the README and fixlist files). Now scroll down to "LTO Tape Drive Microcode C7QH FH Legacy for TS3100/TS3200" and again click the triangle. You want FH_Fibre_C7QH_L4.RO (assuming you have a full-height FC drive). That is the same file as df120723q_C7QH.FC.ro on Overland's FTP site.

 

[PGlover]

Did you try the Lenovo site as I suggested? I quickly found this (note - hotlinking may not work, you may have to copy and paste the URL into your browser (and you need Javascript enabled, too).

Click "Software and Utilities", then scroll down to "TS3100 and TS3200 Tape Library Microcode E80". Click the triangle to expand it. Download the IBM_3573_R_E_80_3_20e.fbi file (and optionally the README and fixlist files). Now scroll down to "LTO Tape Drive Microcode C7QH FH Legacy for TS3100/TS3200" and again click the triangle. You want FH_Fibre_C7QH_L4.RO (assuming you have a full-height FC drive). That is the same file as df120723q_C7QH.FC.ro on Overland's FTP site.

Wow.. It worked.. I was able to download everything... Thank you so much. I owe you one...

Can you tell me about your setup.
1. Is your tape library system connected directly to a physical server or a VM?
2. What OS are you are running on your backup server?
3. What backup software are you using to control your tape library to backup data?

Once again, thank you so much.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Wow.. It worked.. I was able to download everything... Thank you so much. I owe you one...

No problem!

Can you tell me about your setup.
1. Is your tape library system connected directly to a physical server or a VM?
2. What OS are you are running on your backup server?
3. What backup software are you using to control your tape library to backup data?

1. Physical server (but shouldn't matter) with 128TB online
2. FreeBSD
3 GNU tar + mtx + my own script

This is a Dell TL4000 with an IBM (not Dell) LTO6 SAS HH library drive. I go into all of this in a lot of detail here.

 

[PGlover]

Terry.. Couple more questions.

In my TS3100 tape library I have the FH LT04 Fibre Channel Tape Drive. Is it worth moving to the FH LT04 SAS Tape drive version? I see them less than $100 on ebay. Does the backplane board in the tape library needs to be changed out if I move a SAS Tape drive?

Additionally, in the future I will probably buy a FH LT06 tape drive. So, the same question applies, should I purchase the Fibre channel or SAS version of the tape drive? Once again, my stock unit has a FH LT04 Fibre Channel Tape Drive.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

In my TS3100 tape library I have the FH LT04 Fibre Channel Tape Drive. Is it worth moving to the FH LT04 SAS Tape drive version? I see them less than $100 on ebay. Does the backplane board in the tape library needs to be changed out if I move a SAS Tape drive?

Your libray has 2 half-height slots for drives (the TS3200 / TL4000 has 4 half-height slots). You can use any full-height drive or 1 or 2 half-height drives. The drive's user data I/O interface is only on the back of the drive - the drive talks to the library over a dedicated loader interface, which is built into drive carrier frame of each removable drive. You didn't ask, but on the IBM drives the drive is the same for library or standalone use - it is configured by DIP switch on the bottom of the drive. That's why you see so many drive carriers without drives on eBay - the drives are worth more as standalone drives than library ones.

Your LTO4 drive uses a 4Gbps Fibre Channel interface. Moving to SAS within LTO4 probably just gets you a larger choice of host adapters on the server end and wouldn't affect the usable transfer rate one way or another.

Additionally, in the future I will probably buy a FH LT06 tape drive. So, the same question applies, should I purchase the Fibre channel or SAS version of the tape drive? Once again, my stock unit has a FH LT04 Fibre Channel Tape Drive.

LTO6 will read your existing LTO4 media but will not write to it. It will read and write LTO5 media (not that it matters to you).

Don't dismiss the HH drives. HH used to be a lot slower than FH due to the pancake tape motors - that's why you'll see something like "LTO4-120" instead of just LTO4. Generally, LTO4 FH drives are 120MB/sec and HH are 80MB/sec. On LTO5, both are 140MB/sec and on LTO6, 160MB/sec.

The biggest hurdle you're run into with switching to HH is the blank filler plate for the other unused drive bay. I can probably scrounge one up here if you need it.

On any used drive you buy, you should run the IBM Tape Diagnostic Tool (ITDT). It comes in Windows, Linux, and other flavors and you can get the latest version from the Lenovo site. Somebody probably makes a Linux live CD that has ITDT integrated. That tool will tell you the total power-on hours and number of power-on cycles, and you can then run some transfer tests to make sure the drive is working properly.

You will also need to bar-code your tapes with compatible bar-code labels. I have equipment to print custom labels, but unfortunately it is in storage at the moment. Click here for an example.

If you don't barcode your tapes, the library will still work, but power-on and inventory commands will take a lot longer. Each slot in your magazines has a barcode sticker inside that tells the scanner "no tape" when there is no tape in the slot. But if the scanner doesn't get anything back, it will dance around back and forth and up and down, repeatedly trying to scan the tape barcode. If that fails to find a code, it extends a little metal finger and pokes the slots to see if there is a tape in them or not. This takes a lot longer than just scanning the barcode in one shot.

 

[PGlover]

Terry.. If you have an extra filler plate, please PM me and we can discuss the details on cost and shipping. I would love to move to a HH LTO6 tape drive. I noticed on Ebay there are more HH than FH tape drive available.

As far labels for LTO tapes, I did a online search and it looks like there are some online sites in which you can print LTO tape labels free or with a paid subscription.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Terry.. If you have an extra filler plate, please PM me and we can discuss the details on cost and shipping. I would love to move to a HH LTO6 tape drive. I noticed on Ebay there are more HH than FH tape drive available.

I just looked and I don't have any at the moment (I got a bunch of new-in-sealed-box Tl4000 chassis a few years ago, which had no drives and no fillers, so I apparently used up all of my fillers on those).

You should try contacting SCSIstuff. They made up a bunch of fillers some years back, which don't have the fancy blue thumbscrews of the IBM one, but work just as well. They don't list them for sale normally, but should sell you one if you contact them. Feel free to mention my name and that I bought a bunch of them.

As far labels for LTO tapes, I did a online search and it looks like there are some online sites in which you can print LTO tape labels free or with a paid subscription.

The problem isn't generating the label artwork, it is printing it on acceptable media with good enough contrast. You need special labels and a high-end printer. That's why the "label cabal" gets away with charging so much for pre-printed labels. The minimum order for the blank label stock is 500 sheets (and with 32 labels per sheet, that's a lot of labels. This is a summary of the label requirements:

• Comply with ANSI MH10.8M-1983 Standard.
• Font: Code 39 (3 of 9).
• Allowable characters: Uppercase letters A to Z and numeric values 0 to 9.
• Number of characters: 5 to 16 (default for LTO is 6+2).
• Background reflection: Greater than 25 percent.
• Print contrast: Greater than 75 percent.
• Ratio: Greater than 2.2.
• Module: Minimum .254 mm (10mil).
• Print tolerance: ± 57 mm.
• Length of the rest zones: 5.25 mm ± 0.25 mm.
• No black marks may be present in the intermediate spaces or rest zones.
• No white areas may be present on the bars.

 

[PGlover]

Terry.. I have a very good HP Color Laser printer (HP M577).

What is a good source for LTO-6 or LTO-7 IBM tape drive? It looks like all LTO-7 tape drives are manufactured by IBM and LTO-6 drives can be manufactured by HP and IBM.

Additionally, it looks like these manufacturers for external LTO-6 tape libraries may have IBM tape drives in them.

Quantum LTO-6
Tandberg LTO-6
HP Ultrium LTO-6
Oracle StorageTek LTO-6

Shifting topic to the TS3100 tape library and the number of useable cartridges. Based on the reading the user manual, it looks like there is only 22 useable cartridges. There is a cleaning cartridge and I forgot what the other cartridge is used for. So should I only order 22 cartridges? What brand of cartridge do you use? Where do you purchase them for?

 

[Terry Kennedy]

What is a good source for LTO-6 or LTO-7 IBM tape drive? It looks like all LTO-7 tape drives are manufactured by IBM and LTO-6 drives can be manufactured by HP and IBM.

You probably want to get either an IBM one (assuming the Lenovo / Overland trick continues to work for firmware updates) or a Dell one, as Dell also makes their firmware updates for free. Otherwise you may end up stuck with a drive you can't get firmware updates for (either because of a restricted-access download site or a vendor that just doesn't bother keeping up with the IBM releases). You can try downloading firmware from some vendor and look at the filenames to see if they are using OEM firmware and if their firmware downloads are up-to-date. As an example, Dell SAS LTO6 HH is "LTO6_H991.sas_hh_OEMD.fmrz". The OEMD means "OEM Dell" and the drive will only take Dell firmware and the Dell firmware won't install on a non-Dell drive.

 

[PGlover]

Terry.. I have an opportunity to get a IBM LTO6 Tape drive for $849. The price is only for the tape drive with the SAS connection. I would still need to purchase the LTO6 sled unit in a HH or FH (~ $150) to work in my TS3100. Is it worth all of this to upgrade from a LTO4 tape drive to a LTO6 tape drive? Please advise.

 

[rune-san]

Terry.. I have an opportunity to get a IBM LTO6 Tape drive for $849. The price is only for the tape drive with the SAS connection. I would still need to purchase the LTO6 sled unit in a HH or FH (~ $150) to work in my TS3100. Is it worth all of this to upgrade from a LTO4 tape drive to a LTO6 tape drive? Please advise.

That's really a question for you to answer. Do you need the additional capacity? Do you need the ability to move up drive and tape versions? (LTO-6 Drives are the last ones to be able to read LTO-4 Tapes). Do you need the extra speed? If yes to any of the previous, how much are you willing to spend on it? That's your answer.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Shifting topic to the TS3100 tape library and the number of useable cartridges. Based on the reading the user manual, it looks like there is only 22 useable cartridges. There is a cleaning cartridge and I forgot what the other cartridge is used for. So should I only order 22 cartridges? What brand of cartridge do you use? Where do you purchase them for?

You have 2 magazines of 12 slots each. One is a dedicated cleaning slot (but you can delete that using the library menus and use it as a regular cartridge lot - but then you have to feed it a cleaning tape whenever it wants, and that interrupts the automated flow, since the library will normally load the cleaning cartridge when it thinks it needs cleaning, in between a data cartridge unload and the load of the next data cartridge). The second one is the "I/O station" - a single slot that pops open to let you load or unload one tape at a time. It can be used as a regular tape slot if you want.

I use either Dell- or IBM-branded media. Dell doesn't make their own media and I never bothered to check what brand they re-label. You rpobably want to stick with a single brand as the colors of the cartridges (LTO4 = green, for example) aren't standardized across all brands). If you think you're going to upgrade to an LTO6 drive shortly, just get as many tapes as you need for your backup plus a cleaning tape and you should be good to go.