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Capacity scaling and segmentation
The 3592 tape drives are designed to support capacity scaling to reduce average
locate time. The 3592 tape drives allow an application to issue a command to scale an
individual cartridge to 20% or 87% of media, beginning at the front of the tape. It is
also possible to segment data tapes to create two segments, one smaller segment with
very fast access, and another, larger segment for additional capacity. Capacity scaling
is not supported for either Economy or WORM tapes.
Refer to the IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Tape System 3592 SCSI Reference for more
technical information regarding WORM, capacity scaling, and segmentation.
For Open Systems, this functionality may be done at the application level or the
device driver level. For more information on implementing segmentation and
capacity scaling, consult the README files in the FTP directory pertaining to your
device driver, which you can find by navigating in a web browser to either of these
URLs:
• ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/storage/devdrvr
• ftp://207.25.253.26/storage/devdrvr
For information on which Independent Software Vendors (ISV) support capacity
scaling, refer to the 3592 ISV web site: http://www-03.ibm.com/servers/storage/
tape/. Links to the interoperability matrix and ISV matrix can be found at this link.
Multi-Path Architecture
The library features the Storage Area Network (SAN)-ready Multi-Path Architecture,
which allows homogeneous or heterogeneous open systems applications to share the
library's robotics without middleware or a dedicated server (host) acting as a library
manager. The SAN-ready Multi-Path Architecture makes sharing possible by letting
you partition the library's storage slots and tape drives into logical libraries. Servers
can then run separate applications for each logical library. This partitioning capability
extends the potential centralization of storage that the SAN enables. The Multi-Path
Architecture is compliant with the Fibre Channel attachment interface.
Whether partitioned or not, the library is certified for SAN solutions (such as
LAN-free backup).
The Multi-Path Architecture also lets you configure an additional control path for a
single logical library configuration. A control path is a logical path into the library
through which a server sends standard SCSI Medium Changer commands to control
the logical library. An additional control path allows the cartridge inventory of the
IBM System Storage TS3400 Tape Library to be shared by multiple IBM System i and
IBM AS/400 servers, or other open systems hosts that run the same applications. An
additional control path also reduces the possibility that failure in one control path will
cause the entire logical library to be unavailable.
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Chapter 2. Product Description
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