Before You Start - HP A7518B - StorageWorks SDLT 600 Tape Drive Getting Started Manual

Before you start

The HP StorageWorks SDLT 600 tape drive is a high-capacity, high-performance streaming
tape drive. It is installed into a spare drive bay in your server. Before starting to install your
tape drive, you should consider the following.
Which operating systems are supported?
HP StorageWorks SDLT 600 drives can be connected to servers running under Windows®,
NetWare, UNIX, Tru64, OpenVMS and Linux. Refer to the "HP StorageWorks Tape Software
Compatibility" topic on our World Wide Web site (
information about the operating system versions that are supported.
How do I the connect the tape drive to my server's SCSI bus?
Your tape drive is attached to the SCSI bus of the host server via a spare connection on the
internal SCSI ribbon cable (supplied with the drive). The cable must be terminated, see
page 19.
You will need a properly installed and configured SCSI host bus adapter (HBA) or a built-in
SCSI controller on your server. For optimum performance your tape drive should be connected
to an Ultra 3 (160) or Ultra 4 (320) host bus adapter or SCSI controller using a correctly
terminated, LVDS-compatible ribbon cable with a spare 68-pin, high-density (HD), wide SCSI
connector. We strongly recommend that you use the SCSI ribbon cable supplied with the
drive, see page 19. We also recommend that the drive is the only device on the SCSI bus. Do
not connect more than two tape drives per SCSI controller. Do not attach the drive to the same
SCSI bus as your disk drive or to a RAID controller.
Why is the SCSI bus type important?
The SCSI bus type determines the speed at which data can be transferred between devices on
the bus and the maximum length of cable that can be used. HP StorageWorks SDLT 600 tape
drives are high performance Ultra 3 SCSI devices with a maximum burst transfer speed of
160 MB/second. To benefit from this level of performance, it is important to ensure that the
drives are connected to a SCSI bus of a similar or higher specification. This means that you
need:
• An Ultra 3 (160) or Ultra 4 (320) SCSI bus. Ultra 160 SCSI supports the maximum bus speed
of 160 MB per second, Ultra 320 SCSI exceeds this.
• LVD-rated SCSI cabling and terminators. The LVD interface and cable supplied with the drive
enable the data to be transferred at the drive's maximum rate and provide a maximum cable
length of 12 meters.
If you attach the drive to a lower specification SCSI bus, it may still work, but data will not be
transferred as quickly. For example, on a single-ended (SE) Ultra 160 SCSI bus the maximum
burst transfer speed of the drive is 40 MB/second and the maximum cable length is restricted
to 3 meters. See also Table 1, "supported SCSI bus types," on page 9.
Note The drives are not compatible with high voltage differential (HVD) SCSI devices.
How can I check the SCSI bus type?
For most operating systems you can install HP Library & Tape Tools, directly from the web site
at www.hp.com/support/tapetools or from the link on the HP StorageWorks Tape
www.hp.com/go/connect ) for more
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