Troubleshooting; Understanding The Leds; Tape Drive; Other Sources Of Information - HP StorageWorks Ultrium 1760 Start Here

6
Checking the performance of your product
If performance is not meeting expectations and you are not meeting your backup
window, check for bottlenecks in your system architecture.
NOTE: See www.hp.com/go/connect for recommended backup applications and
SCSI HBAs and www.hp.com/support/pat for software configuration and
performance advice.
What causes bottlenecks?
Software
Server
1. HP recommends direct attach for Ultrium 1760 and Ultrium 920 tape drives. If you
back up over a network, anything less than Gigabit Ethernet may limit performance.
2. A single disk may limit backup performance. Have disks in parallel (e.g. RAID5) if
possible or, if your backup application supports interleaving of data, back up streams
from multiple sources.
3. Use the latest version of your backup application. Native backup applications, such as
Windows backup, may limit performance.
4. Connect the tape drive to a dedicated SCSI bus.
SCSI card: Use a PCI-express or a 64-bit PCI expansion slot. Use an Ultra320 SCSI
HBA in a 64-bit/66MHz or better expansion slot for Ultrium 1760/920. Use an
Ultra160 or higher for Ultrium 448.
5. For optimum performance use HP Ultrium 1.6 TB R/W and WORM for 1760,
HP Ultrium 800 GB and Ultrium 800 GB WORM with Ultrium 920, HP Ultrium 400 GB
cartridges with Ultrium 448.
7
Hardware encryption and your Ultrium 1760

tape drive

Your HP Ultrium 1760 tape drive provides the ability to hardware encrypt your data,
applying the strongest level of AES industry-standard encryption and protecting the data
from unauthorized access and use. Encryption is supported only on Ultrium 1.6 TB media
(C7974A and C7974W); media encrypted on an HP Ultrium 1760 drive can only be
read on a compatible Ultrium tape drive that supports hardware encryption.
Hardware encryption can be used with or without compression and without speed or
capacity penalties.
IMPORTANT: Hardware encryption is a powerful feature, but should be used with
care. If you need to import your media onto another machine or to recover after
disaster you will be required to enter an encryption key.
• Hardware encryption is turned off by default and is switched on by settings in your
backup application, where you also generate and supply the encryption key.
• Your backup application must support hardware encryption for it to work. The software
supplied with the tape drive provides this support. See
an up-to-date list of backup software.
• You should keep a record or backup of your encryption keys and store them in a
secure place separate from the computer running the backup software.
• If you are unable to supply the key when requested to do so, neither you nor HP
Support will be able to access the encrypted data.
For more information about AES encryption, encryption keys, and using hardware
encryption with your HP Ultrium 1760 tape drive, see the White Papers on
h18006.www.hp.com/storage/tapewhitepapers.html.
8
Choosing and looking after media
Your high-performance tape drive works best with high-performance HP Ultrium media.
Always use the recommended cartridges (see table).
table1: Ultrium data cartridge compatibility
Type of Drive
Ultrium 1760
drives
Ultrium 920
Network
drives
Ultrium 448
drives
* Capacity assumes 2:1 compression.
The recommended cleaning cartridge is the HP Ultrium universal cleaning cartridge,
C7978A. This cartridge is designed to work with any Ultrium drive and may be used for
up to 50 cleans.
It pays to look after your media
Many tape drive and backup failures are caused by damaged or badly handled tape
media.
• Keep media in the case provided.
• Follow the temperature, humidity and acclimitization guidelines on the media
packaging.
• Avoid dropping it or rough handling, as this is likely to damage the cartridge.
• Inspect it regularly for damage.
• Do not exceed normal cartridge life (260 full volume backup or restore operations).
For detailed information on media care and best practice and to order online,
refer to www.hp.com/go/storagemedia/ultrium.
1 Write-protect switch
9

Understanding the LEDs

1 Clean – amber
• On: cleaning cartridge in use.
• Off: the drive does not require cleaning.
• Flashing: the drive needs cleaning.
2 Tape – amber
• Off: no fault has been detected.
• Flashing: the cartridge currently in the drive is faulty (damaged or unsupported).
Discard the cartridge.
3 Drive – amber
• Off: no fault has been detected.
www.hp.com/go/connect for
• Flashing: the drive mechanism has detected a hardware error.
4 Ready – green
• On: the drive is ready for use.
• Off: the drive power is off or there was a failure during self-test.
• Flashing: the drive is busy.
• Flashing repeated pattern: the drive is in OBDR (One-Button Disaster Recovery) mode.
Ultrium
Ultrium Ultrium Ultrium Ultrium
800 GB*
200 GB* 400 GB* 800 GB* 1.6 TB*
WORM
(C7971A) (C7972A) (C7973A) (C7974A)
(C7973W)
Write Once Read/Write
No Read only Read/Write
Read Many (Recommended)
Write Once
Read/Write
Read only Read/Write No
Read Many
(Recommended)
(Recommended)
Read/Write
Read/Write No No No
(Recommended)
10

Troubleshooting

NOTE: HP StorageWorks Library & Tape Tools (L&TT) is the free, recommended
diagnostic and support tool for your HP tape drive. It can be downloaded from
the HP StorageWorks CD-ROM or as a download from the HP website at
www.hp.com/support/tapetools.
Ultrium
1.6TB*
WORM
The detailed Troubleshooting Guide at
(C7974W)
comprehensive and up-to-date troubleshooting information.
If your server or drive does not work after installation, or your server or application
Write Once
cannot see the drive, check the physical cabling and configuration.
Read Many
(Recommended)
For most problems, use L&TT as a first step in identifying and resolving the problem.
No
General Troubleshooting
No
Symptoms Action
• Check media type
Read/Write errors
• Check media age
Clean LED keeps
• Clean drive
coming on
Cannot back up
400/800 GB and 1.6 TB
as much data as
assumes 2:1 compression.
expected on a
Your data may not
400/800 GB or
compress at this ratio
1.6 TB cartridge
Drive will not
• Check media type
accept cartridge
• Check media for damage
• Check media age
• Clean drive
• Try another tape
• Power cycle drive
Tape error LED
• Power cycle drive
Drive error LED
• Try another tape
• Check power
• Check SCSI cables
Server or backup
• Check SCSI ID
application cannot
• Can OS see it? (eg in
see drive
Windows Device Manager)
• Use L&TT to scan for it
• Press the eject button.
Wait for up to 10 minutes.
• If ejected check media
Cartridge will not
for damage and
eject from drive
frequency of use.
• If not ejected power cycle
drive and press eject
button upon power up.
1 1

Other sources of information

• The HP StorageWorks Tape CD-ROM for HP StorageWorks Library & Tape Tools (L&TT)
and full Installation and User instructions' in English and 12 other languages.
• www.hp.com/support/tapetools
version of L&TT.
• www.hp.com/support/ultrium for up-to-date product information.
• www.hp.com/go/connect for recommended products and configurations.
• www.hp.com/support/pat for further information about getting the best performance
from your tape drive.
• www.hp.com/go/obdr for detailed information about HP One-Button Disaster
Recovery.
• If necessary, specialist technical help can be obtained from the HP Customer Call
Centers. Contact details can be found at www.hp.com.
www.hp.com/go/support contains the most
Further Problem not
Action resolved
• Run L&TT assessment test
• Run L&TT media validation
test
• Refer to detailed
troubleshooting guide at
www.hp.com/go/support
• Contact HP Support
• Check drive/HBA/cabling
• Check backup application
is configured correctly and
upgraded to latest version
• Check application has not
locked media
for updates, compatibility information and the latest