Supported Tape Drives; Control Path Drives; Mixed Drives - Dell EMC ML3 User Manual

v "The Operator Panel" on page 61 - With the Operator Panel, you can monitor, configure, and control
the library from the front panel. Functions are limited to those applicable to being in front of the
library.

Supported tape drives

The library supports LTO tape drives.
For minimum and maximum storage configurations, see Table 4 on page 2. For minimum firmware levels,
see "Minimum firmware levels for common library features" on page xi.
Listed are the tape drives that are implemented and qualified for use in this library.
Table 10. Supported tape drives
Form factor
Type (height)
LTO6 1U (Half-height)
LTO6 1U (Half-height)
LTO6 2U (Full-height)
LTO7 1U (Half-height)
LTO7 1U (Half-height)
LTO7 2U (Full-height)
LTO8 1U (Half-height)
LTO8 1U (Half-height)
LTO8 2U (Full-height)
The LTO tape drives communicate with the library through an internal Ethernet interface. For enhanced
performance, the LTO tape drives include speed matching, channel calibration, and power management.
Speed matching dynamically adjusts the drive's normal native (uncompressed) data rate to the slower
data rate of a server. Channel calibration customizes each read/write data channel for optimum
performance. The customization enables compensation for variations in the recording channel transfer
function, media characteristics, and read/write head characteristics. Power management reduces the
drive's power consumption during idle power periods.

Control path drives

A control path is a logical path to the library. A control path is the path for SCSI Medium Changer
commands sent by a server to control a specific logical library. The library has no direct SCSI connection
to a host server. When a software host server communicates with the library, it sends the communication
by way of a tape drive. The tape drive is designated as a control path drive.

Mixed drives

All supported generations of LTO tape drives and cartridges can be in the same physical library and
within a single module.
12
Dell EMC ML3 Tape Library: User's Guide
Interface Number of Ports
Serial Attached 2
SCSI (SAS)
Fibre Channel 1
(FC)
Fibre Channel 2
(FC)
Serial Attached 2
SCSI (SAS)
Fibre Channel 1
(FC)
Fibre Channel 2
(FC)
Serial Attached 2
SCSI (SAS)
Fibre Channel 1
(FC)
Fibre Channel 2
(FC)
Speeds of
connectivity Native data rate
6 Gbps SAS 160 MB/s
8 Gbps FC 160 MB/s
8 Gbps FC 160 MB/s
6 Gbps SAS 300 MB/s
8 Gbps FC 300 MB/s
8 Gbps FC 300 MB/s
6 Gbps SAS 300 MB/s
8 Gbps FC 300 MB/s
8 Gbps FC 360 MB/s