Spectra Logic Spectra T950V User Manual page 162

Chapter 6 — Configuring and Managing Partitions
Configuring and Using Cleaning Partitions and Auto
Drive Clean
Cleaning Partition Overview A cleaning partition provides permanent
storage for cleaning cartridges inside the library. This special‐purpose
partition is only used when Auto Drive Clean is enabled for one or more
storage partitions and can be shared by multiple storage partitions. The
cleaning partition does not have any drives associated with it.
Configuring a cleaning partition does not require an SLS activation key;
nor does a cleaning partition count against the partition maximum for the
library. If fewer than the physically present chambers are licensed with a
Capacity On Demand (CoD) key, the cleaning partition uses any chambers
that are not licensed. The chambers assigned to the cleaning partition do
not count against the licensed capacity. If all of the physically present
chambers are licensed, the cleaning partition can use any chambers that were
not already assigned to another partition.
Auto Drive Clean Functional Overview Auto Drive Clean uses the cleaning
cartridges stored in the cleaning partition to provide automatic, library‐
based cleaning of LTO drives without user intervention. Automated drive
cleaning results in fewer failed tape read/write operations and is the
preferred method for cleaning drives. See Cleaning Cartridge Tracking on
page 251 for information about how Media Lifecycle Management (MLM)
manages the cleaning cartridges in the cleaning partition.
When the drive is unloaded in response to a host request and the data
cartridge is moved to its storage location, the library queries the drive to
determine if it needs cleaning. If cleaning is required, the library delays
notifying the host that the SCSI move command for the unloaded data
cartridge is complete while it performs an automatic drive cleaning.
During the delay, the library retrieves a cleaning cartridge from the
cleaning partition and inserts it into the drive. When the cleaning is
complete, the library returns the cleaning cartridge to the cleaning
partition and then notifies the host that the SCSI move command for the
unloaded data cartridge is complete.
Automatic cleaning of drives does not occur more than once in any 12 hour
period. If the next data cartridge load/unload cycle occurs within this
12 hour waiting period, a cleaning is not attempted unless the previous
cleaning attempt failed due to an expired cleaning cartridge. When a
cleaning fails, the cleaning is reattempted the next time the host unloads a
data cartridge from the drive if the cleaning partition contains a good
cleaning cartridge. If you want to clean the drive immediately after you
receive the notification that a cleaning failed, you can initiate a manual
cleaning (see Manually Cleaning a Drive on page 419).
August 2019
Note: Drive cleaning operations that are initiated by the storage
management software cannot use the cleaning cartridges stored
in a cleaning partition; the cartridges are not accessible to the
storage management software.
Partition Configuration Overview
User Guide—Spectra T950 Library
162