Tape Backup Software; Front Panel Features - Dell PowerVault 110T SDLT320 User Manual

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User manual (23 pages)

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Introduction: Dell™ PowerVault™ 110T SDLT 320 Tape Drive User's Guide

• Overview • Features • SCSI Bus Interface • Tape Backup Software • Obtaining Driver and Firmware Upgrades • Front Panel Features

Overview

The Dell™ PowerVault™ 110T SDLT 320 tape drive builds on the successful DLTtape platform and technology, combining capacity and performance with reliability and low

cost of ownership, while maintaining backward read compatibility with earlier generations of DLTtape drives. With a combination of data compression and compaction, the Dell

PowerVault 110T SDLT 320 tape drive offers a formatted cartridge capacity of 160 GB (320 GB assuming a 2:1 compression ratio) and a sustained user data transfer rate of

16 MB/s (up to 32 MB/s with 2:1 compression).

The Dell PowerVault 110T SDLT 320 tape drive conforms to a 5.25-inch, full-height form factor and primarily uses Super DLTtape cartridges. It offers backward read capability

when using DLTtape IV cartridges.

Features

The Dell PowerVault 110T SDLT 320 tape drive has the following features:

Breakthrough recording technology - Laser Guided Magnetic Recording

Capacity of 160 GB (native), 320 GB (compressed*) on a single Super DLTtape cartridge

Partial Response Maximum Likelihood (PRML) data encoding

Sustained transfer rate of 16 MB/s (native)

Backward read compatible with DLTtape IV cartridge media recorded on earlier DLTtape drives

TapeAlert

support

Low Voltage Differential (LVD) Ultra 2 SCSI interface

Ability to operate in a mode that is completely compatible with an earlier version of the product, Dell PowerVault 110T SDLT 220. If operating in this mode, the Drive

Density LED (labeled underneath with "220") will be illuminated. For details, see

* Assumes 2:1 compression ratio. The actual capacity depends on the data set, which affects the actual compression ratio.

SCSI Bus Interface

Dell PowerVault 110T SDLT 320 tape drives are SCSI devices designed to operate on a Low Voltage Differential (LVD) Ultra 2 SCSI bus with a burst transfer rate of 80

MB/second. Do not attach the drive to a single-ended SCSI bus, and do not install the drive on the same SCSI bus as any single-ended devices: this will switch the LVD host

adapter into single-ended mode and will restrict performance.

Your host system must have a properly installed and configured SCSI host adapter or a SCSI controller on the system board (SCSI-2 or SCSI-3 compliant) with driver software

that supports the PowerVault 110T SDLT 320 drive. Dell recommends that you use a dedicated host bus adapter for the tape drive. Check the server documentation for the

specification of any built-in SCSI channels. Do not connect to a RAID controller channel; these are for disk drives only. Consult your system documentation.

Tape Backup Software

Drivers for Microsoft™ Windows® 2000 for your PowerVault 110T SDLT 320 tape drive are included on the CD that came with your drive. You will need tape backup software

that supports the Dell PowerVault tape drive. Note that native backup applications (for example, the Unix tar command) generally do not provide the required data streaming

rate to get the full performance of your tape drive. Dell recommends using a backup application that provides improved memory management as well as other useful features,

such as TapeAlert. The Dell PowerSuites provide suitable products that have been tested with Dell PowerVault 110T SDLT 320 drives, as listed below:

Computer Associates™

Veritas®

Refer to the Operating Guide supplied with your backup application for full details of how to use your specific tape backup software. Make sure the latest patches and support

packs are installed for your software; obtain these from http://support.dell.com.

Obtaining Drivers and Firmware Upgrades

To obtain the latest operating system drivers, installation procedures, or firmware upgrades, please visit http://support.dell.com.