Archive:Loaders 4.4

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Loaders

Loaders are devices that consists of drive(s), a magazine with slots for media and a robotic mechanism that moves media between the slots and drives thus enabling automated backups. There is no dependency in SEP sesam to use specific manufacturers devices or device types. A list of supported hardware is available at Supported Storage Hardware.

Identifying storage devices and their configuration

SEP sesam can detect and automatically configure storage hardware in your environment if the hardware is supported and recognized by the operating system (it must be listed in the OS device driver directory), where the SEP sesam Server or Remote Device Server is installed.

	Note
	Verify that the operating system properly detects the storage device. On Windows, the hardware must be recognized correctly by the operating system in the Windows Device Manager (must not be shown as Unknown Medium Changer) before SEP sesam is installed!

During SEP sesam Server installation, SEP sesam checks the SCSI API of the operating system for connected storage devices and enters working device files (SCSI address) into SEP sesam database. This auto-detection works for most devices, but for certain types of loaders the connection between a loader and the drives cannot be recognized automatically. Such devices must be manually verified and entered into the configuration.

You can also configure your storage hardware manually if you are adding a loader later, e.g., for remote devices. How you configure a loader depends on its type.

To enter devices manually, go to Main selection -> Components -> Loaders. Each loader is marked and its properties are entered. By clicking OK the device is entered into the configuration.

The menu item Loaders shows the configured loaders with their drives. You can add a new loader, inspect the contents of the loader, run archive adjustment, and import/export or load/unload the tape cartridges.

Loader properties

The following settings are configured automatically if a storage device is recognized by the operating system.

Device Name: SCSI device filename of the loader

	Note
	Enter the SCSI address of the physical device on Windows systems, for example Changer0, or a device filename on Linux systems, for example /dev/sg2. You can check if the devices are used correctly by SEP sesam and detect available SCSI addresses by running a `slu scan` command.

slu scan is a SEP sesam loader utility that provides information about the loaders and tape drives connected to the system. First, you must set up a profile as described in FAQ: What happens when I set a profile?. Then use the following command to list all attached SCSI devices:

On Windows
On Linux

Enter the displayed target device name in the Device Name field.

Device Server: Remote Device Server (RDS) where the loader is installed; Device Server refers to the server where the loader is connected. In small environments the loader or disk array is usually installed directly on the SEP sesam Server. However, more complex backup environments use RDS instead. RDS receives data during backup and writes it to the attached tape device.

Type: The device type
Ctrl: The loader type – there are different types of loader available:

DIR_SLU
DIR_VIRT
DIR_DISK

Slots: Number of slots in the loader.; When inserting a cleaning tape, use the last slot in the loader and reduce the number of slots in the loader by one (or by the number of cleaning tapes loaded). Additionally, configure the auto-clean option in the tape library setup.
Ports: Number of mail slots in the loader.
Barcode: Depending on whether the loader has a barcode reader or not, select yes or no.
Auto Unload function: Almost all autoloaders and tape libraries allow explicit commands to transport tapes to and from the loader mechanism. It is strongly recommended to disable Auto Unload function by setting it to no and allow the manufacturer's drive settings to perform as designed.

Frequently there will be other applications also using media in a loader, especially in the case of large tape libraries. In such case, you have to know which subset of media is reserved for SEP sesam (media that are added to the SEP sesam media pool). When running an archive adjustment (scanning a loader to update the SEP sesam information about the tapes in the device), you can limit the scanning to specific SEP sesam loader areas. If the media have barcode labels this is taken into account for the backup process. Direct verification of the media label is possible.

The archive adjustment can also occur at the same time an inventory of the loader's tapes is initiated. The user thus obtains an overview of the tapes in the loader without regard to which pool (Storage Pool) they have been assigned/reassigned.

Legend: The following table lists the icons used for displaying various media and loader status.

Barcode as label: If available, the barcode will be used instead of the media label.

Archive Adjustment

An archive adjustment makes a comparison between media in the loader carousel or magazine and the SEP sesam media archive database. It is mandatory whenever the contents of a loader carousel have been altered. Typically, it must be performed after inserting new media or used media that have not yet been registered (initialized) by SEP sesam.

Media Pool: Select a media pool where you want to perform the archive adjustment - All media is shown regardless of the pool selected
Storagepool: if the selected media pool has storagepools pools assigned to it you can select them here.
Drive Group: The drive group is automatically defined via the media pool
Drive (opt.): optional input of a single drive
First Slot, Last Slot: Offers the possibility to limit the synchronization to a portion of the autoloader
Automatic Introduction: If unknown media (without sesam label) are found within the loader these unidentified media will be added to the specified media pool
Tape Type: Entry of media type for automatic new media entry
Handling of unknown SEP sesam media

Accept without initialization - foreign sesam media, e.g. from another SEP sesam server will be entered into the new media pool

- Note: any media from a competitive manufacturer will be entered into the target mediapool and will be overwritten! In other words, any media not recognized by the SEP sesam server will be overwritten and a new Media Pool Label is written to the tape.

Check label on tape: Every tape label is read again and verified. Bar code information is ignored.
Adjustment by barcode only: SEP sesam does not unload the tapes from the drives and checks only the barcodes of tapes within the slots.

Loader Action

Selecting Loader Action is the simplest (limited) way to achieve direct access to disk and loader controls. The import or export (load/unload) of single media can be initialized in the SEP GUI as well as the sorting of media within the library. The use of port slots depends on the hardware installed.

Action

Import: transport of tape cartridge through the input/output port into the magazine
Export: transport of tape cartridge from the magazine through the input/output port - exit from loader
Load from slot: move tape cartridge from the specified magazine slot into the specified drive
Load via label: move tape cartridge with certain ID (e.g. S00001) into the specified drive
Unload: move tape cartridge from the specified drive back into its slot
Loader Number: selection of a defined loader
Drive Number: selection of a defined drive (within that loader)
Label: In case of "'Load via label"' instead of slot number
Start: of the corresponding action
Cancel: closes the entry mask without an action