To configure a tape drive

1        In the Unitrends appliance, select Archive > Settings > Archive Media.

2        Under Configurable Archive Media, click to scan for media. Connected tape drives and autoloaders display.

If the device does not display in the list, make certain the connections are secure, power cycle the device, and then reboot the appliance (Settings > System, Updates, and Licensing > Shutdown).

3        Select the tape device in the list of configurable devices.

4        Select is_available and set it to True. This allows the tape device to be used for archiving. Click Confirm.

5        If you have an autoloader, select parent_changer and select the desired autoloader from the drop down list. Click Confirm. This creates an association between the tape drive and the autoloader.

6        Select parent_changer_driveno and enter the drive number. Click Confirm. The drive number is usually 0, except in the case of an autoloader with multiple tape drives. Occasionally there may be a different number in a single drive system.

7        To automatically prepare tapes, select use_unlabeled_tapes, and set it to True. If this field is set to False, the appliance does not automatically prepare any tapes and cannot use unprepared tapes for archiving. For more information, see About preparing tapes.

8        If desired, configure additional settings. The default settings are recommended, but if you wish to alter the settings, see the table below:

Warning! When restoring data, the blocksize and compression settings must match the setting at the time the tape was written. The settings with an * should only be changed before archiving to a new tape.

Setting

Setting Description

hardware_read_blocksize*

Sets the blocksize of tape driver to use during tape read operations.

software_read_blocksize*

Sets the maximum size of data blocks to read from tape driver. The optimal value depends on the particular tape drive.

hardware_write_blocksize*

Sets the blocksize of tape driver to use during tape write operations.

software_write_blocksize*

Sets the size of the data blocks to write to the tape driver.

eject_before_unload

Determines whether or not this changer requires its tape drive(s) to be sent an unload command before it can put a tape back in its slot.

eject_wait_time

Required by some tape devices, this sets the number of seconds to wait between issuing an eject command and issuing an unload command to an autoloader.

max_ready_time

Sets the maximum number of seconds to wait for a tape drive to become ready after a tape is loaded. This is beneficial if your tape device takes a long time before it is ready.

hw_compression_supported*

States whether (true) or not (false) the device supports hardware compression.

hw_compression*

States whether (true) or not (false) you want to use hardware compression on tape device.

max_command_time

Sets the maximum number of seconds to wait for tape commands to complete.

init_cmd

Required by some devices, enter a command(s) necessary to initialize the device.

rewind_cmd

Enter a command to rewind the tape.

space_to_next_cmd

Enter a command to space to next file on tape.

space_to_end_cmd

Enter a command to space to end of tape.

load_cmd

Enter a command to load tapes. (Most drives will not need this set.)

unload_cmd

Enter a command to unload/eject tapes.

set_blcoksize_cmd

Enter a command to set tape hardware blocksize.

 

9        Click Close once all settings are configured. Repeat these steps for all desired tape drives.

10    Continue with the following applicable procedures:

     If you have an autoloader, see To configure an autoloader

     If you selected False in Step 7 of To configure a tape drive, see To prepare archive tapes 

     If you are ready to archive and do not need to prepare archive tapes, see Archiving backups to tape