RDX Drive Support and Configuration Information for the IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Server

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The RDX removable disk is supported with the Tivoli Storage Manager server as a removable media device. Before using a medium with the Tivoli Storage Manager server, you must label the medium by using the system utility. The Tivoli Storage Manager server does not provide utilities to format or label removable media.

When defining an RDX drive for the Tivoli Storage Manager server, complete the following steps:

1. Define a manual library that will contain the drive. For example, issue the following command:

define library rdx_lib libtype=manual

2. Define the RDX drive in the library:

define drive rdx_lib rdx_drive

3. Define a path from the server to the drive, specifying the mount point name that will be used to access the drive:

Example for Windows
define path server1 rdx_drive srctype=server desttype=drive device=f: library=rdx_lib

Example for Linux
define path server1 rdx_drive srctype=server desttype=drive device=/mnt/RDX library=rdx_lib

4. Define a device class for the RDX drive in the rdx_lib library:

define devclass rdx_class library=rdx_lib devtype=removablefile

Formatting and labeling disks on Windows

On Windows, the system will prompt you to format the disk before using it. To format the disk, click "Format disk" and label the disk.

Device access on Linux

You must have read and write access to the device file for the RDX drive and the mounted volume. By default, read and write access for these files is granted for the root user only. Without read and write access, the Tivoli Storage Manager server will not be able to access the removable device and write to the mounted volume.

To change access for an RDX drive, issue the following command:

# chmod 666 <RDX device file>

For example: chmod 666 /dev/sda

To change access for an RDX volume, issue the following command:

# chmod 777 <RDX volume name>

For example: chmod 777 /mnt/RDX

Supported RDX drives

All RDX drives are supported with the Tivoli Storage Manager server. The following list shows the RDX drives that we have tested. RDX drives that are not listed here are also supported.

• IBM RDX-USB2
• IBM RDX-USB3
• IBM RDX-SATA - Requires the RDX utility software on Windows
• Dell RDX-USB2
• Dell RDX-USB3
• Dell RDX-SATA - Requires the RDX utility software on Windows
• Imation RDX-USB2
• Imation RDX-USB3
• Imation RDX-SATA - Requires the RDX utility software on Windows
• Tandberg RDX-USB2
• Tandberg RDX-USB3

The Imation RDX-USB3 USB drive with firmware 4103 has been tested with Tivoli Storage Manager servers version 6.1.5 and 6.3.2 on Linux and Windows, and version 6.2.4 on Linux.

The IBM RDX-SATA drive with firmware 0069 has been tested with Tivoli Storage Manager servers version 5.5.7 and 6.2.5 on Windows 2008 R2 (x64).

Using RDX media for a backup set

A backup set can be generated to RDX media through the REMOVABLEFILE device type. If the backup set is written to more than one RDX volume, it must be restored through the Tivoli Storage Manager server. Issue the RESTORE BACKUPSET command and specify -location=server to indicate that the backup set is on the Tivoli Storage Manager server.


Known problems

APAR IC82523 UNABLE TO USE REMOVALBLEFILE DEVICES ON WINDOWS

Affected Tivoli Storage Manager versions:

• 5.5.6
• 6.2.3, 6.2.4
• 6.3.0, 6.3.1

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More information regarding removable media is available in the Tivoli Storage Manager Administrator's Guide, which can be found in Tivoli Storage Manager Information Centers.