To use a tape device that is not supported by the Tivoli® Storage Manager server, you must define a device class whose device type is GENERICTAPE.
For
Windows systems, you must also
define a drive path with GENERICTAPE=Yes to use a tape device.
For
a manual library with multiple drives of device type GENERICTAPE,
ensure that the device types and recording formats of the drives are
compatible. Because the devices are controlled by the operating system
device driver, the Tivoli Storage
Manager server is
not aware of the following:
- The actual type of device: 4 mm, 8 mm, digital linear tape, and so forth. For example, if you have a 4 mm device and an 8 mm device, you must define separate manual libraries for each device.
- The actual cartridge recording format. For example, if you have a manual library defined with two device classes of GENERICTAPE, ensure the recording formats are the same for both drives.