Introduction

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These publications and URLs provide user information about writing for applications to interfaces for IBM® tape drives, medium changers, and library device drivers.

Purpose

The IBM tape and medium changer device drivers are designed specifically to take advantage of the features that are provided by the IBM tape drives and medium changer devices. The goal is to give applications access to the functions required for basic tape functions (such as backup and restore) and medium changer operations (such as cartridge mount and unmount), and to the advanced functions needed by full tape management systems. Whenever possible, the driver is designed to take advantage of the device features transparent to the application.

The most current information on hardware and software requirements for IBM tape and medium changer device drivers can be found in the individual platform readme files or with the subsequent links.

Hardware requirements

The tape drivers and the IBM Tape Diagnostic Tool (ITDT) are developed to support various versions of different platforms. For the latest support, refer to the Interoperation Center website - http://www.ibm.com/systems/support/storage/config/ssic/.

Note: A single Fibre Channel host bus adapter (HBA) for concurrent tape and disk operations is not recommended. Tape and disk devices require incompatible HBA settings for reliable operation and optimal performance characteristics. Under stress conditions (high I/O rates for either tape, disk, or both) where disk and tape subsystems share a common HBA, stability problems are observed. These issues are resolved by separating disk and tape I/O streams onto separate HBAs and by using SAN zoning to minimize contention. IBM is focused on assuring server/storage configuration interoperability. It is strongly recommended that your overall implementation plan includes provisions for separating disk and tape workloads.

For information about this issue, see the following Redbook, section 4.1.3 in http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246502.html?Open.

Software requirements

If you use a third-party application, consult with your application provider about the compatibility with IBM tape device drivers.

For detailed driver requirements for each operating system, refer to the appropriate chapter.

IBM tape products

The IBM tape product family provides an excellent solution for customers with small to large storage and performance requirements.
  • IBM TS2250/TS2260/TS2270/TS2280 tape drive
  • IBM TS2350/TS2360 tape drive
  • IBM TS1140/TS1150/TS1155/TS1160 tape drive (Enterprise)
  • IBM TS3500 and TS4500 tape library (also known as IBM UltraScalable tape library 3584)
  • IBM TS4300 tape library

Related information

Reference material, including the Adobe pdf version of this publication, is available at http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ssg1S7003032.

A companion publication that covers installation and user aspects for the device drivers is IBM Tape Device Drivers: Installation and Users Guide, GC27-2130-00, at http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ssg1S7002972.

AIX®

The following URL points to information about IBM System p (also known as pSeries) servers: http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/pseries.

Linux

The following URLs relate to Linux® distributions: http://www.redhat.com and http://www.suse.com.

Microsoft Windows

The following URL relates to Microsoft Windows systems: http://www.microsoft.com .

Additional information

The following publication contains information that is related to the IBM tape drive, medium changer, and library device drivers: American National Standards Institute Small Computer System Interface X3T9.2/86-109 X3.180, X3B5/91-173C, X3B5/91-305, X3.131-199X Revision 10H, and X3T9.9/91-11 Revision 1.