Drive Operations - Overview

Validate Drive

When the drive validation process is initiated from the CommCell Console, the system performs all the standard operations, such as mounting the media, writing on the media, re-winding and seeking data and then reading back from the media, to ensure that the drive is functioning properly.

It is recommended that a drive validation operation is performed after configuring the libraries and drives and before performing a data protection operation. Drive validation can be used for troubleshooting purposes. Drive validation can also be performed to check the throughput of the device. In addition, you can verify whether different tape block size is supported by the hardware and operating system, by performing a drive validation operation.

On stand-alone drives, you must have a pre-stamped media available in the drive. Make sure that this pre-stamped media is mounted in the drive and displayed in the CommCell Browser before running the drive validation operation. (You can view the media in the drive using the Resource View.)

Drive validation in not supported for libraries attached to a NAS File Server.

See Validate Drives for instructions.

Another form of drive validation can be performed from the Expert Storage Configuration window. See Validating Drives in a Library for more details.

Mark Drive Replaced

Sometimes drives must be replaced, either as a result of extended use or because of hardware failure.

When you have successfully replaced a drive, you must reset all the counters that keep track of the number of drive events. This can be done using the Mark Drive Replaced option.

See Mark a Drive as Replaced for instructions. For instructions on replacing the drive, see Hardware Changes.

Mark Drive Cleaned

Use this option to mark a drive as cleaned when you clean the drive manually using the menu options in the library front panel instead of using the Clean Drive option from the CommCell Console.

For a detailed discussion on drive cleaning, see Drive Cleaning.

Mark Drive Fixed

If the Mark Library/Drive Broken When Error Thresholds Exceeded option is enabled in the Drive tab of the Library Properties dialog box, the status of the drive is marked as Offline when the number of hardware errors exceeds the preset threshold values established for the drive. The Offline Reason indicates that a threshold was exceeded.

In addition the Broken option in the Status tab of the Drive Properties is displayed as Yes.

In such a situation, it is essential to identify and correct the related problem. Once the problem is addressed, use the Mark Drive Fixed option, to remove the broken status and bring the drive online. In addition using this option also resets the following counters:

• Number of hard errors since clean

• Number of soft errors since clean

See Mark a Drive as Fixed for instructions.

Clean Drive

Use this option to clean a drive immediately. For a detailed discussion on this option and drive cleaning in general, see Drive Cleaning.

Reset Drive

The reset drive option unmounts the media mounted in the drive, thereby making the drive ready for use. The reset drive operation will reset the drive’s status and also try to unmount any media loaded in the drive. However, the reset operation will fail if the drive is reserved or in use.

See Reset a Drive for instructions.

Unload Drive

Occasionally, hardware errors may cause a media mount failure, making a loaded media inaccessible. When this happens (as indicated in the Event Viewer), the affected media must be removed from the drive using the unload drive option. This option can also be used to unmount a loaded free media, when you need to free up the drive immediately for some other use.

See Unload a Drive for instructions.

Show Throughput

Drive throughput helps you to calculate and display the drive’s read and write throughput. You can view this information in one of the following ways:

• You can calculate and view the drive throughput for a specified number of hours, using the Show Drive Throughput dialog box.

• You can view a drive’s throughput for the previous hour from the Hardware Info tab of the Drive Properties dialog box.

See View the Drive Throughputfor instructions.