Tape libraries are supported in HyperScale X using the RedHat Enterprise Linux native st and pass through sg inbox drivers for data transfer to tape drives, and the ch inbox driver for the medium changer.
Note: If tape type devices are zoned to FC cards, it is a best practice for tape and disk FC traffic to be separated by at least different physical FC ports. Ideally, disk and tape should be on different HBA's or if using a 4 port HBA; ports 0 and 1 can be tape, and ports 2 and 3 can be disk, or vice versa.
Obtaining the Device Drivers for IBM Drives
For IBM drives, the lin_tape device driver package must be custom built specifically for the nodes provided to you.
Contact Commvault Customer Support to escalate the ticket to Commvault development team, to build and provide the specific lin_tape device driver package. Make sure to include the current Linux kernel version in your HyperScale nodes when making the request.
Once the package is provided to you, follow the procedure described in Using a Linux Tape Device Driver (starting from step3 ) to install the driver.
Note: Linux tape, or lin_tape driver packages should not be confused with lin_taped daemon which is currently not supported on any Commvault Linux MediaAgents, including HyperScale.
Updating the Linux Tape Driver During OS Upgrade
The Linux Tape (lin_tape) device driver is built specifically for the running kernel version. When the kernel associated with OS is upgraded, the corresponding lin_tape driver must also be rebuilt and upgraded to prevent issues from occurring.
To update the lin_tape driver complete the following steps:
Stop all media management activity to the library and clear all the reservation types.
Unload all the drives.
Obtain the latest version of the lin_tape drive from customer support.
The latest version of lin_tape driver must match the new kernel version of the operating system that you want to upgrade to.
Remove the existing lin_tape driver using the following command:
rpm -e <lin_tape driver version>Upgrade the operating system and reboot the nodes.
After the nodes are back online and the new kernel is loaded and running, install the new lin_tape driver using the following command:
rpm -ivh <lin_tape driver version>