Viewing the Physical Tape Library Inventory

Viewing the Physical Tape Library Inventory
	Chapter 3. Using a NearStore VTL Appliance

Because the NearStore VTL is compatible with the barcode support provided by most physical tape libraries, you can use it to scan or display the inventory of attached physical tape libraries. The information provided by a scan includes the number of slots and drives in the physical tape library as well as the barcodes of any physical tapes.

Complete this task to view the inventory of an attached physical tape library:

Click physical library from the Loader Type field of a physical tape device to view the inventory of the physical tape library with which it is associated.

The Physical Library Inventory screen appears and the NearStore VTL displays the following summary information:

Physical library—provides the name of the physical tape library.

Number of Slots—specifies the number of slots in the physical tape library.

Number of Drives—gives the number of physical tape drives in the physical tape library.

Number of EEP—gives the number of entry exit ports in the physical tape library.

The screen also displays a table showing the which slot numbers contain which barcodes, the date cloned, date exported, the associated virtual library, the date the associated virtual library tape was written, whether the virtual and physical tapes are in sync and the status. Status can be one of the following:
- NEW—the physical tape is newly added to the NearStore VTL appliance
- IMPORTED—the physical tape is imported into the appliance
- CLONED—the physical tape is cloned
- CLONE_PENDING—the physical tape is waiting to be cloned
- EXPORTED—the virtual tape has been exported and is no longer in the virtual library
- EXPORT PENDING—the virtual tape has been scheduled for exporting, but is not yet exported
- EEP_PENDING—the physical tape is waiting to be moved to the physical library entry/exit port
You can use the radio buttons near the top of the page to control how the table rows are ordered: by slot number, by barcode value, by date exported, or by date cloned.

You can click Rescan to scan the inventory of the physical tape library.

Note

If you click Add a Physical Library you see the Configuration Tasks > Physical Tape Devices > Add Physical Library task screen, from which you can add a physical library.


Using Virtual Tapes		Using Physical Tapes (Loading Physical Tape Drives)