Using tape devices with NDMP

Tape devices and configurations you can use with the filer

The filer can read from or write to these devices when using NDMP:

Standalone tape drives or tapes within a tape library attached to the filer
Tape drives or tape libraries attached to the workstation that runs the backup application
Tape drives or tape libraries attached to a workstation or filer on your network
NDMP-enabled tape libraries attached to your network

Restriction for tape libraries

If you use NDMP to back up the filer to attached tape libraries, be aware that if you want to use NDMP to manage your tape library, you must set the tape stacker autoload setting to Off. If the autoload setting is set to On, the filer uses the tape stacker the same way it uses a stand-alone tape drive and does not allow medium changer operations to be controlled by the NDMP backup application.

Naming conventions for tape libraries

Historically, the following names were always used to refer to tape libraries:

mcn or /dev/mcn
sptn or /dev/sptn

In a specific tape library name, n is a number. For example, mc0, spt0, /dev/mc0, and /dev/spt0 all refer to the same library.

Now, tape libraries can also be aliased to worldwide names (WWNs). For more information about tape aliasing, see Assigning tape aliases.

To see what tape libraries are recognized by your system, use the sysconfig -m command on the filer console. To see what names are currently assigned to any libraries, use the storage show mc command on the filer. Tape aliasing is also used to refer to tape drives, and you can see the aliases of tape drives using the storage show tape command.

Example

Below is an example of the output you might see from the storage show mc command:

filerA> storage show mc

Media Changer:         2.3

Description:           SPECTRA 10000

Serial Number:         7030290500

World Wide Name:       WWN[2:000:0090a5:00011c]

Alias Name(s):         mc0

Device State:          available (does not support reservations)