L700 auto clean enabled - no usage on cleaning tapes

[brianwr]

I have enabled autoclean on an L700 with Ultrium GEN-1 drives. Two cleaning tapes are instaled in the required slots. L700 is managed by omniback 4.10, with no drive cleaning enabled from the app, and has been running for well over one year. There is yet to be any usage on the cleaning tapes . The L700 is used heavily with no tape errors whatsoever.

Is it normal to have no usage on Ultrium cleaning tapes given the timescale and drive usage ????

 

[johnny99]

Are you checkking the usage of the cleaningtapes in Omniback because that should show 0.
You must check it on the L700. Don't remember where but when I do it I just stand in fron of it and push my way to the right menu. I think it's under maintenance and cleaningtapes.

 

[brianwr]

The cleaning tape usage is measured from the front panel menu ,and shows zero usage on both tapes . So the question remains...............

 

[DavinaTreiber]

Ultrium drives almost never need cleaning. Just check that none of your drives are requesting cleaning for reassurance, but I think what you describe is normal.

 

[ghudson]

Enabling auto clean on an L-series library isn't much use unless you are running the latest library code levels. On the L20,40,80 you need to be at least at level 0212 and at least level 1522 on the Lto Ultrium drives (assuming you have Seagate Ultrium LTO's). For the L180's and L700's you need to be at level 0306 and again at least at level 1522 on the drives.

Also bear in mind that LTO drives only need to be cleaned every 50,000 hours (roughly depending on environment) of usage. so 1 cleaning tape should last more or less the lifetime of the drive.

 

[brianwr]

Thanks for the reply. Got much the same answer from hp product support . See below.............

Question : WHAT IS THE CLEANING INTERVAL ( IF ANY ? ) FOR ULTRIUM GEN-1 DRIVES ????
Answer : The simple answer is that there isn't one!

Unlike DDS drives which require regular cleaning in order to operate correctly LTO drives were designed so that regular cleaning is not needed. This is achieved through a number of various methods :-

1) LTO Media has a inherent cleaning action. e.g. just using a drive will keep the heads the clean. This is especially true of new media, hence if you tend to use newer media in your LTO drive it is very possible that you will never need to use a cleaning tape. If on the other hand you tend to use a few pieces of media over and over then it is possible, but not definite, that you will need to use a cleaning tape at some point. This point is re-enforced when you understand that the Universal Cleaning Cartridge uses ordinary data media. What is special about the cleaning tape is that it guarantees that fresh media is pulled over the heads and it is this fresh or green media that cleans the heads. Hence why using new tapes regularly will mitigate any need for a cleaning tape.

2) HP LTO drives also have a built in head cleaner. This head cleaner is deployed on a regular basis to clear any media debris off the heads. This keeps the heads clean and again reduces the need for the operator to clean the drive. IBM LTO drives also have a head cleaner but it is not as sophisticated as the HP version as it is only mechanical. In the IBM implementation the heads are given a single wipe as a cartridge is loaded. Certance (Formerly Seagate) Gen 1 LTO drives do not have a head cleaner at all and rely solely on the cleaning action of the media to keep the heads clean and free of debris.

 

[lupus11]

I have qustion for ghudson (MIS).
I also have enabled autoclean on an STK L700 with Ultrium GEN-1 drives. STK L700 is managed by Verits NetBackup DataCenter. Firmware version on drives are 1460 (two drives have 1522) and code version on L700 is 3.05.03. You said that enabling auto clean on an L-series library isn't much use unless you are running the latest library code levels. Can you tell me where to find some documents for this problem?

 

[tapechap]

The first introduction, originally the three LTO suppliers, HP, Seagate (Certance) and IBM, it was thought that tape drive cleaning would not be necessary because of the product specifications in the LTO environment. These same assumptions were made in the past with the 3480 tape drive series of products by IBM also Each LTO tape driver manufacturer originally approved compliance to just the form factor of the cartridge and other physical parameters.

Originally, the LTO consortium did not, intentionally, provide strict guidelines that controlled the quality of the media inside the cartridge. The only guideline at that time was just the length of the tape. The reason for this was that the consortium did not want to restrict the "open system" market. As a result of this, the quality of media being manufactured by various vendors has flucuated from the quality that was used during the original develop efforts by the tape drive manufacturers. So as time has gone by more tier 2 and 3 media suppliers have entered the market so that the range of the tape quality has broadened from the original few used for development. This fact, along with urging from STK has caused the drive suppliers to rethink their view on cleaning tape usage and procedure.

Competition between LTO suppliers is very intense and because of this they are very reluctant to formally publicize anything that could construe weakness in their drives. Thus formal announcements are unlikely from them, as they fear this could potentially be used by a competitor. New IBM LTO code will allow selection of a new formula to trigger cleaning. The new interval will send a clean message for the equivalent of 40 full cartridge passes. This will apply to IBM G1 (released) and G2 (pending) drives. Certance Corp will change their cleaning formula to trigger a clean message for every 100 tape motion hours. This is roughly equal to 50 full cartridge passes. HP LTO cleaning is triggered by error conditions. STK has not been informed of any changes to HP LTO’s at this time along these same lines.
StorageTek is seeing this as a positive step in keeping the media and drives as clean as possible which will lead to improved performance.

STK has been recommending cleaning since last year due to investigation into issues that they have seen at customer sites. The frequency of once a week is sufficient in normal usage accounts.

The only area of concern is the interaction of a library autocleaning cycle with Veritas, Legato, etc. Timers might need updating to allow the cleaning process without downing drives. Veritas has stated that they support Autocleaning on our libraries, but it is recommended that each vendor be consulted to assure what is needed by the application to enable its proper usage.

New IBM LTO Gen 1 drive code for STK has a bit that needs to be set to enable the drive to request cleaning to the library after the 40 mounts listed above (autoclean on the library on). Unfortunately, it takes a special program they have to go in and enable the bit once the code is installed. However, the new code for the Gen 1 drives is something that should be pursued at all costs it has 275+ fixes in it. Also, from reports, you had better be cleaning the IBM Gen 1 LTO drives with the frequency recommended above or eventual problems will start occurring. The IBM Gen 2 drives however does not have the cleaning bit included yet and not projected until 4Q release.

Whoever above that says they are using 1460 and 1522 Seagate (Certance) code should seriously consider going to STK release 1603 code. Known problems with both of those codes.

 

[Pachtva]

No more bla bla bla...

You have to clean a tape drive when look a decrease of your performance in the backups or restores.

LTO tape drives can work without frequently clean, but it´s necesary for your performance. And with clean enabled con can do this acroos the library menu.

THE END