Spectra T50e - Page 479

Appendix A—Best Practices MLM Best Practices
August 2017 User Guide—Spectra T50e Library
474
Only use MLM-enabled media
and cleaning cartridges in
MLM-compatible libraries and
drives
Forthemostaccuratetracking,donotimportyourMLM‐enabled
mediaintonon‐SpectraLogiclibrariesordrivegenerationsearlier
thanLTO‐4.ThecartridgeMAMisnotupdatedwithinformation
aboutusageinthoselocations.Asaresult,theinformationabout
usageinthoselocationsisnotrecordedin
theMLMdatabasewhen
thecartridgeisreturnedtoyourlibrary.
Use only Spectra Certified
Media with MLM support (both
data and cleaning cartridges)
in the library
Toensurethebestpossibleperformance,useSpectraCertified
Media.Checkthe
SpectraLogicwebsiteforthemostup‐to‐date
mediaavailability.Donotuseanymediathatisnotapprovedby
SpectraLogicforuseinthelibrary.
ThelibraryusesinformationintheMLMdatabasetomonitorthe
healthofthemediainthelibrary.ForMLM‐enabledmedia,the
detailedhealthreportsletyoudeterminewhetheraparticulardata
cartridgeispastitsusefulthresholdordeterminewhethera
particularcartridgeisexperiencinghigherrorsratesor
retries.For
MLM‐enabledcleaningcartridges,youarenotifiedwhenacartridge
isapproachingtheendofitsusefullife.
AlthoughMLMtracksthegeneralhealthofmediathatisnotMLM‐
enabled,detailedhealthinformationisnotavailableforthismedia.
Do not routinely share LTO-4
media between LTO-4 and
LTO -5 d ri ve s
BeginningwithBlueScale12.0.7,afteranLTO‐4cartridgeisloaded
intoanLTO‐5orlatergenerationdrive,thealgorithmusedto
calculatethemediahealthscorewheneverthecartridgeis
subsequentlyloadedinanLTO‐4driveisadjustedtomaintain
consistentmediahealthreportingregardlessofthegenerationdrive

usedwiththecartridge.
AsabestpracticeforyourLTO‐4media,SpectraLogicrecommends
thatyouconfigureLTO‐4drivesinseparatepartitionsfromLTO‐5
andlatergenerationdrivesandthatyoudonotroutinelyshare
LTO‐4mediabetweenLTO‐4andLTO‐5orlatergenerationdrives.
Do not reformat LTO-5 data
cartridges to use LTFS until
after each cartridge is loaded
into an LTO-5 drive
LTO‐5andlatergenerationdrivessupportatapeformatcalled
LinearTapeFileSystem(LTFS).
LTFSusesanareaintheLTO‐5cartridgeMAMthatwaspreviously
usedforMLMdata.BeforereformattingLTO‐5cartridgestouse
LTFS,makesuretheyareproperlyprepared,asdescribedin
SupportforLTFSforLTO‐5DataCartridgesonpage196.
Always operate the library
with Media Lifecycle
Management enabled
Ifyoudisableandthenre‐enableMediaLifecycleManagement,any
loads,reads,writes,errors,andanyothertaperelatedeventsthat
occurwhileMLMisdisabledarenotrecordedintheMLM
database.
Guideline Description