Spectra T950 - Preparing Cartridges for Use

Chapter 7 — Importing and Exporting Cartridges Preparing Cartridges for Use
November 2016 User Guide—Spectra T950 Library
221
PREPARING CARTRIDGES FOR USE
Beforeyoucanloadcartridgesintothelibrary,youmustprepareandload
themintoTeraPackorMaintenanceTeraPackmagazines(referredtoas
magazinesandmaintenancemagazines,respectively).
Cartridge Guidelines and Requirements
Whenpreparingcartridgesforuse,keepthefollowingguidelinesand
requirementsinmind:
Spectra Certified Media Forbestperformance,useSpectraCertified
Media(bothdataandcleaningcartridges),whichguaranteesbothmedia
compatibilityandthecartridgeitselfoveritslifetime.UsingSpectra
CertifiedMediaalsoletsyoutakefulladvantageofthelibrary’sMedia
LifecycleManagement(MLM)features.SeeChapter9–Configuringand
UsingMediaLifecycleManagement,beginningonpage276fordetailed
informationaboutusingMLMtomonitorthehealthofdataandcleaning
cartridges.
Multiple Tape Technology Generations Whenusingmultipletape
technologygenerations,SpectraLogicstronglyrecommendsconfiguring
separatepartitionsforeachgeneration.Itisespeciallyimportanttokeep
LTO‐4drivesanddatacartridgesseparatedfromLTO‐5andlater
generationdrivesanddatacartridges.Thisensurestheaccuracyofthe
LTO‐4mediahealthdata(seeMediaTrackingandReportingonpage280).
TeraPack Magazines DatacartridgesarestoredinTeraPackmagazines
whiletheyareinsidethelibrary.EachTeraPackmagazineholdseitherten
LTOcartridgesornineTS11x0technologycartridges.Similarly,the
cleaningcartridgesusedinacleaningpartitionarestoredinMaintenance
TeraPackmagazines.Eachmaintenancemagazineholdsthesamenumber
ofcartridgesas
adatacartridgemagazine.
Barcode Labels Toensurethatthelibrarycanproperlymaintainitsmedia
inventory,makesurethatallcartridgesandmagazineshaveunique
barcodelabels.Foryourconvenience,allSpectraCertifiedMediais
availablepre‐labeledwithsequentialbarcodelabels.Optionalcustom
barcodesequencescanbeordered,ifdesired.
 DataCartridges—Thelibraryautomaticallynotifiesyouwheneveryou
attempttoimportunlabeledcartridgesorcartridgeswhoselabels
indicatethatthemediatypeorgenerationisnotsupportedbythe
partition.
 TeraPackMagazines—Barcodelabelsarerequiredonallmagazines.
MaintenanceTeraPackmagazinesareidentifiedbySpectra‐unique
labels.Foryourconvenience,thepre‐loadedmagazinesarelabeled
withsequentialbarcodelabels.Optionalcustombarcodesequencescan
beordered,ifdesired.