<H3><BOLD>BEFORE YOU EVEN CONSIDER GETTING A SUN StorEdge L280 :</BOLD></H3>
Get the proper SUN Part. Be aware that the L280 won't connect through the standard SCSI port on the E450. It is single ended whereas the L280 requires a differential SCSI bus. Therefore you will need a differential SCSI host adapter (you can get it around 700 CAD$) and the proper cables. This is SUN option number X6541A (which is also SUN Part number 375-0006).
<u><b>Introduction</b></u>
When you buy a Sun StorEdge L280, it consists of a tape drive and a robotic device. You can address the tape drive as you do with standard tape drive (/dev/rmt). But you won't be able to address the robotic device. Therefore you will have to load tapes manually or buy a commercial backup software that will recognise and will be able to use the robot. <br>
There is a third solution which is the purpose of this document. You can use open source software to address the robotic device. and it works !
<u><b>Preparing the installation</b></u>
Power up your L280. Make sure the L280 is in random mode and write down your tape drive and your library SCSI IDs (you will need them later on).<br>
Begin with installing gcc3.2. You can get the package gcc-3.2-sol9-sparc-local.gz from <a href="http://www.sunfreeware.com">www.sunfreeware.com</a>. Note that this is actually a sun package. So, when you unzip it, type pkgadd -d gcc-3.2-sol9-sparc-local to install it.<br>
make sure your path includes /usr/local/bin:/usr/ccs/bin.<br>
To be able to address your library, you need a SCSI driver (it is not provided by SUN when you buy the StorEdge L280). This SCSI driver is sst. You can download it from <a href="http://www.arkeia.com/download.html">www.arkeia.com</a> and mtx software from <a href="http://mtx.badtux.net/">mtx.badtux.net</a>. <br>
<u><b>Installing softwares and connecting the devices</b></u>
untar the sst driver and follow the procedure describes in the sst64/installsst.txt.<br>
My SCSI tape ID was 4 and the library SCSI ID was 5. So I edited the /usr/kernel/drv/sst.conf and left the file as it was (it was already setup for a library on SCSI ID 5).<br>
I did not find any reference to the L280 in the /kernel/drv/st.conf so I just added the following line in the tape-config-list section :<br>
"SUN L280", "SUN L280 Library", "DLT-data";<br>
Follow the rest of the procedure, it is straightforward.<br>
Unzip and untar the mtx software and follow the instructions to install it (./configure, make, make install).<br>
Halt your server, insert the host adapter and connect your cables.<br>
power on the E450. At the OK prompt, try scsi-probe-all. You should be able to see both the tape drive and the library.<br>
<u><b>Finishing the installation and testing</b></u>
Boot your server : boot -r<br>
Once the system is up and running, look through your /var/adm/messages file. You should see the string "changer found". If so do the following command to get your device name :<br>
# ls -l /dev | grep sst<br>
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root other 48 Nov 13 14:53 rsst5 -> ../devices/pci@4,4000/scsi@3,1/sst@5,0:character<br>
#<br>
You can now try to issue mtx commands. IMPORTANT : make sure to always specify the mtx option nobarcode. <br>
Here are few exemples of mtx commands with the L280 library :<br>
We begin with issuing an inventory check :<br>
# mtx -f /dev/rsst5 nobarcode inventory<br>
Then (and it does not have to be after the inventory check), we ask a status of the library :<br>
# mtx -f /dev/rsst5 nobarcode status<br>
Storage Changer /dev/rsst5:1 Drives, 8 Slots ( 0 Import/Export )<br>
Data Transfer Element 0:Empty<br>
Storage Element 1:Empty<br>
Storage Element 2:Empty<br>
Storage Element 3:Empty<br>
Storage Element 4:Empty<br>
Storage Element 5:Empty<br>
Storage Element 6:Empty<br>
Storage Element 7:Full<br>
Storage Element 8:Full<br>
#<br>
We load slot 8 tape into the tape drive<br>
# mtx -f /dev/rsst5 nobarcode load 8<br>
The status has changed :<br>
# mtx -f /dev/rsst5 nobarcode status<br>
Storage Changer /dev/rsst5:1 Drives, 8 Slots ( 0 Import/Export )<br>
Data Transfer Element 0:Full (Storage Element 8 Loaded)<br>
Storage Element 1:Empty<br>
Storage Element 2:Empty<br>
Storage Element 3:Empty<br>
Storage Element 4:Empty<br>
Storage Element 5:Empty<br>
Storage Element 6:Empty<br>
Storage Element 7:Full<br>
Storage Element 8:Empty<br>
#<br>
We Unload the tape :<br>
# mtx -f /dev/rsst5 nobarcode unload<br>
Unloading Data Transfer Element into Storage Element 8...done<br>
#<br>
NOTE : I was not able to unload the tape to a slot of my choice. It seems that this function does not work on my library. So I can only unload a tape and put it back in its original slot.<br>
Anyway, That's great. Congratulations to everybody involved in the development of the sst and the mtx software. Good job !<br>
The only thing left is making your own scripts using these commands, or use Amanda.<br>
