B Tape Drives and Media

This appendix provides information about the tape drives and media supported by the SL8500 library. See the tape drive section on the corporate web site for more information about currently available tape drives: http://www.oracle.com/us/products/servers-storage/storage/tape-storage/overview/index.html

For more information about the T-series tape drives, refer to the drive specific System Assurance Guide. For more information about LTO drives, refer to the LTO specific documentation. Both resources can be found on the Oracle Technical Network at: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/documentation/tape-storage-curr-187744.html

Supported Tape Drives

Table B-1 Supported Tape Drives

Drive Type	Vendor	Capacity and Transfer Rate	Interface Type
T9840 A, B, C, D	Oracle	A: 20 GB with rates at 10 MB/s* (legacy) B: 20 GB with rates at 19 MB/s (legacy) C: 40 GB with rates at 30 MB/s (legacy) D: 75 GB with rates at 30 MB/s (encryption-capable)	Fibre Channel, FICON, ESCON
T9940 B (only)	Oracle	B: 200 GB with transfer rates of 30 MB/s (legacy)	Fibre Channel, FICON, ESCON
T10000 A, B, C	Oracle	A: 500 GB native capacity at 120 MB/s (legacy) B: 1 TB native capacity at 120MB/s (legacy) C: 5 TB capacity with rates up to 252 MB/s native	Fibre Channel, FICON
LTO 2, 3, 4, 5, 6	Hewlett Packard IBM	LTO2 drives: 200 GB at 35 MB/s (legacy) LTO3 drives: 400 GB at 80 MB/s (legacy) LTO4 drives: 800 GB at 120 MB/s LTO5 drives: 1.5 TB at 140 MB/s LTO6 drives: 2.5 TB at 160 MB/s	Fibre Channel
SDLT 600 DLT-S4	Quantum	SDLT 600: 300 GB, with transfer rates of 36 MB/s DLT-S4 (legacy)	Fibre Channel

Supported Tape Drives

This section provides brief descriptions of the various tape drives supported by the SL8500 library. For more detailed information refer to the drive specific documentation.

T9840

T9840 are access-centric tape drives that are ideal for applications that demand high data throughput and fast recall. Although all models are compatible with the SL8500 library, only the T9840D is currently sold.

These drives obtain their high-performance by using a unique dual-hub cartridge design with midpoint load technology. This design enables fast access and reduces latency by positioning the read/write head in the middle of the tape. The entire tape path is contained within the cartridge, which reduces contamination and enables the drives fast access.

T9940

T9940 are high-capacity tape drives designed for storage applications and use a single reel tape cartridge. Although the T9940B drive is compatible with the SL8500 library, it is not currently sold.

The tape cartridge for this drive uses a single-reel hub design—the supply reel is inside the cartridge and the take-up reel is inside the tape drive. The tape cartridge can store up to 200 gigabytes of uncompressed data on a single tape cartridge at rates as high as 30 megabytes per second.

T10000

T10000 are high-capacity, high-performance drives that use a single reel tape cartridge. Although all models are compatible with the SL8500 library, only the T10000C is currently sold.

Optimized for high capacity, the T10000 series of tape cartridges use a single reel hub to maximize capacity. The T10000 T2 tape cartridge has 5 TB of native capacity and is compatible with the T10000C tape drive. The T10000 tape cartridge can store up to 1 TB of data and is designed for the T10000A and B tape drives. In addition to the standard data cartridge, a sport cartridge is available. The sport cartridge has smaller overall capacity, but provides faster data access.

For enhanced security VolSafe cartridges are available. VolSafe is an extension of the write protect function for a StorageTek tape drive. These cartridges are for write once read many (WORM) applications and cannot be erased without destroying the tape itself.The tape cartridge for this drive uses a single-reel hub design. The supply reel is inside the cartridge and the take-up reel is inside the tape drive.

The interface connections to the T10000 are strictly fiber-optic—either Fibre Channel or FICON to support the high rate of data transfers.

Linear Tape-Open

Ultrium Linear Tape-Open (LTO) is an "open format" technology that provides media compatibility across all brands and manufacturers of LTO Ultrium products. Currently, only HP and IBM LTO tape drives are sold through Oracle.

Note:

The LTO standard for backward compatibility is to write back one generation and read back two generations.

LTO tape drives are a small, modular, capacity-centric drive. The tape cartridge for LTO Ultrium drives is a single-reel hub design—the supply reel is inside the cartridge and the take-up reel is inside the tape drive. The drives require specific media with specific labels.

Super DLT600

The SDLT is a modular design, capacity-centric tape drive that supports multiple product generations. The SDLT drive is not currently sold. The Super DLT/DLT tape cartridges are a legacy format and are only compatible with SDLT/DLT tape drives. The types of DLT tape cartridges are:

SDLTtape I: for use with SDLT models 220 and 320 (160 GB native capacity)
SDLTtape II: for use with the SDLT 600 (300 GB native capacity)
DLT-S4: for use with DLT-S4 drive (800GB native capacity)

Tape Drive Comparison

Table B-2 Tape Drive Comparisons

Specification	T10K C	T9840D	HP LTO5	HP LTO6	IBM LTO5	IBM LTO6
Capacity (native)	5 TB	75 GB	1.5 TB	2.5 TB	1.5 TB	2.5 TB
Transfer rates (native)	252 MB/s	30 MB/s	140 MB/s	160 MB/s	140 MB/s	160 MB/s
Buffer size	2 GB	64 MB	256 MB	—	256 MB	—
Load Time (sec)	13.1	8.5	19	22	19	22
Access (sec)	57	8	52	50	52	50
Tape speed (m/s)	5.62	3.4	—	—	—	—
Maximum/average Rewind time (sec)	115	16 /8	96/ 48	98/51	96/ 48	98/51
Unload Time (sec)	26	12.5	19	19	19	19
Availability(MTBF) hours	290,000	290,000	250,000	250,000	250,000	250,000
Length–usable	1,107 m (3,632 ft)	251 m (889 ft)	850 m (2789 ft)	—	850 m (2789 ft)	—
Fibre Channel	4 Gb/s	2 Gb/s	8 Gb/s	8 Gb/s	8 Gb/s	8 Gb/s
SCSI /SAS	—	—	6 Gb SAS	6 Gb SAS	6 Gb SAS	6 Gb SAS
FICON	4 G/bs	2 Gb/s	—	—	—	—
ESCON	—	2 Gb/s	—	—	—	—

Media

Most drives are capable of reading the data recorded by an earlier generation tape drive from the same family. Therefore, the customer can use their existing cartridges. However, the media must be compatible with the tape drives supported by the SL8500 and still within their warranty period. Generally, there are four types of tape cartridges (media) used with these drives: data, write once read many (WORM) or VolSafe secure media, cleaning, and diagnostic (special, reserved data tapes).

For information about labels and barcodes for tape media, refer to the Barcode Technical Brief on OTN.

Contact an Oracle representative to obtain more information about tape cartridges and labels, or see the tape media section on the corporate website: http://www.oracle.com/us/products/servers-storage/storage/tape-storage/overview/index.html

The table below provides a comparison of tape drive media types. For more technical specifications, refer to the media specific documentation.

Table B-3 Tape Drive Media Comparisons

Specifications	9840 (D)	T10K (C)	LTO5	LTO6
Capacity, native	75 GB	5 TB	1.5 TB	2.5 TB
Transfer rate (MB/s)	30	252	140	160
Number of tracks	576	3584	1280	2176
Total length	271 m (889 ft)	1147 m (3763.1 ft)	846m (2776 ft)	846m (2776 ft)
Archival life (years)	15–30	30	15–30	—
Load/unloads	10,000	25,000	5,000	—
Uncorrected bit error rate	1x10^–18	1x10^–19	1x10^–17	1x10^–17