Hmmm....The StorageTek rep is telling us that if the tape has an LTO2
label (L2 postfix) that the LTO3 drives in the library will read/write
to the tape in LTO2 format, such that an LTO2 drive will continue to be
able to read/write to that tape.

Interesting? 

Paul

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark.Donaldson AT cexp DOT com [mailto:Mark.Donaldson AT cexp DOT com] 
> Sent: October 27, 2005 12:57 PM
> To: Paul Keating; veritas-bu AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
> Subject: RE: [Veritas-bu] using lto2 media in lto3 drives
> 
> 
> I can't speak for LTO2 to LTO3 but I have LTO1 & LTO2.
> 
> LTO1 media, once *written* in an LTO2 drive is no longer 
> readable in an LTO1
> drive.  That's made it difficult on my side to slowly 
> convert, too.  LTO2
> writes more efficiently on LTO1 tape, increasing the 
> effective data density,
> but the data is unreadable in and LTO1 drive.
> 
> I ended up building multiple storage units with different 
> media types &
> slowly added the denser media as a new media type to match.
> 
> There's a report that restores are media-type aware, too.  I 
> thought I could
> "fake" my media on my long-term storage, using vmchange to 
> convert my filled
> offsite media to HCART2 so that it would read in my LTO2 
> drives.  I've been
> told that I would shoot myself in the foot on restores.  
> While you can fake
> convert empty media to a new media type, filled media would 
> fail in restore.
> Somewhere in the DB, says the report, if a restore is 
> triggered, it says
> "such-and-so file is on tape XX whick is HCART media".  If 
> vmchange was used
> to "convert" the media type to HCART2, then the restore fails 
> because the
> media type doesn't match.
> 
> I haven't tried this yet - I should test it thoroughly - but it's a
> consideration.
> 
> -M
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: veritas-bu-admin AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
> [mailto:veritas-bu-admin AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu]On Behalf Of 
> Paul Keating
> Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2005 6:05 AM
> To: veritas-bu AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
> Subject: [Veritas-bu] using lto2 media in lto3 drives
> 
> 
> I just got some new drives for my environment, going into my 
> 2 L700s with my
> existing LTO2 drives.
> 
> at the moment, the robot is full of LTO2 media, and we don't 
> intend to add
> LTO 3 media for a while....is there any voodoo needed to get 
> the LTO3 drives
> to oprate properly with the lto2 media?
> 
> Paul
>