Hi all

I think that you will encounter few problems.
Compatibility is not managed as well with TSM.
Unfortunatly, TSM didn't recognize the difference between cartridges. When 
mixing two generation with a gap (ie LTO1 and LTO3 or LTO2 and LTO4), it is 
recomended to update cartridges of the oldest generation in read only acces.
On the other hand, you wil replace all scratch with cartridges of the latest 
generation.

Thanks,

Pierre


-----Message d'origine-----
De : ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] De la part de 
Stuart Lamble
Envoyé : jeudi 31 mai 2007 02:03
À : ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Objet : Re: [ADSM-L] Mixing drive types in logical library 3584

On 31/05/2007, at 3:38 AM, Chris McKay wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I have been told by IBM that fibre LTO2 drives are no longer 
> available. We wish to expand the number of drives in our 3584 library 
> from 2 to 5. The current 2 drives are fibre LTO2 drives, would it pose 
> a problem by adding an additional 3 LTO3 drives to that logical 
> library? Is it possible under Windows??  I realize I will need to 
> continue to use LTO2 media, as the existing LTO2 drives would not be 
> compatable with LTO3 media. Our TSM server is running on Windows 2003.

Compatibility with LTO media is straightforward: one generation back for write; 
two generations back for read. So an LTO3 drive is a perfectly reasonable way 
to extend your LTO2 capabilities, as well as giving you the ability to migrate 
to LTO3 down the road.

At Monash, we're running one silo on LTO3, one on LTO2. We're looking at 
upgrading the LTO2 silo to LTO4, and have checked the compatibility; our 
information is that TSM is smart enough to mount LTO media only in drives 
appropriate to the operation (so LTO2 media will only mount in an LTO4 drive if 
it's being read, not written;
LTO4 media will never be mounted in an LTO2 drive; etc.) So if you were to add 
LTO3 media to that library down the road, TSM would access it only through the 
LTO3 drives (and if all the LTO3 drives were being used with LTO2 media while 
an LTO2 drive sits idle, too
bad.) You may want to double check this, though, if it's a concern for you down 
the road.

I can't speak for how far this advice extends into Windows - we're running TSM 
on Solaris - but it's a starting point. My expectation would be that there 
would be no problem as long as the LTO3 drive is compatible with the drivers on 
the Windows system.