Virtual tape drives

The Virtual Tape Drive page of the management interface presents the status of all virtual tape drives in a cluster. You can use this page to check the status of a virtual mount, mount or unmount a volume, or assign host device numbers.

Table 1. Properties displayed for virtual tape drives
Column Name Description
Address The virtual drive address takes the format vtdXXXX, where X is a hexadecimal number.
Mounted Volume The VOLSER of the mounted virtual volume.
State The role that the drive is performing. Possible states are the following values:
Idle
The drive is not in use.
Read
The drive is reading a virtual volume.
Write
The drive is writing a virtual volume.
Write Data
The drive is in write mode and buffered write data has not yet been hardened to a virtual volume. It is not recommended to unmount a volume in this state, as the buffered data can be lost.
Offline
The drive is offline.
Write Protected
The drive is write protected.
This column is blank if no volume is mounted.
Time on Drive The elapsed time that the virtual volume is mounted on the virtual tape drive.
This column is blank if no volume is mounted.
Cache Mount Cluster The tape volume cache (TVC) cluster that is performing the mount operation. If a synchronous mount exists, this field displays 2 clusters.
This column is blank if no volume is mounted.
Bytes Read Amount of data that is read from the mounted virtual volume. This value is shown as Raw KiB (Compressed KiB). Refer to the topic Data storage values.
Bytes Written Amount of data that was written to the mounted virtual volume. This value is shown as Raw KiB (Compressed KiB). Refer to the topic Data storage values.
Virtual Block Position The position of the drive on the tape surface in block number, as calculated from beginning of tape. This value is displayed in hexadecimal form. When a volume is not mounted, this value is 0x0.
Previously Mounted Volume The VOLSER of the virtual volume that is mounted on the drive before this one.
Mount Type The type of mount on the drive. This field is blank if no volume is mounted. Possible types are the following values:
Live Copy
The mount is a live copy of the volume. Live Copy is the type shown during normal production.
Flash Copy
The mount is a flash copy that is used for disaster recovery testing.
Stand-alone
The mount request was initiated by the cluster and not the host.
To mount a virtual volume:
  1. Select a volume.
  2. Select Stand-alone Mount from the Actions menu.
    Note: You can mount only virtual volumes that are not already mounted, on a drive that is online.

To unmount a virtual volume:
  1. Select a mounted volume.
  2. Select Unmount from the Actions menu.
    Note: You can unmount only those virtual volumes that are mounted and have a status of Idle.
Stand-alone Flash Copy
A user initiated a stand-alone mount for a flash copy.
Host Device Number The device identifier as defined in the attached host. The value in this field does not affect drive operations, but if the host device number is set, then it is easier to compare the virtual tape drives to their associated host devices.
To add host device numbers:
  1. Select one or more virtual tape drives.
  2. Select Assign Host Device Numbers from the Actions menu.
  3. Enter the host device address that you want assigned to the first virtual tape drive. Host device numbers are added to subsequent virtual tape drives incrementally.
Important: TPF and other users of the Library Set Device Command (LSDC) are not able to permanently store Host Device Numbers. Values for the Host Device Number field are reset when the clear parameter is submitted.
Properties
Select this action from the Actions menu to view additional information for a selected drive.
You can change the appearance of the information that is shown on the Virtual Tape Drives page.
Table 2. How to modify displayed virtual tape drive information
To... Do this:
Hide or show columns on the table
  1. Right-click on the table header.
  2. Click the check box next to a column heading to hide or show that column in the table. Column headings that are checked display on the table.
Filter the table data To filter by using a string of text:
  1. Click in the Filter field.
  2. Enter a search string.
  3. Press Enter.
To filter by column heading:
  1. Click the down arrow next to the Filter field.
  2. Select the column heading to filter by.
  3. Refine the selection:
    Address
    Enter a hexadecimal number that represents the virtual drive address then press Enter.
    Mounted Volume
    Enter the VOLSER of a mounted virtual volume then press Enter.
    Cache Mount Cluster
    Select from a value that is shown in the Choose Value drop-down menu.
Reset the table to its default view
  1. Right-click on the table header.
  2. Select Reset Table Preferences.
    Note: Reset settings take effect only after a page reload.