Overview of 3592 tape drive media

The 3592 tape drive uses a number of different data cartridge types, plus a cleaning cartridge and a diagnostic (CE) cartridge.

Figure 1 shows an IBM® 3592 Tape Cartridge.

Figure 1. IBM 3592 Tape Cartridge
IBM 3592 Tape Cartridge
Cartridges can be distinguished by the text on the product label, as well as by the color of the cartridge label, door, and write-protect switch. Table 1 describes each cartridge type.

For information about microcode level requirements, see Cartridge types and characteristics. This information is also available in IBM 3592 Tape Drives and TS1120 Controller Operator Guide, GA32-0556.

Table 1. Types of IBM 3592 tape cartridges
Text on product label and type of media1 Case color Label, door, and write-protect switch color Part number
Data, JA Black Dark blue 18P7534
Extended data, JB Black Dark green 23R9830
Advanced Type C data, JC Black Dark purple 46X7452
Advanced Type D read/write, JD Black Burnt orange 2727263
Advanced Type E read/write, JE Black Brick red 02CE960
Economy, JJ Black Light blue 24R0316
Advanced Type C economy, JK Black Light purple 46X7453
Advanced Type D economy, JL Black Apricot 2727264
Advanced Type E economy, JM Black Red 02CE961
Economy WORM, JR Platinum (silvery gray) Light blue 24R0317
WORM, JW Platinum (silvery gray) Dark blue 18P7538
Extended WORM, JX Platinum (silvery gray) Dark green 23R9831
Advanced Type C WORM, JY Platinum (silvery gray) Dark purple 46X7454
Advanced Type D WORM, JZ Platinum (Silvery gray) Burnt orange 2727265
Advanced Type E WORM, JV Platinum (Silvery gray) Brick red 02FJ980
Cleaning, CLNxxxJA3 Black Gray 18P7535
Notes:
  1. This designation appears as the last two characters on standard bar code labels. In addition, for cleaning cartridges, the first three characters of the volume serial (VOLSER) number are CLN.
  2. Where xxx equals three numerals. All generations of 3592 tape drives can use this cleaning media. A native capacity value is not applicable for cleaning media, which is shown in this table row by the entry N/A.
Note: In addition to these cartridges, there is a Customer Engineer (CE) diagnostic cartridge for use by IBM service representatives only. The VOLSER for this cartridge is CE xxxJy, where xxx is three digits and Jy is the cartridge type (such as JJ or JK).

The 3592 tape drive does not support LTO formats.

The same firmware is used by TS1155 and TS1150 tape drives. All other generations of 3592 tape drives have unique firmware versions that will not work in any other 3592 tape drive.

You can update the firmware of a 3592 tape drive without scheduling downtime. This enhancement is called a nondisruptive drive firmware update. It is available through the IBM Tape Library Specialist web interface and (for IBM service representatives) through CETool, but is not supported by the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI).