1. User's Guide
  2. Media Validation
  3. Configure Drive Calibration and Qualification
  4. Create the Calibration Media Logical Group

Create the Calibration Media Logical Group

Assign media for drive calibration and qualification to a dedicated calibration media logical group. Media in this group should not be used for host operations or in regular media validation operations.

There is only one calibration media logical group for your entire tape library system. You must assign at least two media for each drive in the validation drive pool. There is no maximum number of media you can assign to the group. Only assign media to the group, not drives.

Note:

For best results, you should not use production media for calibration. The media that you select should be dedicated solely for calibration to assure that the media is of the highest quality.
  1. You must have Operator or Administrator privileges.
  2. In the left navigation, expand Setup & Administration, select Logical Groups.
  3. Click Add Logical Group Add Group icon.
  4. Complete the Create Logical Group screen:
    • Logical Group Name — a unique name using a maximum of 249 alphanumeric characters. Name the group so that you can easily identify it (such as "Calibration Media").
    • Logical Group Type — Select Manual
  5. Click Save. Initially the group is empty, use the following steps to add media to it.
  6. In the left navigation, expand Tape System Hardware, select Media Overview.
  7. In the table toolbar, click Filter Data Filter Data icon.
  8. Enter selection criteria that will provide appropriate media for calibrations. Then click Apply.

    See How to Choose Calibration Media.

    Note:

    STA does not check the media your add to the calibration logical group, so it is possible to assign media that cannot be used for calibration and qualification.

    The following is an example of selection criteria for calibration media.

    Description of mv_calibration_media.png follows
    Description of the illustration mv_calibration_media.png
  9. Sort the results by the Media MB Avail Post column to locate media with at least two wraps of written data (see the table below for minimum values).
    Media Type MB Written for Two Wraps

    T10000D Standard

    119,000 MB

    T10000D Sport

    23,800 MB

    T10000TC Standard

    97,000 MB

    T10000TC Sport

    19,400 MB
    LTO-9 128,000 MB
    LTO-8 114,000 MB
    LTO-7 or M8 106,000 MB
    LTO-6 36,000 MB
    LTO-5 18,000 MB
  10. From the list, select the media to use for calibration and qualification. Then from the table toolbar, click Logical Groups Logical Groups icon.
    Logical Groups icon noted in table toolbar.
  11. From the drop-down menu, select the logical group you created for the calibration media, and click OK.

    Note:

    If any media assigned to the calibration logical group do not have the minimum required history, STA automatically initiates a Basic Verify before attempting to use them for drive calibration.

How to Choose Calibration Media

You should dedicate calibration media exclusively for drive calibration and qualification, and not use them for production data. This helps to ensure that the quality of the media is not compromised by production operations.

The following may be good candidates for calibration media:

  • Media that has been in use but has data you no longer need. For example, expired backup media in good condition.
  • New or unused media in good condition to which you have written dummy data. The data may be encrypted or not, depending on your needs.

The calibration media must meet the following criteria:

  • For T10000, Media Type is T10000T2 or T10000T2 Sport
  • For LTO, Media Type is the same generation or previous generation as the LTO drive within the pool. For LTO8 drives, the media can be LTO8, M8, or LTO7.
  • Media Health Indicator is USE.
  • Media Suspicion Level is 0.
  • At least two wraps of data have been written to the media.