Task Maintenance for Tapes

Tape Library Maintenance

Nodeum provides various tape library maintenance services, including:

• LTFS Media Formatting: Prepares tapes for use with the Linear Tape File System (LTFS).

• LTFS Media Scanning: Conducts scans to ensure tapes are properly configured for LTFS.

• Tape Media Consistency Check: Verifies the integrity and consistency of tape media.

Task maintenance

Format a media in LTFS

Preparing Tape Media for Nodeum

To use a tape with Nodeum, format the media through the appliance using LTFS. This allows immediate use. You can format a single tape, multiple tapes, or an entire pool. In the task settings, you can choose to assign the tape to the Scratch pool after successful formatting. By default, tapes added to the library are not assigned to any pool.

Formatting a tape will delete all current content. Proceed carefully.

Import a LTFS Tape

How to import into Nodeum a LTFS Tape ?

If you have been using the LTFS protocol with your tape library and want to import your data set into Nodeum, follow these steps.

Procedure to Import a Tape into Your Library

1. Insert the tape into your tape library.

2. Create a maintenance task to scan the LTFS media.

3. Launch the task.

Source	Type of action Mover
Tapes	Scan an LTFS Media

Result after the task processed with success

1. Information are known by Nodeum

2. Information are display in all metrics (tape reporting, tape Overview, Catalog

3. Information on tape can be easily reloaded

Benefits:

• Efficiently catalog data, reducing the need for tape-to-tape migrations.

• Enhance team productivity.

• Streamline LTFS Appliance migration.

• Benefit from a transparent process with Nodeum-validated Scalar LTFS migration.

• Facilitate content exchange with customers or partners.

Scan a LTFS Media

Automatically scan and catalog content from LTFS Tape into the Nodeum catalog. This workflow enables the re-importation of previously written tapes.

To import LTFS Tapes into Nodeum, follow these steps :

Add the LTFS TAPE 000001L6 in the tape library connected to Nodeum

Define a workflow to scan the LTFS TAPE and then execute it

• Select Scan an LTFS Media

• Select as the source the tape need to scan "Tape “000001L6"

• Launch the task

Get the result after the task execution

• Data are indexed and recognized by Nodeum without reading the complete tape

• The tape have to be placed in a pool offline and can only be used in an offline archive workflow.

• Metadata are injected in the catalog

• End user can see and retrieve easily the contents (files, images, video)

• End user accesses contents straight away; no need to make new set of tapes

Tape Rehydratation

When files are deleted from a tape, they are not fully erased. A rehydration task is needed for complete erasure, which enhances performance and user experience.

Nodeum does not delete or modify files on the tapes; instead, catalog entries are removed for deletions, and new versions are written while index pointers are updated for modifications. Files remain physically intact on tapes.

Consequently, frequent deletions or updates can imbalance the free space to consumed space ratio on these tapes.

Go in the menu Storage Services/Tape/Maintenance

Complete the form:

1. Define the task name and comments

2. Select the Action: Rehydration

3. Choose one or several tapes

4. Schedule the Task

5. Define Other Options

Task Priority Guidelines

• The highest priority level is 10. Assign a priority of 10 for tasks deemed most critical.

• Priority levels range from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest).

• In cases with multiple simultaneous tasks, higher priority tasks will execute first.

• Clearly specify the task's priority level when scheduling.

Tape Capacity Usage

This value is expressed as a percentage. The workflow activates when the tape reaches this specified reclaimable capacity.

Capacity volume that need to be cleaned

When the reclaimable capacity on the tape reaches a certain percentage, the workflow will be triggered.

This two last options are very important to be set to get the space reclamation you are looking for.

Check tape media consistency

LTFS Consistency Check

This feature verifies the consistency of LTFS media. A volume is deemed consistent when both partitions are complete, and the last index in the Index Partition references the last full index in the Data Partition. If inconsistencies are found, media recovery using the ltfsck command is recommended.