HP StoreEver Ultrium Tape Drives - Manual (Page 17)

Table 3 Recommended usage models
Direct Attach,
single storage server Across the Network,
single storage server, multiple clients
Ultrium 1840 Recommended Not recommended
Ultrium 960 Recommended Requires careful design to utilize the drive’s performance
capabilities, even Gigabit Ethernet will limit performance
Ultrium 460 Recommended Recommended, anything less than Gigabit Ethernet may
limit performance
A RAID disk subsystem is recommended for all usage models.
A single spindle disk will not be able to deliver good data throughput for an Ultrium 1840 or Ultrium 960
tape drive at any compression ratio. To maximize the capability of your Ultrium 1840 or 960 tape drive,
utilize aggregated disk sources (RAID) with multiple disk spindles.
A single spindle disk, particularly a fast disk such as a 15K RPM drive, will be sufficient for Ultrium 460
tape drives, but be aware of other factors that can affect performance—such as, compressibility of data,
disk fragmentation and the number of files. See also Optimizing performance .
You can use our free performance assessment tools, which are available standalone or integrated into HP
Library & Tape Tools, to check tape performance and test whether your disk subsystem can supply data
at the optimum transfer rate. You can also use these tools to calibrate your restore performance and
maximal tape performance with more compressible data.
Other usage models
The tape drive may work with other usage models, such as network attach storage (NAS) and storage
area networks (SAN), but HP does not currently provide technical support for installing and using
standalone Ultrium tape drives with these architectures. Similarly, connection to fibre channel may be
possible, if you purchase and install a fibre channel/SCSI bridge, but it is not currently a supported
option. Please check http://www.hp.com/go/connect for the latest supported configurations.
Using the HP StorageWorks Tape CD-ROM
The HP StorageWorks Tape CD-ROM is a central source of information about your tape drive with utilities
for getting the best performance from your tape drive.
Use the HP StorageWorks Tape CD-ROM to check installation, as described in this guide, and to verify
and troubleshoot performance after installation. It helps you to:
• Install your product, which includes access to drivers, and performance information and tools
• Learn about your product
• Register your product
• Buy media online
• Troubleshoot with HP Library & Tape Tools.
Ultrium full-height SCSI Tape Drives 17