IBM TS4300 Tape Library for LenovoProduct Guide

IBM TS4300 Tape Library for Lenovo (Machine Type 6741) combines IBM enterprise tape automation and reliability with open system affordability. It is a high-density, highly scalable, easy-to-manage solution designed to keep data securely stored long-term, while helping reduce the costs associated with data center space and utilities.

The TS4300 utilizes modular design to meet growing long-term storage requirements. Starting with a single 3U base module, customers can scale the tape library by adding up to six 3U expansion modules for the overall capacity of up to 272 LTO cartridges. Each 3U base or expansion module can house up to 40 cartridges in two removable magazines (the lowest module in the TS4300 configuration or single-module configurations can hold up to 32 cartridges).

Each 3U module can accommodate up to three half-high tape drives or a combination of one half-high tape drive and one full-high tape drive. The choice of the tape drives includes IBM LTO Ultrium 8, Ultrium 7, and Ultrium 6 tape drives with SAS or Fibre Channel host connectivity interfaces.

The TS4300 is an ideal solution if you need a larger capacity or higher performance tape backup. This library is an excellent choice for tape automation for Lenovo servers running Windows and Linux operating systems.

Figure 1. IBM TS4300 Tape Library for Lenovo: Base module (bottom) with one expansion module (top)

Featuring the latest LTO Ultrium 8 technology, the TS4300 Tape Library provides up to 3.264 PB of native backup storage.

With IBM LTO Tape offerings that are available from Lenovo, Lenovo can be your trusted partner that offers "one stop shop" and single point of contact for delivery of leading edge technologies and innovations from Lenovo and other leading IT vendors. These offerings can satisfy the wide range of your end-to-end IT infrastructure needs, including end-user devices, servers, storage, networking, services, management software, and financing.

The TS4300 tape library offers the following features:

• Scalable tape library that is designed for high capacity, high performance, and high reliability.
• Adherence to LTO specifications.
• Support for half-high (HH) or full-high (FH) LTO Ultrium 8, Ultrium 7, or Ultrium 6 tape drives with 6 Gb SAS or 8 Gb Fibre Channel interfaces.
• Support for up to three half-high tape drives or a combination of one full-high tape drive and one half-high tape drive in each 3U module. The maximum number of drives in the tape library ranges from up to 7 full-high and up to 7 half-high to up to 21 half-high tape drives.
• Native data transfer rate of up to 360 MB/s (Ultrium 8 FH), 300 MB/s (Ultrium 8 HH or Ultrium 7), or up to 160 MB/s (Ultrium 6) per tape drive.
• Native cartridge capacity of up to 12 TB (Ultrium 8), 6 TB (Ultrium 7), or 2.5 TB (Ultrium 6).
• Two removable magazines in each 3U module that can house up to 20 data cartridges each for a total of up to 272 cartridges in the tape library to enable quick population of the tape library and ease the storage needs for media.
• Flexibility in configuring a 5-slot I/O Station for each module (4-slot I/O Station in the lowest module or single-module configurations), or one I/O Station can be accessed by several modules to help support continuous library operations, while importing and exporting media with little or no disruption to library operation.
• A standard high-speed bar code reader with which you can operate the TS4300 in random access mode. Sequential mode is not currently supported.
• Mixed media support, including IBM LTO Ultrium 8, 7, and 6 WORM (Write Once Read Many) media (not available from Lenovo).
• Remote management capabilities to allow for remote administration of the TS4300 through a web interface.
• Multi-path feature to allow sharing of the library robotics across heterogeneous applications independently of each other. The library can be partitioned into up to 21 logical libraries (each partition must have at least one drive). It also can provide each logical library its own separate and distinct drives, storage slots, and control paths.
• Optional Library Managed Encryption on LTO Ultrium 8, Ultrium 7, and Ultrium 6 tape drives by using the IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager software (not available from Lenovo).
• Optional Path Failover that enables the host device driver to transparently switch to an alternative path if there is a communication path failure to the application.
• Extra power supplies for redundant operations.
• 6 Gb SAS or 8 Gb Fibre Channel attachments for connection to Lenovo servers that run Microsoft Windows or Linux server operating systems.
• Support from an extensive ecosystem of backup software vendors.

The IBM LTO Ultrium Tape Drives includes the following other IBM LTO Ultrium features:

• Dual-stage head actuator

  The 16-channel actuator (LTO Ultrium 6) or 32-channel actuator (LTO Ultrium 7 and Ultrium 8) provides precision head alignment to help support higher track density and improved data integrity.

• Independent tape loader and threader motors and positive pin retention

  These technologies help improve the reliability of loading and unloading a cartridge, and to retain the pin even if tension is dropped. An independent loader motor, coupled with the positive pin retention, causes the tape to thread with a higher level of reliability.

• Graceful dynamic braking

  If there is a power failure, reel motors maintain tension and gradually decelerate instead of stopping abruptly, which helps reduce tape breakage, stretching, or loose tape wraps during a sudden power outage.

• Servo and track layout technology

  There are 6656 data tracks in Ultrium 8, 3584 data tracks in Ultrium 7, and 2176 data tracks in Ultrium 6. The high-bandwidth servo system features a low mass servo to help more effectively track servo bands and improve data throughput with damaged media in less-than-optimal shock and vibration environments.

• Surface Control Guiding Mechanism

  The IBM patented Surface Control Guiding Mechanism guides the tape along the tape path in the Ultrium 8, 7, and 6 Tape Drives. This method uses the surface of the tape (rather than the edges) to control tape motion. This configuration helps reduce tape damage (especially to the edges of the tape) and tape debris, which comes from the damaged edges and can accumulate in the head area.

• Giant magnetoresistive (GMR) head design (LTO Ultrium 7 and 6 tape drives)

  IBM LTO Ultrium 7 and 6 Tape Drives use GMR head technology with beveled contouring for reducing striction and friction. This head design was demonstrated in enterprise tape products to help minimize contact, edge damage, debris accumulation, and wear on the tape as it moves over the read/write heads.

• Tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) head technology (LTO Ultrium 8 tape drives)

  IBM LTO Ultrium 8 Tape Drives use TMR head technology, which helps achieve increased storage capacity and high data integrity.

• Digital speed matching

  The LTO Ultrium Tape Drives perform dynamic speed matching to adjust the drive's native data rate as closely as possible to the net host data rate (after data compressibility is factored out). This matching helps reduce the number of backhitch repositions and improve throughput performance.

• Robust drive components optimized for automation environments

  To help enhance reliability and prolong the life of the drives, some of the most robust components available are used such as an all metal clutch, steel ball bearings in loader, robust leader block design, and a single circuit card.

• Power management

  The power management function of the Ultrium 8, 7, and 6 Tape Drives controls the drive electronics to be completely turned off or in a low-power mode when the circuit functions are not needed for drive operation.

• Adaptive read equalization

  This equalization automatically compensates for dynamic changes in readback signal response.

• Dynamic amplitude asymmetry compensation

  This compensation dynamically optimizes readback signals for linear readback response from MR read head transducers.

• Separate writing of multiple filemarks

  Separate writing of multiple filemarks evokes any write command of two or more filemarks to cause a separate data set to be written that contains all filemarks after the first. It helps improve performance if a subsequent append overwrites somewhere after the first filemark. This change helps prevent having to rewrite data sets that contain customer data and the first filemark, if such an append occurs.

• LTO Data Compression (LTO-DC)

  The Ultrium LTO uses LTO-DC, which is an implementation of a Lempel-Ziv class 1 (LZ-1) data compression algorithm. LTO-DC is an extension of Adaptive Lossless Data Compression (ALDC) and an improvement over previous IBM lossless compression algorithms. IBM patented "Scheme-Swapping" compression looks ahead at incoming data and determines the most efficient storage method (ALDC or pass-through mode) to help optimize data compression and increase data throughput. The compression ratio is up to 2.5 to 1 for LTO Ultrium 8, 7, and 6.

• LTO Cartridge Memory (LTO-CM)

  Contained within the LTO Ultrium data cartridge is the LTO-CM, which is a passive, contactless silicon storage device that is physically a part of the cartridge. The LTO-CM holds information about that specific cartridge, the media in the cartridge, and the data on the media. The storage capacity of the Generation 8, 7, and 6 LTO-CM is 16320 bytes. Communication between the drive and the LTO-CM is via a low-level RF field transmitted by the drive to the cartridge.

• Statistical Analysis and Reporting System (SARS)

  The Ultrium Tape Drive uses SARS to help isolate failures between media and hardware. SARS uses the cartridge performance history that is saved in the CM module and the drive performance history that is kept in the drive flash EEPROM to help determine the likely cause of failure. SARS causes the drive to request a cleaner tape, mark the media as degraded, and indicate that the hardware degraded.

• Highly integrated electronics that uses IBM engineered copper technology

  This technology reduces the total number of components in the drive, helps lower chip temperatures, and reduces power requirements to deliver a more reliable drive. The sixth-generation drive electronics provide error correction of soft errors in the memory arrays in data and control paths.

The following figure shows the front of the TS4300 Tape Library base module.

Figure 2. Front view of the TS4300 Tape Library base module

Figure 4. Rear view of the TS4300 Tape Library base module

Figure 5. Rear view of the TS4300 Tape Library expansion module

The following table lists the TS4300 Tape Library system specifications.

* The operating systems shown are for Lenovo servers. The TS4300 might support other operating systems. For a full list of supported operating systems, refer to the System Storage Interoperation Center: http://ibm.com/systems/support/storage/ssic.

The following table lists the ordering information for the TS4300 Tape Library models.

The part numbers for the TS4300 Tape Library models include the following items:

• One TS4300 module with the following components:
  • Power supply (base module only)
  • Bar code reader (base module only)
  • Expansion cable (expansion module only)
• Two removable 20-cartridge magazines
• Documentation package

The following table lists the rack mount kit for the TS4300 units.

The following figure shows connectivity topology for the TS4300 tape library.

Figure 6. TS4300 tape library connectivity topology

Each TS4300 module (base or expansion) can accommodate up to three LTO Ultrium half-high tape drives or a combination of one LTO Ultrium half-high tape drive and one LTO Ultrium full-high tape drive.

The following table lists the supported tape drives for the TS4300.

Configuration note: Tape drive support options provide wrap tools (loopback connectors) to isolate drive sled issues. The Fibre Tape Drive Support is required when at least one Fibre Channel tape drive is installed in the tape library, and the SAS Tape Drive Support is required when at least one SAS tape drive is installed in the tape library.

A SAS cable or Fibre Channel cable is required to attach a tape drive in the TS4300 Tape Library to a host. The following table lists supported cable options.

* The interposer is used on the host side to connect up to four SAS tape drives to a single Mini-SAS x4 port on a SAS HBA with up to four 2 m Mini-SAS to Mini-SAS cables (part number 00NA009).
** The Y SAS HD cable is used to connect up to two SAS tape drives to a single Mini-SAS HD x4 port on a SAS HBA.

he TS4300 3U module supports up to 40 data cartridges and comes standard with two removable tape magazines with 20 cartridge slots each. More removable tape magazines can be ordered for the TS4300, if needed.

Configuration note: Single-module configurations and the lowest module in the multi-module configurations support up to 32 data cartridges.

The following table lists tape media options and extra magazines that can be ordered for the TS4300.

Note: A 5-Pack of the Ultrium 6, 7, or 8 Data Cartridges includes five unattached loose labels.

LTO Ultrium tape drives support the following backward compatibility for previous generations of tape media:

• LTO Ultrium 8 tape drives can read and write LTO Ultrium 8, LTO Ultrium 7, and LTO 7 initialized LTO 8 Type M data cartridges.
• LTO Ultrium 7 tape drives can read and write LTO Ultrium 7 and Ultrium 6 data cartridges, and can read Ultrium 5 data cartridges.
• LTO Ultrium 6 tape drives can read and write LTO Ultrium 6 and Ultrium 5 data cartridges, and can read Ultrium 4 data cartridges.

Note: An LTO 7 initialized LTO 8 Type M data cartridge is a new (unused) LTO 7 data cartridge labelled and initialized to support 9 TB native storage capacity in the LTO 8 tape drive. Once initialized, an LTO 8 Type M cartridge cannot be used in the LTO 7 tape drives, and it cannot be changed back to a 6 TB LTO 7 cartridge.

The functionality of the TS4300 can be expanded with the following optional software features:

• Path Failover
• Library Managed Encryption

The TS4300 offers an optional path failover feature that enables the host device driver to resend the command to an alternative control path for the same logical library to ensure smooth library operations if there is a communication error. With control path failover, the alternative control path can include another HBA, SAN, or library control path drive. The device driver starts error recovery and continues the operation on the alternative control path without interrupting the application.

IBM Ultrium 8, Ultrium 7, and Ultrium 6 tape drives are encryption-capable and they support the following modes of encryption management:

• Library Managed: Available for Linux and Windows; requires the IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager (SKLM).
• Application Managed: Available with third-party software such as IBM Spectrum Protect.

Library Managed Encryption requires an optional encryption license. Application Managed Encryption does not require a license.

The TS4300 modules support up to two redundant hot-swap 230 W AC power supplies. The base module comes with one power supply, and the second power supply can be ordered for redundancy. The expansion module comes without power supplies, and the first power supply is required when at least one tape drive is installed in the expansion module.

The following table lists the power supply options for the TS4300.

The TS4300 modules and the power supply options ship without power cables. The power cables for the TS4300 are listed in the following table.

The 3U module of the TS4300 Tape Library has the following dimensions and weight (approximate):

• Width: 446 mm (17.6 in.)
• Depth: 873 mm (34.4 in.)
• Height: 133 mm (5.2 in.)
• Weight:
  • Base module: 21 kg (46.3 lb)
  • Expansion module: 13 kg (28.7 lb)

The TS4300 Tape Library is supported in the following environment:

• Air temperature:
  • Operating: 15 °C - 32 °C (59 °F - 90 °F)
  • Non-operating: 5 °C - 45 °C (41 °F - 113 °F)
  • Maximum altitude: 3,050 m (10,000 ft)
• Humidity:
  • Operating: 20% - 80%
  • Non-operating: 8% - 80%
• Electrical power:
  • 100 V AC - 240 V AC (5.0 A to 3.5 A)
  • Frequency: 50 Hz / 60 Hz
  • Power consumption: 350 watts

The TS4300 Tape Library has a three-year Customer Replaceable Unit (CRU) warranty with 9x5/next business day (NBD) parts delivered.

Some countries might have different warranty terms and conditions than the standard warranty. This is due to local business practices or laws in the specific country. Local service teams can assist in explaining country-specific terms when needed. Examples of country-specific warranty terms are second or longer business day parts delivery or parts-only base warranty.

If warranty terms and conditions include onsite labor for repair or replacement of parts, Lenovo will dispatch a service technician to the customer site to perform the replacement. Onsite labor under base warranty is limited to labor for replacement of parts that have been determined to be field-replaceable units (FRUs). Parts that are determined to be customer-replaceable units (CRUs) do not include onsite labor under base warranty.

If warranty terms include parts-only base warranty, Lenovo is responsible for delivering only replacement parts that are under base warranty (including FRUs) that will be sent to a requested location for self-service. Parts-only service does not include a service technician being dispatched onsite. Parts must be changed at customer’s own cost and labor and defective parts must be returned following the instructions supplied with the spares parts.

Also available are Lenovo Services warranty upgrades and post-warranty maintenance agreements, with a well-defined scope of services, including service hours, response time, term of service, and service agreement terms and conditions.

In general, the following Lenovo warranty service upgrades are available:

• Warranty and maintenance service upgrades:
  • 3, 4, or 5 years of warranty service coverage
  • 1-year or 2-year post-warranty extensions
  • Foundation Service: 9x5 service coverage with next business day onsite response
  • Essential Service: 24x7 service coverage with 4-hour onsite response or 24-hour committed repair (available only in select countries)
  • Advanced Service: 24x7 service coverage with 2-hour onsite response or 6-hour committed repair (available only in select countries)
• Premier Support

  Premier Support service offers single point of contact for end-to-end problem resolution and collaborative third-party software support with direct access to Lenovo’s most advanced technicians for faster troubleshooting.

For service definitions, country-specific details, and service limitations, please refer to the following documents:

• Lenovo Statement of Limited Warranty for Data Center Group (DCG) Servers and System Storage
  http://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht503310
• Lenovo Data Center Services Agreement
  http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht116628

The TS4300 Tape Library conforms to the following regulations:

• FCC: Verified to comply with Part 15 of the FCC Rules, Class A
• Canada ICES-003/NMB-03, Class A
• CISPR 32, Class A
• EN 55032, Class A
• Japan VCCI Class A statement
• People's Republic of China Class A Electronic Emission statement
• Taiwan Class A compliance statement
• Korea KCC Class A statement
• Russia Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) Class A Statement

Lenovo provides end-to-end storage compatibility testing to deliver interoperability throughout the network. The TS4300 Tape Library supports attachment to Lenovo servers by using SAS or Fibre Channel connectivity.

Note: Tables that are provided in this section are for ordering reference purposes only. End-to-end storage configuration support (including adapters, network switches, and operating systems) must be verified through the System Storage Interoperation Center (SSIC) for the TS4300:
http://ibm.com/systems/support/storage/ssic

SAS HBAs

The following table lists currently available Lenovo SAS adapters that are compatible with the TS4300 SAS tape drives (direct attach). Other SAS HBAs also might be supported (for more information, see the System Storage Interoperation Center).

Fibre Channel HBAs

The TS4300 supports FC switch-based attachments. Brocade and Cisco SAN switches can be used to provide FC connectivity for the TS4300.

The Lenovo FC adapters that are listed in the following table are compatible with the TS4300. Other HBAs also might be supported (for more information, see the System Storage Interoperation Center).

Fibre Channel SAN switches

The following tables list currently available Fibre Channel rack-mount switches and embedded switches and pass-thru modules for Flex System that are currently offered by Lenovo that can be used with the TS4300 in IT solutions.

For more information, see the list of Product Guides in the following categories:

• Rack SAN Switches:
  http://lenovopress.com/storage/switches/rack#rt=product-guide
• Blade Storage Modules:
  http://lenovopress.com/servers/blades/storagemodule#rt=product-guide

Operating systems

The TS4300 supports host attachments to the Lenovo servers with the following operating systems:

• Microsoft:
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2016
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012
• Red Hat:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9
• SUSE:
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2

Note: The LTO tape drives are supported when attached and run from the host operating system, however, in virtualization environments (for example, Hyper-V, KVM, Xen), the tape drives are not supported in the guest operating systems.

ISV backup software compatibility

The Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) indicate support for the TS4300 Tape Library for the following backup software:

• Arcserve Backup
• ASG Time Navigator
• CommVault Simpana
• Dell NetVault Backup
• EMC NetWorker
• HPE/Micro Focus Data Protector
• IBM Spectrum Protect
• Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager
• Symantec NetBackup

For more information, see the ISV matrix for IBM LTO that is available at this website:
http://www.ibm.com/systems/resources/lto_isv_matrix.pdf

The following table lists the rack cabinets that are offered by Lenovo that can be used with the TS4300 tape library in IT solutions.

For more information, see the list of Product Guides in the Rack cabinets category:
http://lenovopress.com/servers/options/racks#rt=product-guide

The following table lists the power distribution units (PDUs) that are offered by Lenovo that can be used with the TS4300 tape library in IT solutions.

For more information, see the list of Product Guides in the PDU category:
http://lenovopress.com/servers/options/pdu#rt=product-guide

The following table lists the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units that are currently offered by Lenovo that can be used with the TS4300 Tape Library in IT solutions.

For more information, see the list of Product Guides in the Uninterruptible Power Supply Units category:
http://lenovopress.com/servers/options/ups?rt=product-guide

Lenovo Financial Services reinforces Lenovo’s commitment to deliver pioneering products and services that are recognized for their quality, excellence, and trustworthiness. Lenovo Financial Services offers financing solutions and services that complement your technology solution anywhere in the world.

We are dedicated to delivering a positive finance experience for customers like you who want to maximize your purchase power by obtaining the technology you need today, protect against technology obsolescence, and preserve your capital for other uses.

We work with businesses, non-profit organizations, governments and educational institutions to finance their entire technology solution. We focus on making it easy to do business with us. Our highly experienced team of finance professionals operates in a work culture that emphasizes the importance of providing outstanding customer service. Our systems, processes and flexible policies support our goal of providing customers with a positive experience.

We finance your entire solution. Unlike others, we allow you to bundle everything you need from hardware and software to service contracts, installation costs, training fees, and sales tax. If you decide weeks or months later to add to your solution, we can consolidate everything into a single invoice.

Our Premier Client services provide large accounts with special handling services to ensure these complex transactions are serviced properly. As a premier client, you have a dedicated finance specialist who manages your account through its life, from first invoice through asset return or purchase. This specialist develops an in-depth understanding of your invoice and payment requirements. For you, this dedication provides a high-quality, easy, and positive financing experience.

For your region specific offers please ask your Lenovo sales representative or your technology provider about the use of Lenovo Financial Services. For more information, see the following Lenovo website:
http://www.lenovofs.com

For more information, see the following resources:

• Lenovo Tape Storage product page:
  https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/data-center/storage/tape-storage/c/storage-tape
• Lenovo Data Center Solution Configurator (DCSC):
  http://dcsc.lenovo.com
• System Storage Interoperation Center (SSIC):
  http://ibm.com/systems/support/storage/ssic