AR.BXA@forsythe.stanford.edu (Bob Anderson) (10/22/90)
well, we suddenly got permission to install a DAT on our 9000/835 (7.0 by the time we go). haven't even gotten the part number yet, but this is going to be something of a rush inasmuch as we will be upgrading from 3.1 to 7.0 and then installing the tape soon thereafter.. makes me nervous. (it will be a single tape unit). the intent is to do a script to do unattended backup in the dark of night. will some kind soul let us know if there are any gotchas, or caveats down stream? in a production environment, paranoia pays... thanks for any help... bob anderson stanford
stevej@hpcpbla.HP.COM (Steve Jerman) (10/24/90)
Hi Bob,
Here's the information you wanted:
a) The HPIB version of our DAT drive is supported
in 1/2 inch emulation mode for Unix 7.0 on the 600 and 800 series
HP-UX systems. This means that the drives looks to the Operating
System just like a 7980 1/2 inch tape drive. There is an
application note available (P/N C1511-90906) which describes this
and tells you how to get everything working. From HP-UX 8.0 full
support for the drive will be available. Note that the emulation
mode is just to fool the operating system, it does not mean that
the tape formats are different or anything, so you will be able to
restore your tar/cpio backups when you get 8.0. The only caveats I
am aware of (these apply to emulation mode only!) are:
o Fast-search is not available
o write appends are not supported ( ie writes after reads)
o record sizes > 64K
o Use of the device with no rewind option set not supported
The above gotcha should not prevent you from using the drive for
unattended backup, and having 1.3 Gigabytes to play with normally
means you don't have to change tapes too often.
b) On the 300 series, there is full support for both the HPIB and
SCSI versions of the DAT drives. There is an application note P/N
C1511-90905 (shipped with the drives) which explains how to use
both the drives with the 300 series. Incidently the DAT drive is
available is an option (#3) in the C2212A and C2213A mass-storage
subsystems (adding one to these systems is cheaper than buying a
standalone box).
The part numbers for the drives are:
HPIB DDS: C1511A
SCSI DDS drive: C1512A
Steve Jerman
Hewlett Packard
Computer Peripherals Bristol
Address: Email:
Filton Road stevej@hpcpbla.bri.hp.com
Stoke Gifford
Bristol
BS12 6QZ
UK
NOTE: The above are my opinions and not necessarily those of my employer.lpond@hpcupt1.cup.hp.com (Leland Pond) (10/25/90)
It should work just fine! You have to set the HP-IB address switch to 8, that emulates an HP7980 at HP-IB address of 3. You can do cpio, tar, mt and dd. These are all supported in the emulation mode. You should get an application note with your DDS. The note is titled "Using a Series 6400 Model 1300H DDS-Format Drive on an HP 9000 Series 600 and 800 with HP-UX 7.0". The part number is C1511-90906. All the information you need in in the note. Hope this helps, Lee Pond