8 Diagnostic Tools and SMART components
Library & Tape Tools (L&TT) with integrated TapeAssure monitoring
L&TT is the recommended diagnostic and support tool for Hewlett Packard Enterprise tape
storage products. It is supported on all major operating systems and is available as a free
download from the L&TT web site:
http://www.hpe.com/support/tapetools
L&TT version 5.0 onwards offers integrated TapeAssure monitoring for Windows users so it is
recommended that you preinstall L&TT when you first install your tape drive and use it to monitor
your drive from the first backup. You can also find out your backup performance and drive and
tape utilization using TapeAssure.
TIP:
Should you need to contact Hewlett Packard Enterprise Support at any time, the support
engineer will ask that you update the drive firmware and run diagnostics using L&TT. It is not
always convenient to install L&TT at the time of a support call and it is important that you are
able to update firmware and run diagnostics when asked. Preinstalling L&TT will speed up the
call significantly. It is also useful to the support engineer, if there is a lifetime of monitoring data
available.
Non-Windows users will need to use the latest 4.x version until 5.x supports their operating
system. Look for updates from the website. Even though 4.x versions do not include TapeAssure
monitoring it is still a good idea to have L&TT preinstalled on your server should you need to
contact Hewlett Packard Enterprise Support.
Main features available with Library & Tape Tools
Once you have installed L&TT, you will be able to choose from the following features:
•
Device identification: shows part number, serial number, and information about any cartridge
loaded.
•
Firmware upgrade: allows you to locate and upgrade to the latest firmware. You will need
to be connected to the Internet to locate and upgrade firmware.
•
Run tests: allows you to run proactive tests on your drive, such as the drive assessment
test, which will verify the functionality of your drive in around 20 minutes. Hewlett Packard
Enterprise recommends running this test before calling Hewlett Packard Enterprise Support.
You will need to provide a ‘trusted' cartridge that can be written to during this test.
•
Generate a support ticket: this is a full dump of the drive logs along with interpretation and
is used by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Support to learn about the condition of your drive.
Most useful is the device analysis section which is the output from approximately 140 rules
forming a comprehensive analysis of the health of your drive. These rules may give advice
such as cleaning the drive or trying a different tape if issues are found. The support ticket
can be sent to Hewlett Packard Enterprise Support for further analysis.
•
Run the performance tests: these tests allow you to verify the performance of your tape drive
and measure the data rate of your source data independent of the backup application. They
are useful for finding the bottleneck in your system if you are not getting the expected backup
(or restore) performance.
•
TapeAssure health monitoring (Windows only from 5.0 onwards): look out for any concerns
from your backups using the red/yellow/green indicators on the screen. The yellow indicator
Library & Tape Tools (L&TT) with integrated TapeAssure monitoring
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