HP StoreEver TapeAssure Software - Manual (Page 77)

Common information reported for all products
NOTE: For standalone devices, HP recommends that you generate a support ticket when the
drive still contains the media with which the drive may have failed. This allows error rate and other
information relevant to that cartridge to be examined. When media is removed, many products
automatically clear this information.
The following information is included in the support ticket regardless of what products are being
analyzed:
•
System information provides basic host system information such as operating system, processor
type, system name, physical memory size, and the current version of L&TT being used. This
information also includes a snapshot of the SCSI bus configuration determined by the I/O
scan, showing connected devices listed physically and logically.
•
L&TT history provides a brief history of the L&TT functions the user has accessed such as whether
ASPI was installed, how many times L&TT has been run, and which functions have been used.
Understanding the margin ratings
When a report is generated, several tests are performed to measure drive performance for every
aspect of operation. Each function that is tested is assigned a margin rating. Margin is expressed
as a percentage where 0% is no margin, but the device should still work. 100% is full margin, or
production quality. A working drive will have positive margin, whereas negative margin indicates
an issue. The percentages are also mapped to simple wording as follows:
Warning < 0%
Fair >= 0% and < 25%
Good >= 25% and < 50%
Great >= 50%
Corrective action should be considered if the margin does not meet the levels of confidence that
the data requires. For example, a nightly backup probably doesn't need the same level that a ten
year archive does. In general, corrective action is only required if Warning is shown, but Fair
suggests possible future issues, and corrective action could prevent such issues from occurring.
Corrective action could take the form of:
•
Cleaning the drive
•
Trying another tape (look at the tape history to see if other drives have had similar issues)
•
Checking the environment. Temperature extremes can have an effect. Contamination can be
a significant issue.
If in doubt, run the L&TT Drive Assessment test with a trusted (or new) tape. This is the test approved
by HP support to give the most accurate assessment of drive health. If a drive passes this test, it is
considered to be good. If it fails (and the tape is good), then HP support will exchange the drive.
Things to look for
After generating the report, look for the following trouble indicators:
•
Device Analysis Rules—These are device-specific items that L&TT tests. These rules are displayed
in the Drive Health section under Device Analysis. This is the first place to look for health
information and advice on corrective action.
•
Drive health varying with different tapes—In this case, the tapes are most likely causing the
variation.
•
Tape health varying with different drives—In this case, the drives are most likely causing the
variation.
Generating a support ticket 77