IBM® TS2900 Tape Autoloader is a low-entry tape storage solution, designed to address capacity, data protection, reliability, availability, and affordability. IBM® TS2900 Tape Autoloader is a low-entry tape storage solution, designed to address capacity, data protection, reliability, availability, and affordability. See latest abstract here: http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/tips1343.html

This IBM® Redbooks® Product Guide describes the IBM TS2900 Tape Autoloader, designed for entry-level automation in small-to-medium business environments. With a low-profile, high-density storage capacity, the TS2900 is ideally suited for backup and archival operations. The TS2900 is available with IBM Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Ultrium 6 Half-High, LTO Ultrium 5 Half-High, and LTO Ultrium 4 Half-High SAS tape technology for a high-capacity, entry-priced tape storage solution.

The TS2900 Tape Autoloader is shown in Figure 1.


Figure 1. TS2900 Tape Autoloader

The TS2900 is equipped with standard features designed to provide ease-of-use and secured data backup. Web-based remote management, a bar code reader, and a removable tape magazine help provide ease of use. The TS2900 can be used in a rack system or on a desktop next to a server in an office. These types of features help reduce the requirements of IT personnel staff, and also help centralize backup in the data center. The TS2900 also supports the encryption of sensitive user data in combination with LTO Ultrium 6, 5, or 4 Half-High tape technology from IBM. With 6 Gbps SAS attach, the TS2900 is supported on IBM Power Systems™, IBM System x®, System x (Lenovo), Intel, and other open system server platforms.


Did you know?

The TS2900 1U slim profile rack system environment is designed for automated, high-capacity tape storage and has the lowest entry price of any IBM tape automation offering IBM Half-High tape technology. The IBM LTO Ultrium Half-High technology delivers reliable performance for small-to-medium open system environments. The single I/O station helps support continuous backup and archive library operations, and the removable magazine facilitates the offsite relocation of cartridges and archival data. The design of the remote library management through a standard web interface offers flexibility and greater administrative control of storage operations without the need to touch the unit.


Highlights

The TS2900 has a nine-data-slot cartridge capacity for a total storage capacity of up to 56.25 TB with 2:5:1 compression, and also a single I/O station to provide undisturbed library operation when extracting or inserting data cartridges. The library uses one IBM LTO Ultrium Half-High tape drive (in these TS2900 models, an LTO Ultrium 6 S6H/S6R, LTO Ultrium 5 S5H/S5H, or an LTO Ultrium 4 S4H/S4R). The TS2900 is shipped as a rack mount unit, with the option of a desktop conversion kit. The TS2900 includes, as standard, a bar-code reader, which supports the operations in sequential or random access mode. Remote administration and management capabilities are possible through the web interface that is also included as standard.

LTO technology

With its use of LTO Ultrium 6 Half-High, LTO Ultrium 5 Half-High, or one Ultrium LTO Ultrium 4 Half-High tape drive and a nine-tape cartridge capacity, the TS2900 can store up to 56.25 TB compressed (22.5 TB native). The IBM LTO Ultrium 6 tape drive supports data transfer rates up to 160 MBps. The IBM LTO Ultrium 5 tape drive supports up to 140 MBps native data-transfer. IBM LTO standards leadership continues with the LTO Ultrium 6 tape drive technology and LTO Ultrium 6 media with a compressed capacity of up to 6.25 TB with 2.5 to 1 compression (up to 2.5 native capacity) compared to previous LTO Ultrium 5 compressed capacity of up to 3.0 TB with 2:1 compression (up to 1.5 TB native capacity) per tape cartridge.

The drives are backward compatible as follows: LTO Ultrium 6 Half-High tape drives can read and write to LTO Ultrium 5 media and read LTO Ultrium 4 media; LTO Ultrium 5 Half-High tape drives can read and write to LTO Ultrium 4 media and read LTO Ultrium 3 media. They have speed-matching and channel calibration for improved performance. They support the leading operating systems and popular backup software.

Security

Data is one of the most highly valued resources in a competitive business environment. Protecting that data, controlling access to it, and verifying its authenticity while maintaining its availability are priorities in our security–conscious world. Increasing regulatory requirements are also helping to direct the need for the adequate security of data. LTO Ultrium 4, 5, and 6 tape drive technology helps address security and compliance requirements with its continued Write Once Read Many (WORM) and Application Managed Encryption (AME) capability.

Advanced encryption through Library Managed Encryption (LME) and System Managed Encryption (SME) are available as optional Transparent LTO Encryption feature 5900. For key management for encryption, IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager V2 (formerly IBM Tivoli® Key Lifecycle Manager) is required. Whether encryption is application- or hardware-based, vital data can securely be stored to help ensure compliancy with data security, information disclosure, and privacy regulations for data at rest. For LTO Ultrium 6 and 5, IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager is required for enabling LME and SME.


IBM Linear Tape File System (LTFS)

IBM Linear Tape File System™ (LTFS) is the first file system that works in conjunction with LTO generation 5 tape technology to set a new standard for ease-of-use and portability for open systems tape storage. This drive is the first LTO generation to introduce media partitioning, which allows LTO Ultrium 5 media to be divided into segments, improving accessibility by providing the ability to quickly locate data to retrieve or update.

IBM Spectrum Archive™, a member of the IBM Spectrum Storage™ family, enables direct, intuitive and graphical access to data stored in IBM tape drives and libraries by incorporating the Linear Tape File System™ (LTFS) format standard for reading, writing and exchanging descriptive metadata on formatted tape cartridges. Spectrum Archive eliminates the need for additional tape management and software to access data. Spectrum Archive offers three software solutions for managing your digital files with the LTFS format: Single Drive Edition, Library Edition, and Enterprise Edition. IBM LTFS Library Edition supports the TS2900 models S6H and S5H.

With LTFS, accessing data stored on an IBM tape cartridge became as easy and intuitive as using a USB flash drive. With LTFS file manager, reading data on a tape cartridge can be as easy as dragging and dropping. Users can run any application designed for disk files against tape data without being concerned that the data is physically stored on tape. Originally built on the LTO Ultrium 5 format standard, IBM Linear Tape File System Library Edition provides a direct, intuitive, graphical access to data stored in IBM tape drives and libraries using LTO Ultrium 6 or 5 tape cartridges.

Benefits of LTFS Library Edition (LE) are as follows: