Using Cold Storage
Below is a list of key content related to using ActiveScale Cold Storage.
Adding Cold Storage Capacity
Capacity can be added by expanding the capacity of the tape libraries that are already in use. If you still have free slots available in the tape library, you can fill these up with new tape media as outlined in the next section. Otherwise, you will first need to expand your library with a new module (refer to the library documentation to upgrade your current library). If all libraries are maximally expanded and all tape slots are in use, contact Quantum Support to review your options.
Note: Quantum recommends to evenly distribute tape media over the available libraries and to distribute the write and read load evenly over all available tape drives. In a 3-GEO or RAIL setup, it is a requirement to distribute the tapes evenly to make sure that all available capacity can be used.
Add Tape Media to the Tape Library
You will have to physically add tape media to vacant slots in your tape library. Make sure that these tape media are inserted into slots that are part of the partition in use by ActiveScale Cold Storage. If this is not the case, you can import the media into the correct partition or expand the partition. In addition, you should also connect to the Tape Connector GUI and validate the slot count of the library.
When tape media are added to the library, you should connect to the Tape Connector GUI and use the Add Media Bulkload command to make sure the tape media are known for the ActiveScale Cold Storage solution. It is also recommended to run an audit on the Tape Connector GUI to make sure that any inconsistencies due to displaced tape media are automatically resolved.
On the Tape connector GUI, check that all recently added tape media are visible in the media report assigned to policy class System Blank.
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If not all added media are listed, please contact Quantum support. There may be a need to restart the Media Storage Manager on the tape connector to reflect the new tape media.
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When some tape media are not yet assigned to policy class System Blank, use the Assign Media to Policy Class media action to assign them to the System Blank policy class.
When all media are listed in the media report with policy System Blank, they will be used by the ASCS system for writing new data towards them.
Monitor Cold Storage
The main entry point for monitoring an ActiveScale Cold Storage system is the same as for any ActiveScale system: the ActiveScale System Management Interface. Most management tasks can be done this way, but in some cases it will be necessary to manage the tape libraries and/or Tape Connectors directly.
Note: The ActiveScale system actively monitors the tape libraries or RAS tickets and will create events and e-mails if there are any RAS tickets that need attention. It is not required to set up e-mail notifications from the tape library itself. If one would like to monitor these tape library events directly, it is required to add a direct network connection from the tape library to the public network, so the tape library can reach an e-mail server.
Scalar Tape Libraries
If any of the Scalar tape libraries needs to be managed directly, it is recommended to do this via their respective WebGUI interface. In an ActiveScale Cold Storage system the ethernet ports of the tape libraries are usually connected to the ActiveScale internal network and not to the customer network. This means that the IP addresses to manage the tape libraries cannot be reached directly from the customer network. To make the Scalar WebGUI interfaces reachable from the customer network, network tunnels are configured on the management nodes of the ActiveScale system. Using these network tunnels, the Scalar WebGUI interface of each Scalar tape library can be reached using the following URL:
https://<AS mgmt IP>:10433/<tape library name>
Here the <AS mgmt IP> is the IP address of one of the management nodes of the ActiveScale system. <tape library name> is the name by which the tape library is known by the ActiveScale system, as configured during the initial install of the ActiveScale Cold Storage system.
More details about the Scalar WebGUI interfaces for the different types of Scalar tape libraries can be found in the following locations:
Scalar i6:
Scalar i3:
Scalar i6000:
The Scalar tape libraries can also be monitored via Quantum’s Cloud-Based Analytics (CBA). If enabled, monitoring data from the tape libraries will be uploaded regularly to the CBA server for analysis. More details about CBA for the different types of Scalar tape libraries can be found in the following locations:
Scalar i6:
https://qsupport.quantum.com/kb/flare/content/Scalar_i6/docCenter/default.htm#CBA.htm
Scalar i3:
https://qsupport.quantum.com/kb/flare/content/Scalar_i3/docCenter/default.htm - CBA.htm
Scalar i6000:
https://qsupport.quantum.com/kb/flare/content/Scalar_i6000/docCenter/default.htm - CBA.htm
Tape Connector
If any of the Tape Connectors needs to be managed directly, it is recommended to do this via their respective GUI. In an ActiveScale Cold Storage system, the ethernet ports of the Tape Connectors are usually connected to the ActiveScale internal network and not to the customer network. This means that the IP addresses to manage the Tape Connectors cannot be reached directly from the customer network. To make the GUI of the Tape Connectors reachable from the customer network, network tunnels are configured on the management nodes of the ActiveScale system. Using these network tunnels, the GUI of each Tape Connector can be reached using the following URL:
https://<AS mgmt IP>:10433/<tape connector name>
<AS mgmt IP> is the IP address of one of the management nodes of the ActiveScale system. <tape connector name> is the name by which the Tape Connector is known by the ActiveScale system, as configured during the initial install of the ActiveScale Cold Storage system.
Note: The GUI of the tape connector can be checked for RAS tickets when there is an issue when using the Cold Storage feature. The ActiveScale event system already captures RAS tickets from the Scalar tape libraries, so you will get notified if anything suspicious is seen on the tape library. Usually this provides sufficient information, but it may be useful to check the tape connector GUIs as well.
More details about the GUI for the Tape Connector can be found here:
The Tape Connectors can also be monitored via Quantum’s Cloud-Based Analytics (CBA). If enabled, monitoring data from the Tape Connectors will be uploaded regularly to the CBA server for analysis.
More details about CBA for Tape Connectors can be found here:
Manage Cold Storage
The Cold Storage system handles all writes and reads towards the tape libraries automatically and protects that data with our patented two-dimensional erasure encoding. Read failures on a tape medium are corrected using the two-dimensional erasure coding and this enables retrieving all data that is stored in the GLACIER storage class even if tape media are partially or completely unreadable. This warrants unmatched safety for data stored in the GLACIER or DEEP ARCHIVE storage class.
Detecting tapes that are faulty or degraded - making the tape medium unreadable - is not yet automated and should be done by the administrator of the system in cooperation with Quantum Support. Detection of such a faulty tape medium is usually done by looking at the RAS tickets from the tape library, for which the ActiveScale system will send an event (COLD_STORAGE_RAS_TICKET) when these are present. It is advised to contact Quantum Support whenever the tape library issues drive tape alerts, mentioning read or write failures on a tape cartridge medium.
Once it is clear that a tape cartridge medium is no longer usable for writing or retrieving data, Quantum advises to remove it from the tape library. The system then detects the tape medium is missing. The system will then start recreating the data that was stored on that tape medium on the other available media after 24 hours. You will get an event for this, called COLD_STORAGE_TAPE_MISSING, which can be ignored in case this was done on purpose.
Note: If you remove tape media cartridges from the tape library that are still in a healthy state, they should be placed back within 24 hours. Otherwise, the Cold Storage system will recreate the data that was on that tape medium on other tape media. If this would happen, please contact Quantum Support for the recommended steps to reuse that tape medium
Quantum advises to only remove one tape cartridge out of the tape library per week, but another number can be decided upon in accordance with Quantum Support. If needed, you can remove as many tape cartridges as defined by the safety number of the chosen tape policy. It will have an effect on the retrieval SLA of the data stored in the GLACIER tier, because the system tries to use as many tape drives as possible to recreate the data that was on the missing tape media.
