Is it possible to mix tapes if we have an LTO3 drive and an LTO5 drive installed on a TL4000? Could we separate by creating a second logical drive?

i think it would just logout the 2 older drives

The TL4000 recognizes both types of drives and they are online and ready.  I just don't know if this is a compatible arrangement or if I need to partition them in "virtual" libraries?  I can't find much info on this situation.

if the library allows you to do it then i would partition the library, that way the lto5's should only pick lto5 tapes and same for the lto3's.

cant hurt to try.

Hello Mike,

Yes you can have both LTO3 & LTO5 drives in your TL4000. You can also do backups to both drives at the same time as well. What you will need to be sure is that you use the correct LTO labels on your media, as an LTO5 can only read an LTO3 media.

You can partition your TL4000 if you would like to so that you can ensure that the correct media is selected for the correct drives.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Sam - thank you for confirming.  The problem I have right now is that the Backup Exec software always chooses drive 1 (LTO5) when inventorying a LTO3 tape.  We are using the correct barcodes for each type of drive.