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11684
October 2nd, 2003 14:00
Powervault 110T DLT1 - External - power cycle while server is still up?
Just wondering if you can power cycle this device without causing any potential damage? The troubleshooting guide seems to hint that turning the power off an on isn't an issue.
I can't find anything indicating that the server should be shut down first.
If the power can by cycled while leaving the server up, can the device be replaced without shutting down the server?
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Eanna
6 Posts
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October 8th, 2003 05:00
If it's running Windows 2000 or later, and you don't change the tape drive's SCSI ID during power off, you can get away without rebooting your server. Depending on your SCSI controller, NT4 will get cranky if you mess with it.
If you are running ntbackup only, stop the 'Removable Storage' service first, and start again after the drive powercycle, just in case.
If you are running CA ARCserve, stop the 'Tape Engine' service, and start it again after the drive is powercycled.
Not sure about other backup software
You can hold in the eject button on the 110T DLT1 for +5 seconds to do and soft reset of the drive, might get you out of trouble.
Like I said at the begining, if you don't change the SCSI ID for powercycling, or keep the same SCSI ID of a new identical model drive if you want to swap out an external DLT1 safely, the OS should behave.
Something Creat
4 Posts
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November 3rd, 2003 20:00
NT4 with a Perc3/QC controller if that changes your opinion...
Eanna
6 Posts
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November 3rd, 2003 20:00
What kind of backup software are you using?
Different software packages use different methods of accessing the SCSI tape driver, sometimes stopping an NT service associated with the backup software (e.g ARCserve 'Tape Engine' service) will allow you powercycle the drive without problem.
NT backup uses a tape driver loaded at boot time (see Tape Drives in the Control Panel) to access the drive.
If you powercycle the drive with this loaded, you might get SCSI port errors in the System event log that may need a reboot to sort out.
Something Creat
4 Posts
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November 4th, 2003 12:00
daddyroo2k
10 Posts
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November 10th, 2003 12:00
A rule of scsi is that you never unplug a scsi tape device when it is attached toa scsi bus. If you do this it can result in a blue screen or damage to your operating system. I could even lead to hardware damage. If you want to play with the tape drive, turn it off, reseat cables, etc you must turn off the scsi device and what hardware the scsi device is attached to.
You may get away with unplugging it when the server is on...but do it at your own risk as Dell will not replace it if it goes bung on you when the server is on.
Something Creat
4 Posts
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November 12th, 2003 17:00
As I mentioned in the first message, Dell's trouble shooting steps for the drive including powering the drive off without mention of the computer that it's connected to needing to be powered off.
<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed / replaced from this post by Dell>
I would imagine that if by following Dell's troubleshooting guides the result is that a SCSI card or backup drive gets bunged up, Dell would have to replace it.