Chapter 1: DescriptionLibrary FeaturesQuantum Scalar i6000 User’s Guide 33them before backups begin. For more information about the library’snotification system, ticket system, and other troubleshooting help, seeTroubleshooting Your Library on page 37.Data Path Conditioning Quantum provides an automatic means of verifying, monitoring, andprotecting data path integrity between hosts and library drives. Thisfeature is referred to as data path conditioning. Using this feature,administrators can proactively detect and resolve data path problemsbefore they affect backups, restore operations, and other data transferoperations. Data path conditioning makes sure that data transmissionsare optimized and reliable, resulting in improved system availability.Data path conditioning occurs in two separately managed areas:• Between host and Fibre Channel (FC) I/O blades• Between FC I/O blades and library drivesThe FC I/O blade manages data path conditioning along the pathbetween itself and the library drives. Data path monitoringautomatically occurs at regular, configurable intervals. The FC I/O bladegenerates a RAS ticket if monitoring tests fail for two intervals. Thisindicates either loss of connectivity or drive failure. The FC I/O bladesinclude the data path conditioning feature. Administrators can use theLMC to configure data path conditioning.Host Attachment Requests issued from the host application result in cartridge movementin the library. The primary requests issued are for mounting anddismounting cartridges in and out of the tape drives and for importingand exporting cartridges in and out of the library. The library managesthe physical location. In addition to requesting cartridge movement inthe library, the host application can use the FC command interface toobtain status information, configuration information, and cartridgestorage information from the library.Hosts can be attached to the library in the following ways:• FC drives can be directly attached to host systems or to the SAN. Inthese configurations, the management control blade (MCB) has onelibrary control port (FC) connecting to the controlling hostcomputer.
