Remember earlier when I mentioned my tape backups were running slow? Today, I finally completely solved the problem. Turns out it wasn’t terribly difficult. Here’s what I did:
- Backup Exec 11d installed
- Updated PV124T firmware from 0027 to 0043
- Updated LTO3 drive firmware from 59D3 to 6B20
- Installed latest Dell drivers for Tape drive and autoloader
At that point, I was getting backups running at around 5 Mb per minute. The next steps:
- Enabled Multiple LUN support in SCSI BIOS for the autoloader and tape drive
- Installed latest SCSI drivers from Adaptec for the SCSI card
- Installed the Backup Exec drivers for all backup devices
At this point, I was running around 1300 Mb per minute—much better, but not perfect. My old backups were running around 2000 Mb per minute. I also noticed that my compression ratio was around 1.0n:1 (almost no compression at all). I figured I’d try to live with it—beggars can’t be choosers.
Or maybe they can. I finally broke down and called support (for an IT guy that reads admitted defeat), and the guy immediately spotted my problem: the autoloader driver said Dell (tm) PowerVault (tm) 124T Autoloader. He changed it to Unknown Medium Changer, which was on the list of compatible hardware, but something I would not have chosen. Certainly not over the very detailed driver name right above it.
In any case, now I’m running back at over 2000 Mb per second throughput to the tape drive and I’m getting 1.5:1 compression. The only change this last time was the autoloader driver. Nobody documented that online. I hope this helps someone else in the same boat.
I hear Spirit of the West from time to time, and I would love to get this CD…
I want one of these kits real bad.