Drive Lifecycle Management (DLM) helps you monitor drives by integrating tape drive analysis, diagnostics and reporting within the library’s easy-to-manage, color-coded icons that help you quickly identify the health status of a drive. Library Lifecycle Management (LLM) manages the health of your library’s critical components. By delivering utilization metrics relative to the expected useful life of library robotics, filters and other critical components; you are able to service your library before issues occur.
Remote Library Controller
This web-based controller allows you to login and manage your library from anywhere. Define who can access the library and manage their privileges.
Consolidate Data Using Integrated Partitioning
With support for all major backup software packages and operating systems, T950 libraries fit easily into any environment. The T950’s Shared Library Services (SLS) lets data centers implement up to 16 integrated partitions, so that a single library appears as multiple libraries. Unlike other partitioning solutions that involve complicated and expensive external partitioning servers, network connections, and proprietary client software, you can easily partition the Spectra T950 library using the library’s built-in BlueScale interface.
Better Reliability through Lifecycle Management
To help ensure your library is operating 24×7, the T950 library offers a toolset to ensure the continuous operation of your library, drives and tape media. Media Lifecycle Management (MLM) removes the question of media reliability and data integrity, ensuring the safety of your data by providing continuous assessments on more than 40 different metrics throughout the life of each tape.
Drive Lifecycle Management (DLM) helps you monitor drives by integrating tape drive analysis, diagnostics and reporting within the library’s easy-to-manage, color-coded icons that help you quickly identify the health status of a drive. Library Lifecycle Management (LLM) manages the health of your library’s critical components. By delivering utilization metrics relative to the expected useful life of library robotics, filters and other critical components; you are able to service your library before issues occur.
Data Integrity Verification
To give you data integrity verification, Spectra offers a sophisticated suite of standard features that allow you to actively check data already written to tape.
PreScan checks each imported tape and verifies that the tape can be written to, scanning the tape for potential issues including broken or dislodged leader and write-protected status.
QuickScan scans a tape uni-directionally by reading the length of one wrap of the tape to provide a rapid indicator of integrity of data written.
FullScan confirms that there are no media errors on the tape by reading the entire length of the tape up to the end of the recorded data. To ensure that the data is valid, you can set triggers to check the health of tapes over an interval of time or verify a specific tape’s data integrity on request. This process allows for checks of data integrity.
Spectra BlueScale® Encryption
Spectra offers the only truly integrated encryption key management option for data on tape: BlueScale® Encryption Key Management. Spectra libraries with BlueScale Encryption Key Management are the only encryption solutions that completely integrate library administration with encryption key management. With secure BlueScale Encryption Key Management built into Spectra libraries, encrypting data on tape is easy to manage, efficient—and free. BlueScale Encryption Key Management is secure and easy to use, providing powerful key management features for encryption and decryption.
- Uses the AES-256 bit encryption algorithm
- Library integrated key management for encryption-capable tape drives
- Web-based Remote Library Controller (RLC) lets you manage data encryption safely from anywhere with a secured web connection
- Fits transparently into existing open systems environments with a vendor-agnostic, platform independent architecture. Compatibility with major backup, archive and tiered storage applications
- Available in a free Standard Edition or a Professional Edition that supports advanced features such as multiple keys and M-of-N key support
- Encryption keys can easily be backed up, archived and shared with other Spectra libraries
- Quorum based authentication (Professional Edition) allows users to construct hardened, defensible key control and sharing systems
Spectra SKLM Encryption
For organizations with more complex and robust requirements, Spectra SKLM Encryption Key Management is available for an extra charge as a standalone, centralized key manager that is time tested and proven across enterprise-level customers requiring the highest standard of encryption security. With optional Spectra SKLM encryption you can deploy a clean, simple key management solution that meets the complex requirements your organization faces. Spectra SKLM is a robust encryption key manager that delivers a unified key management strategy to streamline your encryption deployment.
Shared Library Services – Integrated Partitioning
The T950’s Shared Library Services allows you to implement simple, integrated partitioning so that a single library appears to the SAN as multiple libraries. Unlike other partitioning solutions that involve complicated and expensive external partitioning servicers, network connections and proprietary client software, you can easily partition the Spectra T950 Library using the library’s own BlueScale interface.
Certified Media
Tape is the most cost-effective storage media available. Our commitment to you is making tape pain-free through Spectra® Certified Media. From manufacturer selection to testing and customer shipment, every step of the Spectra® Certified Media process is designed to ensure you have the most reliable and automated tape storage available. No other supplier places as much emphasis on continual enhancements and features that simplify all aspects of the media management process.
Roving TeraPack® Architecture
The TeraPack container provides a more efficient way to import tape media into the T950 library and offers a clean, secure and stackable case for staging and storing media outside of the library. Using this unique patented roving TeraPack containers reduces handling time by 87.5%. And the unique TeraPack architecture reduces floor space requirements by as much as 80 percent compared to competing libraries.
Automatic Drive Cleaning
Improve reliability by automating tracking and cleaning drives. Auto Drive Clean in the T950 library provides library-based cleaning of LTO and TS11XX drives without user intervention. Automated drive cleaning results in fewer failed tape read/write operations and is the recommended method for cleaning drives. The Auto Drive Clean feature uses partitioning to create a dedicated cleaning partition for storing cleaning cartridges. The cleaning partition can be shared by multiple storage partitions and is used by the library to automatically clean drives whenever necessary.
Assisted Self-Maintenance (ASM)
Recognizing that some users prefer to have hands-on control over library uptime, Spectra Logic designs our products so that major components are customer-replaceable. With Spectra Logic’s Assisted Self-Maintenance (ASM) support options, spare components are placed at your facility, ready to be installed by your IT staff in your data storage environment. Most of the swappable components can be replaced, without tools, in minutes. Spectra libraries are the only ones in the industry that ship with onsite, user-replaceable components that include:
- Drive
- Power supplies
- Air filters
- Connectivity controller (RIM — Robotics Interface Module
- Transporter
- Robotics — ASM Gold
- Library Control Module/Robotics Control Module — ASM Gold
This support supplement allows customers to complete repairs with the remote guidance of support personnel, and promptly restore operations with the full assurance that on-site support is available if needed.
Graphic User Interface (GUI)
The Spectra Logic BlueScale user interface is a powerful control center that enables the user to monitor and control all aspects of the T950 library. BlueScale is an easy-to-navigate library interface built into Spectra libraries that enables our solutions to work easily, flexibly and safely with your data. BlueScale manages your library, configurations, partitions, encryption keys and all library and media health monitoring in one, single interface.
Remote GUI
The Remote Library Controller is an SSL protected web-based user interface that enables users to access the BlueScale console from anywhere in the world. This remote user interface provides access to all the powerful features of BlueScale without physically touching the library.
XML
For customers with special integration needs, all Spectra Logic tape libraries provide a standards- based and open XML API. This interface enables customer to easily and seamlessly integrate the T950 into their own storage management systems.
AutoSupport
AutoSupport enables the library to automatically notify Spectra Logic support personnel with information about specific events that occur within the library. BlueScale constantly monitors the health of the library and emails a support ticket if it detects any problems that might impact the performance and reliability of the library.
Dual AC
The Dual AC two-power unit enables data centers that wish to provide AC power redundancy to their T950 to do so using out-of-phase power. This enhancement provides installation flexibility, reduces installation costs, speeds up installation time and provides power redundancy.
Power Distribution Unit
The Spectra Power Distribution Unit (PDU) enables customers to easily power their T950 with Delta or Wye-configured three-phase power. The Spectra PDU supports an optional web-enabled power meter for monitoring and balancing the power load across library frames.