Tape Drive Support

[paul_g_787]

We have set up a FreeNAS box on our network and it meets all needs other than the most critical, backups

I have connected our external SAS LTO5 (HP Storageworks ultrium) drive but it is not listed in /dev/ On openSUSE the drive works fine and on freeBSD it works fin and is /dev/sa0

Everything else is already there (mt tar gzip are installed) but it appear no device drivers. This is a deal-breaker for us if we cannot back up this unit simply because of an omitted module from the kernel (i think)...

How do I get the drive to work in FreeNAS?

I would really like to get more of our old servers up and running on FreeNAS but this is holding me back. Please can someone advise ASAP?

Thank you

 

[anodos]

We have set up a FreeNAS box on our network and it meets all needs other than the most critical, backups

I have connected our external SAS LTO5 (HP Storageworks ultrium) drive but it is not listed in /dev/ On openSUSE the drive works fine and on freeBSD it works fin and is /dev/sa0

Everything else is already there (mt tar gzip are installed) but it appear no device drivers. This is a deal-breaker for us if we cannot back up this unit simply because of an omitted module from the kernel (i think)...

How do I get the drive to work in FreeNAS?

I would really like to get more of our old servers up and running on FreeNAS but this is holding me back. Please can someone advise ASAP?

Thank you

Have you thoroughly scoured 'dmesg' or 'camcontrol devlist' when you connect the drive? Any chance you can connect the drive to another server and back up through the network?

Otherwise, you can write a bug report that the drivers aren't included.

I have a feeling that I've seen someone using a tape drive in this forum, so I don't know what to make of the problem you're having discovering the drive. What type of HBA are you using to connect the drive? Does freenas see it?

 

[paul_g_787]

all that dmesg says is ~# ciss1: *** Hot-plug Non-disk device inserted, Port=2E Box=0 Bay=0
camcontrol devlist does not change when the device is connected or removed

HBA is an internal pci card (external SAS) which came with the server. (HP ProLiant GL380 G7) The drive is in the HP external SAS box it came with.

We don't want to have to buy another server, the whole idea is that we backup to the FreeNAS boxes then write the data to tape at the end of the week.

Where can I either:
a) find the drivers to install myself (HP LTO-5 Ultrium 3000)
b) file the bug report

I don't want to have to use another product because I like FreeNAS, but running out of time. It is just baffling that such a simple feature which works on almost every other linux / bsd was omitted from FreeNAS. Rather frustrating :/

 

[anodos]

all that dmesg says is ~# ciss1: *** Hot-plug Non-disk device inserted, Port=2E Box=0 Bay=0
camcontrol devlist does not change when the device is connected or removed

HBA is an internal pci card (external SAS) which came with the server. (HP ProLiant GL380 G7) The drive is in the HP external SAS box it came with.

We don't want to have to buy another server, the whole idea is that we backup to the FreeNAS boxes then write the data to tape at the end of the week.

Where can I either:
a) find the drivers to install myself (HP LTO-5 Ultrium 3000)
b) file the bug report

I don't want to have to use another product because I like FreeNAS, but running out of time. It is just baffling that such a simple feature which works on almost every other linux / bsd was omitted from FreeNAS. Rather frustrating :/

Its omission is probably caused by FreeNAS being primarily a NAS appliance. You aren't really supposed to be installing software and drivers in the base install. IF the drivers are present / you can get the tape drive working, you will need to write some devfs rules to pass the tape drive through to a jail and install your backup software there.

Of your options above (a) probably won't work. I wouldn't mess with it.

You can file a bug report, but this is a niche use-case. I wouldn't expect it to get a quick affirmative response. An option if you have any esxi hosts is to put the HBA / tape drive in the esxi box and pass the hba through to a linux VM running your tape backup software. Then directly connect a dedicated 1 gigabit or 10 gigabit link between the FreeNAS server and the esxi host. Install your bacula or amanda client in a jail in FreeNAS, add the storage you want to back up, and let 'er rip. This will probably get you close to the speeds you'd get if the HBA were directly attached to your FreeNAS server. It also gives you the option of using LTFS for your tapes.

 

[billgreenwood]

Sorry posted to wrong thread