Determining LTO Cleaning Tape Expiration?

Solution 1:

Very simple with an IBM LTO cleaning cartridge and a Tivoli Server. (which means it may be slightly different for whatever hardware combination you're using) but the command I use is simply:

query libvolume f=d 

Or when "automatic cleaning" is enabled, the usage is accessed via:

 Main Menu > Usage Statistics > Cleaning Cartridge Usage 

Good luck and enjoy.

Oh and shelf life/uses is determined by manufacture, I don't ever go beyond 50. I get nervous at around 40 uses.

Edit/Update: Confirmed the label of a Quantum Cleaning Tape says maximum uses is 50. Tandberg and Fujifilm LTOs do not have their cleaning tapes marked accordingly with any recommendations on usage.

Solution 2:

Quantum's official recommendation is to hand this task over to the backup application:

LTO Tape Drive Cleaning (Quantum Support).

This basically means that your backup software would have to handle the retention/expiration period of the barcoded cleaning tapes. If I recall correctly you should be able to enter an expiration date/period in Networker for individual tapes.

Related issues with retention/expiration policies can be found in the following articles in the Networker Support Forum:

• How to change tape expiration date after change of retention policy
• Media Expiration Problems

Solution 3:

As can be checked here, there are three kinds of Ultrium drives with respect to cleaning, those of types I, S and H. The number of cleanings a cartridge supports is entirely dependant on the drive type.

Drives of type I (from IBM) must be cleaned by a Type I cleaning cartridge (or an Universal cartridge), and a cartridge supports either 15 or 50 cleanings there, either an I cartridge or an universal one. These are e.g. the IBM 3580 (supporting 50 cleanings) or the IBM StorageSmart Half-Height (supporting 15).

Drives of type S (from Seagate) must be cleaned by a Type S cleaning cartridge (or an Universal cartridge), and a cartridge supports 50 cleanings there.

Drives of type H (from HP) must be cleaned by a type H cleaning cartridge (or an Universal cartridge), and a cartridge supports 15 cleanings there.