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AN-020

June 2001

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Document:	Tape Support in Charon-VAX
Order Number:	AN-020
Revision:	0
Pages:	4
Original Filename:	AN-020.pdf

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CHARON-VAX application note
AN-020 Tape support in CHARON-VAX
Author:

Software Resources International

Date: 7 June 2001

The full functionality CHARON-VAX products (not the Personal Editions) support limited magnetic tape emulation and/or connection. There are essentially three
ways to deal with tape media in CHARON-VAX:

1. Connecting a SCSI tape drive controller to a SCSI port of the host system and addressing it directly via SCSI commands (“Raw SCSI”).
2. Connecting a SCSI tape drive controller to a SCSI port of the host system and accessing it via its host operating system driver.
3. Converting the information on tape offline to a CHARON-VAX tape image (represented by a disk file) - and vice versa – using the CHARON-VAX MTD utility.
During CHARON-VAX operation these tape images are treated as tape drives by the emulated CHARON-VAX tape controller.
The second method can only be used if a driver is available for the tape unit on the particular host system. This is usually not the case when a ‘legacy’ unit is
connected. For instance, there is no driver for the TKZ50 under Windows NT4. To accommodate older unsupported tape drives, CHARON-VAX and the MTD utility
implement as an alternative direct device control via SCSI commands. The choice between the first and the second method is made in the CHARON-VAX
configuration file through the way in which the device is specified, as described in the CHARON-VAX manual.
Using method three has advantages. Tape image files have a universal format across host operating systems; they can be made with the standalone utility MTD under
one operating system and copied for use with CHARON-VAX on another host operating system. Also, tape image files are free from physical device limitations like
mechanical delays.
Physical tape drives and their drivers (if they exist) vary widely in specifications, and a specific tape unit is not guaranteed to work with CHARON-VAX on a
particular host configuration. In particular older devices and multi-volume operations are very sensitive to host system characteristics. To provide recommendations for
tape use in CHARON-VAX, Software Resources International tests tape operations with both tape images and a TLZ07 tape drive, which supports the common 4 mm
DAT tape standard. This application note list the test results for the platforms on which CHARON-VAX is currently available (WNT4, W2000, OpenVMS/Alpha and
Linux/Intel) and will be updated when new functionality is tested.

©2001 Software Resources International. This document is provided for information only and is not a legally binding offer. Software Resources International reserves the right to change the
product specifications without prior notice or retire the product. The CHARON name and its logo are a registered trademark of Software Resources International. For further information:
www.charon-vax.com, Email: vaxinfo@vaxemulator.com

Tape unit with direct SCSI control.

Target OS:OVMS/VAX 7.2, Tape implementation: Physical tape using raw SCSI interface, Tape drive: TLZ07, Processor model: KA650

Multivolume
backup
operations

Misc

Backup operations

Copying files
to/from tape

Initialization

Short operation description

Command entered (if applicable)

WNT

W2K

OVMS

Linux

init (blank tape)

init mua0: test

N/A

init (initialized tape)

init mua0: test_2/over=exp

N/A

mount

mount mua0:/over=(id,exp)

N/A

dismount/nounload

dismount/nounload mua0:

N/A

dismount/unload

dismount/unload mua0:

N/A

tape initialized under CHVX is recognized on VAX

N/A

tape initialized on VAX is recognized under CHVX

N/A

copy disk->tape

copy /log dua0:[000000…]*.txt mua0:[000000]

N/A

copy tape->disk

copy /log mua0:[000000]*.txt dua0:[tst]

N/A

files copied from CHVX are accessible on VAX

N/A

files copied from VAX are accessible under CHVX

N/A

backup disk->tape

backup/log/noassist/ignore=label dua0:[000000…]*.txt mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind

N/A

backup tape->disk (restore)

backup/log/noassist/ignore=label mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind dua0:[tst...]

N/A

saveset created under CHVX is accessible on VAX

N/A

saveset created on VAX is accessible under CHVX

N/A

image backup disk->tape

backup/image/log/noassist/ignore=label dua1: mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind

N/A

image backup tape->disk (restore)

backup/image/log/noassist/ignore=label mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind dua1:

N/A

standalone backup tape creation

@sys$update:stabackit

N/A

booting from standalone backup tape

N/A

booting from MDM tape

N/A

booting from ULTRIX distribution tape

N/A

multivolume backup

---

N/A

multivolume restore

---

N/A

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Tape unit with host driver.

Target OS:OVMS/VAX 7.2, Tape implementation: Physical tape using driver, Tape drive: TLZ07, Processor model: KA650

Multivolume
backup
operations

Misc

Backup operations

Copying files
to/from tape

Initialization

Short operation description

Command entered (if applicable)

WNT

W2K

OVMS

Linux

init (blank tape)

init mua0: test

N/A

init (initialized tape)

init mua0: test_2/over=exp

N/A

mount

mount mua0:/over=(id,exp)

N/A

dismount/nounload

dismount/nounload mua0:

N/A

dismount/unload

dismount/unload mua0:

N/A

tape initialized under CHVX is recognized on VAX

N/A

tape initialized on VAX is recognized under CHVX

N/A

copy disk->tape

copy /log dua0:[000000…]*.txt mua0:[000000]

N/A

copy tape->disk

copy /log mua0:[000000]*.txt dua0:[tst]

N/A

files copied from CHVX are accessible on VAX

N/A

files copied from VAX are accessible under CHVX

N/A

backup disk->tape

backup/log/noassist/ignore=label dua0:[000000…]*.txt mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind

N/A

backup tape->disk (restore)

backup/log/noassist/ignore=label mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind dua0:[tst...]

N/A

saveset created under CHVX is accessible on VAX

N/A

saveset created on VAX is accessible under CHVX

N/A

image backup disk->tape

backup/image/log/noassist/ignore=label dua1: mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind

N/A

image backup tape->disk (restore)

backup/image/log/noassist/ignore=label mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind dua1:

N/A

standalone backup tape creation

@sys$update:stabackit

N/A

booting from standalone backup tape

N/A

booting from MDM tape

N/A

booting from ULTRIX distribution tape

N/A

multivolume backup

---

N/A

multivolume restore

---

N/A

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Using a tape image made with the MTD utility

Target OS:OVMS/VAX 7.2, Tape implementation: Image file, Tape drive: Not applicable, Processor model: KA650

me
backup
operation

Misc

Backup operation

Copying files
to/from tape

Initialization

Short operation description

Command entered (if applicable)

WNT

W2K

OVMS

Linux

init (blank tape)

init mua0: test

---

init (initialized tape)

init mua0: test_2/over=exp

---

mount

mount mua0:/over=(id,exp)

---

dismount/nounload

dismount/nounload mua0:

---

dismount/unload

dismount/unload mua0:

---

tape initialized under CHVX is recognized on VAX

N/A

tape initialized on VAX is recognized under CHVX

N/A

copy disk->tape

copy /log dua0:[000000…]*.txt mua0:[000000]

---

copy tape->disk

copy /log mua0:[000000]*.txt dua0:[tst]

---

files copied from CHVX are accessible on VAX

N/A

files copied from VAX are accessible under CHVX

N/A

backup disk->tape

backup/log/noassist/ignore=label dua0:[000000…]*.txt mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind

---

backup tape->disk (restore)

backup/log/noassist/ignore=label mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind dua0:[tst...]

---

saveset created under CHVX is accessible on VAX

N/A

saveset created on VAX is accessible under CHVX

N/A

image backup disk->tape

backup/image/log/noassist/ignore=label dua1: mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind

---

image backup tape->disk (restore)

backup/image/log/noassist/ignore=label mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind dua1:

---

standalone backup tape creation

@sys$update:stabackit

---

booting from standalone backup tape

---

booting from MDM tape

---

booting from ULTRIX distribution tape

---

multivolume backup (set MUA size[0]=409600)

backup/log/noassist/ignore=label dua0:[000000…]*.txt mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind

---

multivolume restore (set MUA size[0]=409600)

backup/log/noassist/ignore=label mua0:[000000]test.bck/rewind dua0:[tst...]

---

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