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LTO 7 drives with the same MAC addresses

  • 1.  LTO 7 drives with the same MAC addresses

    Posted Fri April 21, 2023 10:53 AM

    Hello, I have 6 IBM LTO 7 drives in quantum I6000 library.  For some reason four drives have the same MAC address. Its not the problem with library - drives removet from it and connected directly (without sleds) to the network report the same, duplicated mac address 00:21:5e:d2:b9:6e.
    How is it possible to have the same addreses? Is there any chance to correct it, restoring to defaults?
    Drives work fine, but library can't communicate over Ethernet port and has problems with manage them.

    Regards 
    Tomasz



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    Tomasz Bigaj
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  • 2.  RE: LTO 7 drives with the same MAC addresses

    Posted Mon April 24, 2023 11:41 AM

    Hi, I suspect you mean WWNNs or WWPNs (there is no such thing as a MAC address for an LTO tape drive).  For tape drives in any modern tape library, the library assigns the WWNNs and WWPNs to the drives and they are stored as non-volatile values (so the drives can still function when the internal library-drive comm is not working).  So even when tape drives are removed from a tape library, it is to be expected that the library-assigned WWNN/WWPN would persist.  Please work with your library vendor to resolve the concern.



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    Lee Jesionowski
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  • 3.  RE: LTO 7 drives with the same MAC addresses

    Posted Thu April 27, 2023 09:45 AM

    There is such thing as MAC address for LTO drive. Drives have Ethernet port, used to manage drive in library. Drives removed from library and connected to ethernet switch reportt the same MAC address. It causes that library can't assign IP addressef for a drives and can't manage them. 



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    Tomasz Bigaj
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  • 4.  RE: LTO 7 drives with the same MAC addresses

    Posted Mon April 24, 2023 01:07 PM

    @Tomasz Bigaj I think there needs to be qualification of the port in your question. As @Lee Jesionowski stated there is no host connectivity to LTO drives through an Ethernet port. However, the drive does connect to a library via Ethernet using the internal Ethernet port.  As Lee stated, this is an issue that needs to be addressed through your vendor.



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    Kevin Butt
    IBM, Tape Development Ecosystem
    Tape SCSI Architect, T10 Representative
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  • 5.  RE: LTO 7 drives with the same MAC addresses

    Posted Thu April 27, 2023 09:47 AM

    Hi, it is not host connectivity. It is management connectivity. Library uses drives's ethernet port to manage it. For some reason six drives reports the same MAC.



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    Tomasz Bigaj
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  • 6.  RE: LTO 7 drives with the same MAC addresses

    Posted Thu April 27, 2023 12:55 PM

    @Tomasz Bigaj This appears to be an issue with the drive MAC addresses. This needs to be resolved by working with your library vendor.



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    Kevin Butt
    IBM, Tape Development Ecosystem
    Tape SCSI Architect, T10 Representative
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  • 7.  RE: LTO 7 drives with the same MAC addresses

    Posted Thu April 27, 2023 04:04 PM

    Kevin, I'm rather looking for someone who knows how to restore the original drive MAC addresses. It must be possible since the library was able to replace them.



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    Tomasz Bigaj
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  • 8.  RE: LTO 7 drives with the same MAC addresses

    Posted Thu April 27, 2023 06:05 PM

    Tomasz,

    The LTO SCSI Reference (IBM® TotalStorage® LTO Ultrium Tape Drive SCSI Reference (LTO-5 through LTO-9)) provides a method to read the values of the MAC address(es) (see 6.6.21.3.2 MP 30h[01h]: Drive MAC address - Device attribute settings) which, in part, states "The drive MAC address is read only and is defined in table 353".
      These values are stored into non-volatile memory during manufacturing. If they were somehow overwritten, which should not be possible by a user or a library, then any history of what they were is no longer in the drive.



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    Kevin Butt
    IBM, Tape Development Ecosystem
    Tape SCSI Architect, T10 Representative
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  • 9.  RE: LTO 7 drives with the same MAC addresses

    Posted Fri April 28, 2023 09:49 AM

    Hello Tom,

    As Lee said there is no Mac address on LTO tape drives, we have Ethernet connector used for drive status and service only!
    LTO7 tape drive can be used via SAS or FC cable connected to switch or directly to your HBA adapter.

    For more information I would suggest you to open a case with your tape library vendor, they can assist you further.

    Have a nice day.

    Regards,
    Galin Iliev



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    Galin Iliev
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  • 10.  RE: LTO 7 drives with the same MAC addresses

    Posted Tue July 04, 2023 12:29 PM

    This is what I'm talking about... There is Ethernet port for status and diagnose. This port has MAC address I I want to change it :)

    Regards

    Tomasz



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    Tomasz Bigaj
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  • 11.  RE: LTO 7 drives with the same MAC addresses

    Posted Wed July 05, 2023 11:27 AM

    @Tomasz Bigaj As stated previously, the MAC addresses are non-changeable.



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    Kevin Butt
    IBM, Tape Development Ecosystem
    Tape SCSI Architect, T10 Representative
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