Administrator Guide

10 Dell EMC Tape Systems | Document ID | version (optional)
6 Cleaning cartridges
Universal Cleaning Cartridges (UCC) are designed to be used with all LTO generations. The color of the Dell
EMC UCC is Black. Certified cleaning media will contain the LTO Ultrium logo in the lower left corner and will
have a Universal Cleaning Cartridge designation printed on the front. Other artwork may vary.
Cleaning cartridges that were manufactured prior to the release of a newer generation LTO drive may not
contain the correct drive generation information printed on the front of the cartridge, this does not limit that
media from being universally accepted in the newer generation LTO drives. All LTO generations to date use
the same UCC cartridge.
Each UCC is capable of performing 50 cleaning routines.
6.1 Usage
LTO drives have built in algorithms to determine when the tape heads need to be cleaned. It is always best to
allow the drive to determine when a cleaning is required. Excessive cleaning of the tape heads will degrade
head performance. The drive will alert the user when a cleaning is required. There are two main criteria used
by the drive to call for cleaning:
• Clean required (also known as Clean Now TapeAlert 14h)
Clean required is triggered when the drive posts specific permanent errors or is running
degraded. It is not based on temporary or permanent error rates. The permanent errors are
typically read/write perms or servo related perm failures. Not all read/write or servo perms will
trigger a clean. The errors are typically sticky, which means that the drive may not allow data
operations unless a clean is performed, even if a power cycle occurs.
• Clean Requested (also known as Clean Periodic TapeAlert 15)
Clean Requested is based on usage, but not media motion hours. Two criteria are used, Data
sets processed or Meters of tape pulled across the head.
LTO drives will post a “C” on the Single Character Display (SCD) and send the tape alert information to the
host application and library, if the drive is part of an automated solution. If another cartridge is inserted after a
clean is requested, the drive continues to operate however the ‘C’ on the SCD of the drive persists until the
drive is cleaned or power cycled. If the drive is power cycled, the ‘C’ will reappear on the SCD until the drive is
cleaned. Libraries can be setup to automatically perform the clean operation without user interaction; check
library Users Guide for more detailed information.
Once the UCC is inserted, the drive will determine if cartridge has cleaning cycles remaining. If the tape is
valid the cleaning routine will start automatically. During the cleaning routine the drive activity light will blink
green and the SCD will display “C”. When complete the drive will increment the clean count by one for that
cartridge and eject. The drive will post a tape alert to the host application and library interface indicating a
successful clean.