TapeAlert flags fall into three categories of severity: Critical, Warning, and Information. Addtional severity codes are under discussion.
Severity
Code
Definition
Critical
C
Either a failure has already occurred or a failure is imminent. Corrective action is required. The condition should be logged and/or an operator informed.
Warning
W
The system may not be operating [...]
This is the MIB module TapeAlert-MIB from Hewlett Packard. This OID tree represents the compiled SNMP MIB module TapeAlert-MIB and includes only high-level compiled information. For more detail (mib object descriptions, Unit Types, Textual Conventions, Macro-definitions, etc.), please download the raw SNMP ASN.1 mib test file by clicking on the ZIP icon. To query a [...]
This is what the SANtools software returns as it polls tape drives & autochangers
If you invoke SMARTMON-UX with the -X option, it will poll tapes at the specified polling periods and produce a message such as:
\\.\TAPE0 polled at Sun Aug 18 23:19:21 2002 Status:Passed
If there was a problem, you might see:
[...]
TapeAlert software, such as SMARTMon-UX polls the tape drive, autochanger, or library via the SCSI, FibreChannel or iSCSI interface via SCSI commands and reads the
error and warning flags defined by the
internal TapeAlert firmware constantly monitors the drive hardware and the media, checking for errors and potential difficulties. Any problems identified are
The ANSI TapeAlert V3 Spec 12-MAY-1999 is located here. It covers information that programmers and hardware designers need to refer to.
Below is a list of Industry Standard Tape Alert Error Flags. These “tape alert” flags are designed for single tape drives and robotic libraries.
