Sharing CAPs in a SCSI Partition

A partition must "own" a shared CAP before it can use it. As a best practice, you should avoid assigning a shared CAP pool to a SCSI partition.

In a partitioned library, you can configure CAPs as a shared resource. To use a shared CAP, the partition must "own" the CAP, which reserves exclusive use of the CAP for that partition.

Until the partition owns a CAP, the SCSI interface will report the CAP state as open (even though the CAP may actually be closed). You must use the GUI to reserve ownership of the CAP before entering or ejecting cartridges. Once you complete the CAP operation, you must unassign the CAP to make it available to other partitions (see the SL4000 Library Guide).

Command Handling for an Unowned, Shared CAP

The library will process commands that include any unowned CAP elements as if the CAP is open:

• A Move Medium (A5h) command to or from an unowned CAP will return Check Condition (02h) status. The sense data will indicate Not Ready, CAP Open (2h/3Ah/02h).
• A Read Element Status (B8h) command that includes an unowned CAP element will return Good (00h) status. The Import/Export Element descriptor data for the CAP element will return an exception condition indicating the CAP is open (Except = 1, ASC = 3Ah, and ASCQ = 02h).

Locked/Unlocked State for a Shared CAP

You can only open an unlocked CAP. The state of the CAP depends on the "prevent" or "allow" medium removal state. For more information, see Prevent/Allow Medium Removal (1Eh).

Example 2-2 Shared CAP Locked/Unlocked State for a Library with Two Partitions

CAP Assignment	Partition 1 Prevent/Allow Removal State	Partition 2 Prevent/Allow Media Removal State	CAP State
Unassigned	Maintained by the library	Maintained by the library	Locked
Assigned to Partition 1	Allowed	Maintained by the library	Unlocked
Assigned to Partition 1	Prevented	Maintained by the library	Locked
Assigned to Partition 2	Maintained by the library	Allowed	Unlocked
Assigned to Partition 2	Maintained by the library	Prevented	Locked