1

I have bought a used Quantum Ultrium LTO-4 tape drive and attached it to an HP Smart Array P400 SAS controller in my HP ProLiant N54l. I use FreeBSD 11 as my operating system.

Now I have inserted a tape and ran the benchmark of Bacula's btape command:

$ btape /dev/nsa0
Tape block granularity is 1024 bytes.
btape: butil.c:291-0 Using device: "/dev/nsa0" for writing.
btape: btape.c:471-0 open device "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0): OK
*rewind
btape: btape.c:576-0 Rewound "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
*speed
btape: btape.c:1055-0 Test with zero data, should give the maximum throughput.
btape: btape.c:904-0 Begin writing 3 files of 1.073 GB with raw blocks of 64512 bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 2.182 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 4.511 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 1.835 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=3.221 GB. Total Write rate = 2.449 MB/s

This (and some other tests) confirms a write rate of about 2 MB/s, which is unreasonably slow. Why is this the case? What can I do to elevate the write rate to the expected speed (e.g. 100 MB/s)?

Edit

It appears that something might be wrong with the controller. After a reboot, I was able to transfer data at high speed for a while until a number of PCI errors occured and speed slowed down to a crawl:

ciss0: *** PCI-E LL correctable errors, count=10546, LLErrStatus=0x80000004
ciss0: *** PCI-E LL correctable errors, count=20570, LLErrStatus=0x80000004
ciss0: *** PCI-E LL correctable errors, count=30995, LLErrStatus=0x80000004
ciss0: *** PCI-E LL correctable errors, count=41101, LLErrStatus=0x80000004
ciss0: *** PCI-E LL correctable errors, count=51400, LLErrStatus=0x80000004
ciss0: *** PCI-E LL correctable errors, count=61729, LLErrStatus=0x80000004

Perhaps the card is incorrectly seated or something like that.

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7
  • witch tape drive model you have?
    – Adam Silenko
    Apr 22, 2017 at 18:51
  • @AdamSilenko TC-L42AN / BRSLA-0703-DC
    – FUZxxl
    Apr 22, 2017 at 18:59
  • Try using dd?
    – psusi
    Apr 23, 2017 at 16:15
  • @psusi I tested the tape drive with a variety of programs. It appears that regardless of what program I use, I can always send a constant amount of read or write requests to the tape drive per second. However, the size of one request is capped above by 128 kB, resulting in very poor performance. I don't know what causes this issue.
    – FUZxxl
    Apr 23, 2017 at 16:49
  • try put card in other PCIe slot
    – Adam Silenko
    Apr 26, 2017 at 18:31

2 Answers 2

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0

Minimum and maximum reading and writing speeds are drive-dependent.
Max uncompressed speed in 120 MBps for LTO-4.
Quantum LTO-4 HH tape drives have compressed transfer rates up to 576GB/hr Assumes 2:1 compression.
Real maximum speed of this drive is: 576GB/hr /2 = 288 *1024MB / 3600s = 81.92MBps. From drive specification:

Data Rate Matching Range: 33 to 80MB/sec native

So you never get 100 MB/s

Edit:
Read about Testing Your Tape Drive With Bacula.
You should set bacula-sd.conf file, and make sure that Bacula (the Storage daemon) is not running or that you have unmounted the drive you will use for testing.

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3
  • While this is indeed correct (and known to me), a speed of 2 MB/s is just unreasonably slow. I suspect there is some sort of problem that prevents the benchmark from sending data to the drive at an appropriate speed.
    – FUZxxl
    Apr 22, 2017 at 19:14
  • do you use clean new LTO-4 tape for test?
    – Adam Silenko
    Apr 22, 2017 at 19:38
  • The tape I use for my tests has never been used before I started to test the tape drive.
    – FUZxxl
    Apr 22, 2017 at 23:02
0

I swapped the HP SmartArray P400 SAS controller for an LSI 3041E SAS controller. This solved my performance problems, I can now comfortably backup at high speed (I can reach about 70 MB/s in practice). Below you can find output from the same performance test previously used:

$ btape /dev/nsa0
Tape block granularity is 1024 bytes.
btape: butil.c:291-0 Using device: "/dev/nsa0" for writing.
btape: btape.c:471-0 open device "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0): OK
*rewind
btape: btape.c:576-0 Rewound "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
*speed
btape: btape.c:1055-0 Test with zero data, should give the maximum throughput.
btape: btape.c:904-0 Begin writing 3 files of 1.073 GB with raw blocks of 64512 bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 71.58 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 119.3 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 134.2 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=3.221 GB. Total Write rate = 100.6 MB/s

btape: btape.c:904-0 Begin writing 3 files of 2.147 GB with raw blocks of 64512 bytes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=2.147 GB. Write rate = 143.1 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=2.147 GB. Write rate = 153.3 MB/s
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=2.147 GB. Write rate = 143.1 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=6.442 GB. Total Write rate = 146.4 MB/s

btape: btape.c:904-0 Begin writing 3 files of 4.294 GB with raw blocks of 64512 bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=4.295 GB. Write rate = 165.1 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=4.295 GB. Write rate = 165.1 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=4.295 GB. Write rate = 165.1 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=12.88 GB. Total Write rate = 165.1 MB/s

btape: btape.c:1067-0 Test with random data, should give the minimum throughput.
btape: btape.c:904-0 Begin writing 3 files of 1.073 GB with raw blocks of 64512 bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 53.69 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 51.13 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 53.69 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=3.221 GB. Total Write rate = 52.80 MB/s

btape: btape.c:904-0 Begin writing 3 files of 2.147 GB with raw blocks of 64512 bytes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=2.147 GB. Write rate = 59.65 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=2.147 GB. Write rate = 58.04 MB/s
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=2.147 GB. Write rate = 58.04 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=6.442 GB. Total Write rate = 58.56 MB/s

btape: btape.c:904-0 Begin writing 3 files of 4.294 GB with raw blocks of 64512 bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=4.295 GB. Write rate = 60.49 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=4.295 GB. Write rate = 70.41 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=4.295 GB. Write rate = 69.27 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=12.88 GB. Total Write rate = 66.41 MB/s

btape: btape.c:1081-0 Test with zero data and bacula block structure.
btape: btape.c:959-0 Begin writing 3 files of 1.073 GB with blocks of 64512 bytes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 71.58 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 76.70 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 71.58 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=3.221 GB. Total Write rate = 73.21 MB/s

btape: btape.c:959-0 Begin writing 3 files of 2.147 GB with blocks of 64512 bytes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=2.147 GB. Write rate = 93.37 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=2.147 GB. Write rate = 85.90 MB/s
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=2.147 GB. Write rate = 89.48 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=6.442 GB. Total Write rate = 89.48 MB/s

btape: btape.c:959-0 Begin writing 3 files of 4.294 GB with blocks of 64512 bytes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=4.295 GB. Write rate = 97.61 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=4.295 GB. Write rate = 99.88 MB/s
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=4.295 GB. Write rate = 97.61 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=12.88 GB. Total Write rate = 98.35 MB/s

btape: btape.c:1093-0 Test with random data, should give the minimum throughput.
btape: btape.c:959-0 Begin writing 3 files of 1.073 GB with blocks of 64512 bytes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 41.30 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 39.77 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=1.073 GB. Write rate = 41.30 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=3.221 GB. Total Write rate = 40.77 MB/s

btape: btape.c:959-0 Begin writing 3 files of 2.147 GB with blocks of 64512 bytes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=2.147 GB. Write rate = 45.69 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=2.147 GB. Write rate = 44.74 MB/s
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=2.147 GB. Write rate = 44.74 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=6.442 GB. Total Write rate = 45.05 MB/s

btape: btape.c:959-0 Begin writing 3 files of 4.294 GB with blocks of 64512 bytes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=4.295 GB. Write rate = 45.69 MB/s
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=4.295 GB. Write rate = 49.94 MB/s
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
btape: btape.c:606-0 Wrote 1 EOF to "LTO-4" (/dev/nsa0)
btape: btape.c:405-0 Volume bytes=4.295 GB. Write rate = 51.13 MB/s
btape: btape.c:379-0 Total Volume bytes=12.88 GB. Total Write rate = 48.80 MB/s

*quit

I am pretty sure that this line of SAS controller doesn't like tape drives in general as evidenced by the following tests I performed:

  • I swapped the SmartArray P400 for another controller of the same kind with equal results sans the PCI-E LL correctable errors.
  • I swapped the cable for another one, same result.
  • I attached a hard disk drive to the SmartArray P400 card, it worked without problems.
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