StorageTek SL8500 User's Guide - Downloads - Oracle

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Introduction
This chapter introduces the major hardware components and provides the library
specifications for Oracle’s StorageTek SL8500 modular library system, which is referred
to as the SL8500 library or just the “library” throughout this manual. For software
information and drive information, refer to the publications that pertain to these
specific topics.
The library is a robotic system that mounts cartridges into storage slots or into drives
for read/write operations. It also moves cartridges between the cartridge access port
(CAP) to storage slots or between slots.
Library Overview
The SL8500 library is a fully automated cartridge tape storage and retrieval system.
The base library stands 2.37 m (7.76 ft.) tall, 1.7 m (5.6 ft.) wide, and 2.76 m (9.1 ft.)
deep. Depending on the model and features selected, one SL8500 library can store from
1,448 to 6,632 cartridge tapes and house from four to 64 tape drives.
A library complex consists of two or more libraries connected by pass-thru ports
(PTPs). A complex can contain over 320,000 customer usable cartridges and 2,048 tape
drives.
The approximate speed of each robot (termed HandBot high performance robotics) is
from 2 m (75 in.) to 2.5 m (100 in.) per second.
Single Physical SL8500 Library – Base
The minimum SL8500 library configuration is composed of:
■ A Drive and Electronics Module, containing from 4 to 64 tape drives and the
controlling circuit cards for the library
■ One Robotics Interface Module, containing up to 800 cartridge storage slots
■ Multiple HandBots (four – eight) that service four rails. They move horizontally
along rails and vertically along their individual Z axes. They retrieve cartridges from
both inner and outer walls (and the elevator and CAPs) by pivoting 180 degrees
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