I know there’s already big companies making Virtual Tape Library (VTL) devices, but they’re expensive and I’m just looking for a cheap solution for testing. And it’s working quite well so far as a proof-of-concept for my needs.

After setting it up you should see a media changer and a basic set of tape drives using by using dmesg or lsscsi.
====$ sudo dmesg | grep scsi====

sr0: scsi3-mmc drive: 1x/1x xa/form2 cdda tray
sr 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0
sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
sr 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 5
scsi3 : mhvtl: version 0.15.11 [20090328-0], opts=0×0
scsi 3:0:0:0: Medium Changer STK L700 5400 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
scsi 3:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 8
scsi4 : mhvtl: version 0.15.11 [20090328-0], opts=0×0
scsi 4:0:0:0: Sequential-Access QUANTUM SDLT600 5400 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
scsi 4:0:0:1: Sequential-Access QUANTUM SDLT600 5400 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
scsi 4:0:0:2: Sequential-Access QUANTUM SDLT600 5400 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
scsi 4:0:0:3: Sequential-Access IBM … Read More »