128 tape drive limit in Linux

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 4

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 1

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 2

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 3

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 2

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 1

Situation

Linux has a maximum number of tape drives either virtual or physical that can be configured, 128. This applies to any multipath or single path setups. This limitation applies to the unique paths setup for the tape drives and not the device identifiers. The limitation applies to the array of structures that is setup to keep track of the tape devices.

Resolution

This is fixed in sles11 sp2, and will be released in the later updates for this version.

Disclaimer

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