Backing up dedupe store to tape library: Store is larger than online tape library

Hi,

1. I hope you're duplicating the dedupe folder to tape, and not backing it up directly? Backing it up directly would see the folder unrestorable.

2. You can configure an import slot. When BE requires more tapes, it's going to prompt you to import more tapes. You can then export used tapes, and import the new set, during which BE will validate whether or not the tape is useable. If it is, the job will continue.

Check the BE 2014 Admin Guide to see how to do this, but it is pretty straight-forward.

Thanks!

So going back to the problem of backing up something larger than my library's online capacity... my library has eight slots, seven of which normally have tapes and one as a cleaning tape. BE will ask me to add more tapes at some point. Craig V explains that I'd need to export (I'd select "Import after Export") all of my data slots when they're full, at which point BE will prompt me to insert more tapes. I'd then change the tapes, click OK, then inventory them (the tapes don't have bar codes). Once BE sees fresh tapes it would resume my backup.

All correct, except I do not believe that you will need to run the inventory job.  As soon as the backup jobs sees that there is different media in the library (via the iexport/import process), it will check to see if any of the freshly imported tapes are usable to continue the backup.

I hope that sounds correct. I've not had to use export / import before because I've never had to back up something larger than 9 TB at once. Usually I'd just change tapes and re-inventory all slots.

Correct.  When you are doing a "voluntary" export/import, then it is best to do an inventory of a tape without a bar code so that you and BE are in agreement with what is in the library.  But when BE is "media starved", BE becomes more agressive and starts checking unknown media.