Confirmation needed: Could BE2010 "steal" a tape YET IN USE from a different media set than the target media set

It cannot steal/move a tape that is ONLY appendable, it can only move tapes that are EITHER appendable and overwriteable (so half full but beyond the overwriet protection) OR only overwriteable

A tape cannot belong to two media sets (or in fact two media familes which is a backgound concept involving what happens as job span from one tape to another with the operation of the jobs (rather that at the start of the jobs)

 

BTW an overwrite does mean an overwrite in other words the tape header information is reset and data writes stat at the beginning of the tape resulting in any older data being unrecoverable (with the exception of whatever an advanced specialist data recovery company can manage anyway)

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for answering, but Your answer confuses me.

 it can only move tapes that are EITHER appendable and overwriteable

What is moving in this regards?

 

Look, all our 4 backup jobs have different media sets. We must keep data for 10+years. All media sets have the settings:

- Overwrite protection period: "Keep Data Infinitely -DoNot Allow Overwrite"

- Append period: "Infinite - Allow Append"

Let's say backup job "1" ran out of tapes, no more scratch media available, backup jobs "3" and "4" are completely full as well but there is a tape in backup job "2" that backup job "2" filled half the tape in the past.

- What will backup job "1" do? Create a "job failure" message/ hold and ask for a new tape OR use that half full tape of backup job "2"?

Hello,

If you specify just append in your job and the job cannot find an appendable tape in the targeted media set, then the job will fail.

hooray! ...in the targeted media set, scratch media or unused media of other tape media sets that is? right?

 

Under no circumstances will a job append to a tape from a media set other than the targeted one.  Hence a tape will NEVER belong to 2 media sets at the same time.

thats what I wanted to hear. Thank you so much!! All our jobs are set to

- "Append to media, terminate
job if no appendable media is
available"

...

even though in the manual it reads for explanation: "...Appends this backup to the media set listed in the Media Set field in this dialog box. The backup set is appended if an appendable media is available in the selected media set; if not, the job is terminated."

but should read "...if an appendable media is available in the selected media set OR the scratch media set OR (free) recyclable media in any media set", right?

 

So, no stealing from another media set. Thats good. I am happy...Remember: don't steal, your government hates competition :-)

You cannot have appendable media in the scratch set as soon as it goes to scratch it is overwriteable ONLY

Also if a media has to be moved from one set to another it does not append at that point we can ONLY take an overwrite action to move media between sets, as such the sentence about append is correct (and your revision is wrong) it is apppendable in selected media set or overwritable / recyleable in any other set.

What will happen to job 1 depend on if any of the tape are overwritable which as I have alerady said is not related to whether they are full.

 

Assuming nonr of thr tapes are overwritable the job will sit asking for a media insert.

 

BTW the other thing you are missing is that if any job starts by adding data to an existing tape as an Append and then fills the remaining space on that first tape, no matter which media set the second tape is a member of  the job  CANNOT APPEND TO THE SECOND TAPE, all tape requests to span between tapes as tapes fill up within a single job are always overwrite operations so we then ONLY look for overwritable media even if there is space on other media in the selected media set.

Thank you so much! I think I got it now.

if any job starts by adding data to an existing tape as an Append and then fills the remaining space on that first tape, no matter which media set the second tape is a member of  the job  CANNOT APPEND TO THE SECOND TAPE,

Now I understand why BE is grabbing tapes from Scratch!! even with prefer recyclable in own media set!! Thank You so much. I tested it yet positive here:

1. Partition with 10 media created / media set with the same 10 created and job applied to that

2. Started a multi-span full backup

3. After the first tape that, as you said correctly, will be used from the preferred media set, BE askes for more media, because it won't overwrite the "overwrite protection= infinity" in all media sets. GREAT. I love it!

4. When I then put some media from the target media set to scratch, BE automatically reimports them at its demand and uses them for spanning, BUT ONLY those tapes in the right partition that I assigned. BE won't touch any scratch media from other partitions. It will keep asking nicely!

It works so great. Thank You so much for Your patience on this...

...Thats why pkh told me, best is to let empty tapes remain in scratch media. Our local vendor did otherwise...