explanation about soft/hard read/write errors on backup tapes
I have a backup tape with the following errors:
seek errors: 0
soft write errors: 202
hard write errors: 2
soft read errors: 51
hard read errors: 1
is this backup still safe to use? is it still reliable for use on restores?
if there are like 5000 soft read errors? how bad is that? is it normal? i can't find any related information about these errors on backup tapes.
Refer to the below articles
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH7363
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH148542
...any worries about these errors can be checked out by using your drive manufacturer's tape diagnostic and running a write test on 1 of those tapes. It will check the hardwre to rule that out as being the cause.
Sometimes it's just down to old tapes at the end of the day...
Thanks!
- See my article below https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/tape-statistics-explained
