Replace tapes on autoloader while backup jobs executing

Thanks for your comments.

(excuse me for my bad english)

FYI, I am not using barcodes, I don't think my tape unit is able to use barcodes. As some of you say, the problem is that the inventory job is not run until the backup job finishes and BE is unable to use the newly added tape. Is there a way for the tape unit to run two jobs simultaneously? This way, as the backup job is waiting for a new tape, the inventory job will be able to inventory the tape.

Now I will also search for information on the mailslot to know if my backup unit is able to use it with BE.

Thanks.

I will add some comments to this (but only for facts I am sure about so can't give a full answer to every point made.)

1) BE can handle tapes without barcodes but in reality if the hardware being used is barcode enabled then barcodes should be used as we have seen issues where a barcode enabled library will refuse to use a tape if it cannot identify the type of tape from the barcode (because the barcode is missing) Note: this is a library restriction and not a BE restriction. When this happens all BE does is decode the information returned through the SCSI bus and translate it into an error in the job log.

2) Whilst BE does use MEDIA GUIDs for tape identification, there are still circumstances where having the same barcodes on two different tapes causes problems hence you should always use unique barcodes. Note: We also believe that some tape manufacturers may have released tapes with the same serialization as each other which caused problems for the GUID generation and caused duplicate GUIDs where a Hardware Vendor utility reformat of the affected tapes was the only solution. (luckily this kind of duplicate ID issue has been rare)

3) A scan does only read the barcodes as it only involevs the sensor on the library arm and does not even move the tapes from their storage slots, an inventory mounts the tape in the drive and reads the header information (and I think also reads the barcode again if barcodes are enabled)

Because I do not have access to suitably enabled tape libraries I cannot confirm what the requirements are for an import job to allow a tape to be used during the middle of a backup operation (with or without barcodes) however I believe that if an inventory is needed (because of no barcodes) then an inventory job does need the running job to be cancelled and that if barcodes are enabled and present then the library arm scans the barcode during the import hence knows what the tape is without having to run an actual scan job (or for that matter an inventory job) Note there will be differences in behaviour between tape libraries and stand alone tape drives in this area of tape changing.

At the end of the day you should really plan your tape movements so that enough tapes are available (in the correct state) in the library before the job starts

I'm pretty highly HP storage certified, and have worked with the HP tape autoloaders and libraries from the HP StorageWorks 1/8 G1 (horrible!!!) to the 1/8 G2 (better) and the MSL2024 G3 (really good). The 1/8 is capable of reading barcodes. It has the functionality, and I've actually sold a few to clients as part of a solution with tapes and barcode label packs.

Here is confirmation:

http://www8.hp.com/za/en/products/tape-automation/product-detail.html?oid=3319912

Might be worth getting a pack to see if it would work, or generate your own labels.

Thanks!

informatica-cat,

Larry Fine, CraigV, and Colin Weaver are correct and I will address your initial question:

"How should I replace the used tapes without canceling the running backup jobs?"

You can run an import job while a backup job is running and in need of overwriteable media to continue. An alert will be posted to import one. If all the slots of the autoloader are full with non-overwriteable media, run an export job on one of them to make room for the media to be imported.

In the case of importing non-barcoded media, BE will mount it to the drive to ascertain what it is. If the media is known to BE then it will immediately write to it IF it is eligible for an overwrite operation. If it is not then BE will ask if you wish to overwrite it. Be aware the Autoloader might complain it cannot read the barcode of the media that has not barcode affixed. Our application captures alerts stemming from Autoloaders and posts them in to the job log.

If using media with barcodes, it is common for BE to learn about them by just scanning it. However, there are times when it must mount the media to determine what it really is as in the case of duplicate barcoded media.

Your HP 1/8 Autoloader comes equipped with barcode reader as a standard feature. If it is attached to your network them determine the IP address a browse to its Command View console. The default login is Administrator\00000000 (that is eight zeros). Once logged in, you should see theree barcode options under the System Configuration screen.

If you do not know the IP address of the unit, go to the Autoloader and use the LCD menu. It is located under the Network Configuration menu.

Hopefully this information was helpful to you.

Awesome, thanks very much!

How does the running backup job knows that a tape has been imported?

What happens if the user does a multiple import, which tape would BE mount first?

So what you are saying is that there is not need to do an inventory after an import job.  BE will try the imported tapes to see whether they are suitable.  Is this still true when the import job is done, say 10 minutes, before the backup job.