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technimdaxviii's avatar
technimdaxviii
Level 5
7 years ago

Scratch Pool

I'm not aware what is scratch pool mean until I hit this  feature in other backup software. Upon checking, empty tapes were kept on the same pool after data expiration.

Is it possible to change this setting, to move every tape to scratch pool when data got expired?

Regards,

J

7.1.x and Earlier
Solaris
  • Marianne's avatar
    Marianne
    7 years ago

    That is correct and commonly used by backup admins. (Also described in NBU Admin Guide I.)

    Scratch pool does not exist by default in NBU. It needs to be created and marked with 'scratch' attribute.

    Tapes will be returned to scratch if they came from the scratch pool before being changed to a backup pool.

    So, it you did not have a scratch pool from day 1, you will need to move expired (unassingned) tapes to the scratch pool as a once-off exercise. You will need to do this for some time on a daily basis until all unassigned tapes have been moved to the scratch pool once. 

    You can find NBU Admin Guide I for currently supported version in Handy NBU Links in my signature.
    There are also a number of Related topics on the right of the screen.

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  • Marianne's avatar
    Marianne
    Level 6
    7 years ago

    That is correct and commonly used by backup admins. (Also described in NBU Admin Guide I.)

    Scratch pool does not exist by default in NBU. It needs to be created and marked with 'scratch' attribute.

    Tapes will be returned to scratch if they came from the scratch pool before being changed to a backup pool.

    So, it you did not have a scratch pool from day 1, you will need to move expired (unassingned) tapes to the scratch pool as a once-off exercise. You will need to do this for some time on a daily basis until all unassigned tapes have been moved to the scratch pool once. 

    You can find NBU Admin Guide I for currently supported version in Handy NBU Links in my signature.
    There are also a number of Related topics on the right of the screen.

    • Marianne's avatar
      Marianne
      Level 6
      7 years ago

      I agree with Nicolai. 
      The  "RETURN_UNASSIGNED_MEDIA_TO_SCRATCH_POOL" setting is supposed to be the default, but good idea to confirm.

      Please also note the "RETURN" part of the setting - a tape can only be RETURNED to Scratch. Not moved to Scratch if it has not been there as a start.

  • technimdaxviii's avatar
    technimdaxviii
    Level 5
    7 years ago

    Thank you all for the response. I've validated the value for RETURN_UNASSIGNED_MEDIA_TO_SCRATCH_POOL and as you've mentioned it was already set to default, YES. New pool was created and expired tapes were move manually to scratch.