AIT-4 Capacity Problems

[Nick_Ushio]

Hi,

I know others have brought this up, and I accidentally posted this question in one of those threads. Does anyone have a solution to the Sony/AIT-4 Tape support issue where full capacity is not recognized properly?

We just purchased a brand new Sony SDX-900V Tape drive and are using the AIT-4 tapes with a 200GB Native/400Compressed capacity. However at about 160GB it asks for a new tape, and when I look at the properties it says it is doing a .62:1 compression. Doing the math that's almost exactly 100GB (which is what I think it assumes the capacity is). Also in the media list it only goes up to AIT-3.

I updated to 10.1D and I installed the drivers (downloaded from the website this morning.) THey appeared to install since the WHQL Certification warning came up when running the driver installer. Version info on the app reads right. This is on a Windows 2003 SBS Server.

What can I do to get the full capacity of this tape again?

Nick

[priya_khire]

Hello,

Is it a standalone device or a library? While running the job, ensure that you enable hardware compression. Also go to the properties of the device, configuration tab and check that enable compression is selected.

If the issue persists, revert with details to the above.

Note : If we do not receive your reply within two business days, this post would be marked ‘assumed answered’ and would be moved to ‘answered questions’ pool.

Regards.

[Nick_Ushio]

It is a stand alone Drive.

Hardware Compression is enabled, all of those settings are correct.

But am I incorrect in my understanding of the situation, because even if hardware compression isn't enabled, it is 200GB Native. So shouldn't I be getting 200GB even without compression?

What else can I try?

[Nick_Ushio]

Just an update, and a bump.

I have tried this in software only compression -- I can get about 210GB which is a *HUGE* step up from the 120-160 I was getting before, but also horribly discouraging.

Getting past the fact that the hardware compression is being ignored, making it significantly slower and essentially making this a 100% proprietary solution (IE only BE will be able to use these backups.) We still are only achieving 210GB, it's at least native, but at the same time we are not dealing with highly compressed files, and on a drive that claims 200/500GB Capacity, I was expecting somewhat more than a 10GB gain.

Other applications are able to make sure of the hardware compression correctly, a test run using windows backup for instance yielded significantly higher capacity usage, and seemed to indicate hardware compression was working.

I hate to keep saying the same thing over and over, but when is Symantec going to even recognize this is an issue? I am surprised at your complete lack of support for a major program, even small software companies with few support staff seem capable of giving us a few details and an 'I'm working on it.' message.

And a follow-up question. This drive/media is listed on your *COMPATIBILITY* list. Exactly which build of your software, using which drivers were you using? Because I would gladly install the exact build/drivers if it means getting a working backup solution.

Here is for hoping it doesn't take 4+ days for a Symantec rep to point me to a bunch of useless KB articles again.

-Nick

[Nick_Ushio]

A bump and a statement ... I know this is long, but it's a huge problem -- read on.

Okay I'm posting this thinking just maybe someone might decide to take a look at this and give a response. I responded within the 2 days, and it's been more than two weeks since a follow-up. Maybe they misunderstood that my "This is not working" statement as "Assume answered?" Although I doubt that

I am not satisfied with software compression, quite frankly if you take into account the compression ratio, it's giving me less than native storage still since it's compressing more than the 5% gain I"m getting.

Simply put, this is a Symantec/Veritas problem, and the support and quality of product I'm getting from a so called "enterprise level" software is horribly unacceptable.
I need a response to this, and I need it soon or I am taking this software back to our reseller and telling everyone I know to avoid this product like the plague.

I should not need a special costly support plan to get this working, all I am asking for is for the product to work as promised, we purchased a drive off of the compatibility list, and the latest version, and are having problems.

There is more than one or two people with this problem. Many people have issues and none of us are getting any support. This is clearly a BE problem, and I don't know why symantec refuses to admit it or even support it.
I'm not asking for a wave of a magic wand to get this to work, all I'm looking for is some direction, and input on what may be hte problem, and a hint that symantec even cares.

Just to give an idea as to the scope of the problem, here are a few links:

AIT-4 Media type not listed
http://forums.veritas.com/discussions/thread.jspa?forumID=103&threadID=54054&messageID=4395819?

Problem with AIT-4 Capacities
http://forums.veritas.com/discussions/thread.jspa?forumID=103&threadID=56522&messageID=4404763?
http://forums.veritas.com/discussions/thread.jspa?forumID=103&threadID=48612&messageID=4370912?

Compression Issues - Not even Native
Almost identical to mine Well done
http://forums.veritas.com/discussions/thread.jspa?forumID=103&threadID=57051&messageID=4406499?
http://forums.veritas.com/discussions/thread.jspa?forumID=103&threadID=46459&messageID=4364148&

It's BE10, not our drives
http://forums.veritas.com/discussions/thread.jspa?forumID=103&threadID=47949&messageID=4372620?
http://forums.veritas.com/discussions/thread.jspa?forumID=103&threadID=55925&messageID=4402498?
http://forums.veritas.com/discussions/thread.jspa?forumID=103&threadID=56783&messageID=4406341?

Low Compression - No Support
http://forums.veritas.com/discussions/thread.jspa?forumID=103&threadID=54634&messageID=4397903?
http://forums.veritas.com/discussions/thread.jspa?forumID=103&threadID=39756&messageID=4351341?

Compression Enabled in Job setup - Not reported on later
http://forums.veritas.com/discussions/thread.jspa?forumID=103&threadID=47498&messageID=4371981?

Tech suggested use NTBackup
http://forums.veritas.com/discussions/thread.jspa?forumID=103&threadID=43362&messageID=4348260?

When there are this many people all saying the same thing, and all getting the same response, this is an indicator of a problem. A problem that is costing our company, and I'm sure many others a significant amount. In fact, a simple search on the forums finds over 150 posts from people *ALL* having compression issues with BE 10.

This may sound like an angry rant but it's far from it. Consider this a desparate plea for some support and assistance on the matter.

-Nick

[Thomas_Cupps]

Rock on! Unfortantly I think we are on our own on this one. as you've clearly noticed (though veritas hasn't) this issues/conversation has been going on since early on in the BE 10 release. My particular issue is a bit diffrent in the fact that I'm using DAT tapes instead of AIT-4, but everythign else is the same. We (all of us with compression issues) need to form a plan to get this issue resolved. below is my contact info feel free to call or email me, as like you I too MUST resolve this issue.

thomas 903-276-9361
thomas@3n1.com

[Nick_Ushio]

\Bump

[Shilpa_pawar_2]

Hi,

Please note that twice the native capacity of a media is usually given as the maximum possible amount of data that could be written to a tape. It should be noted that this figure is rarely achieved.
The hardware compression is vendor specific ( for tape devices). Backup Exec just sends a signal to do a hardware compression, when hardware compression is selected. Thereafter, it is upto the media to do the hardware compression.

You can try installing the latest veritas drivers from the following link:
http://support.veritas.com/docs/280507

Also update the firmware.

How much data is backed up to tape with NT Backup?

NOTE : If we do not receive your reply within two business days, this post would be marked "assumed answered" and would be moved to "answered questions" pool.

[David_Palmersto]

Here's my $.02 -

We have an SDX-900V and we get between .8 and 1.1 compression (never has it reached 1.2) under 10d.

We have had 4 SDX-500C and they regularly get from 1.3 to 1.8 compression (average around 1.65) (These are AIT-2)

We have had 2 LTO-2 drives that get 1.1 to 2.22 compression (average around 1.8).

From that info I conclude the following:

1) It is very rare to get the full 2x capacity
2) Higher compressions happen on LTO than AIT (better driver compression?)
3) The AIT-2 driver is pretty good.
4) The AIT-4 driver IS NOT MATURE, nor does it make $$$ sense over the AIT-2 at this point.

Anybody found a report that contains the compression ratio that we could forward to Veritas???

[Shilpa_pawar_2]

Hi,

There is an update on this issue!

This problem has been fixed in AIT4 fw v0101_0003.

We suggest you to upgrade the firmware!

NOTE : If we do not receive your reply within two business days, this post would be marked "assumed answered" and would be moved to "answered questions" pool.

[Eric_Persson]

I have an AIT-3 (700v) on BE 10d and see a very similar problem with compression. I get 100G no matter what I do. The drive is brand new, the firmware is up to date. I get compression ratios of 0.93 to 1.01 to 1 conststantly.

I am running Server 2003.Message was edited by:
Eric Persson