BE 2012 has reported Multiple Tape Alerts on the backup Server but the backup is retried successfully ?

[John_Santana]

People,

I've got Backup Exec 2012 running on Windows Server 2008 R2 using HP MSL3 tape library, somehow I got this backup report:

(Server: "PRODBU01") (Job: "Monthly Backup Job 1 (1 - 12)-Full") Job 'Monthly Backup Job 1 (1 - 12)-Full' has reported Multiple Tape Alerts on Server 'PRODBU01'. Please refer to job log BEX_PRODBU01_01024.xml for more details. 

and this one is logged in the event viewer:

Log Name:      Application
Source:        Backup Exec
Date:          14/04/2015 7:07:59 AM
Event ID:      57665
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      PRODBU01.domain.com
Description:
Storage device "Tape drive 0001" reported an error on a request to write data to media.

Error reported:
0x17. 

but why the job retried and running again after retry ?

is there any problem with my Tape Library hardware or this is just a problem with Corrupted files cannot be verified after it is written to the tape ?

[VJware]

Could be an issue with the tapes (and not the tape drive itself) and therefore an issue with the verify.

Have a look @ this KB - http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH5433

[John_Santana]

Thanks VJ, so how to know which tape is faulty ?

[VJware]

Check the amount of read/write error statistics for that tape.

You could also run vendor diagnostics against the tapes to check for faulty ones.

[John_Santana]

ok, so where can I go to Check the amount of read/write error statistics for that tape in BE 2012 console ?

[pkh]

Check the tape statistics.  See my article below

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/tape-statistics-explained

It could also be that the tape drive is faulty.  Run the manufacturer's diagnostic utility against the tape drive. Make sure that you select the write test and that you have stopped all the BE services beforehand.  You should also clean the tape drive before running the diagnostic test.

Make sure that your tape library appears in the Windows Device Manager as an Unknown Medium Changer with a Microsoft driver and the tape drive has a Symantec driver.

[John_Santana]

Somehow I cannot see any tape media is reported as having problem below:

[John_Santana]

OK, I've managed to locate the statistics page on BE 2012, does the below report is a clear indication that one of the tape in the drive 0001 needs to be replaced or the head cleaned ?

[pkh]

You would not get the tape statistics from the reports.  Click on each tape to get their statistics.

[John_Santana]

PKH, do you mean like this one:

[pkh]

Yes.

[John_Santana]

Yes it has both driver but the Microsoft driver is currently active:

[VJware]

Consider using the MS driver for the medium changer and this KB can be used for installing the driver - http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH124860

[John_Santana]

Ah, so in this case my configuration above is not recommended or deviated from the Symantec Backup Exec Best practice ?

I was under the impression that the device driver should not be "Unknown Medium Changer" due to the name being generic.

[VJware]

Recommendation is to use the MS driver for the changer, i.e. it should be listed as Unknown Medium Changer.