Backup jobs using more tapes than needed

[gshathaway]

Currently we use veeam to backup our network VMs. After all is said and done it is about 2.4 TB consistently. We use backup exec to write the data to tape. The past few weeks have been the same, but every few days it requires a fifth tape. The tapes we use are 800 GB tapes. When looking at the tapes last night I noticed that the allocation date on the fifth tape was from another job done last week. As far as I knew the tapes would be over written when reused by backup exec. Is there a setting that I am missing that could be making the job grab another tape, but not write anything to it?

[BE_KirkFreiheit · Accepted solution]

Hi gshathaway,

It sounds like youv'e got a 2.4 TB data set that you're backing up to the same tapes every night -- please correct me if I am misunderstanding your scenario.  I'm also wondering what kind of tape hardware you're using.

Take a look at the backup job's Storage tab -- you'll see a group labeled "When this job begins" under the Media Set, and you can choose your preference for Overwrite vs. Append to your tapes.  The default setting on a fresh install is "Append to media, overwrite if no appendable media is available".

Sounds like maybe you want "Overwrite media".

[Kiran_Bandi]

was from another job done last week

Have you configured both these jobs to use same media set? 

[Manjunath_Rajan]

If you want to use same media for backup the data then set "override media" option under the storage tab,Media Set Option.

[gshathaway]

We currently have backup exec 2012. I think this is the solution i am looking for. The problem is just finding it in 2012 with everything moved.

[BE_KirkFreiheit]

@gshathaway: yes, things have moved around quite a bit.  In the backup dialog specifically, there were many goals in the reorganization of options:

- Put options on the right tab, grouped by functional area.  (one aspect: remove the "General" tab, and put its contents in a more logical place)

- Where possible, remove the ability to make incompatible settings across different jobs.  Previous releases put the burden on you to make dozens of settings just right -- the redesign removes quite a lot of that burden.

- Hide options that won't apply, given the selections in the job.  For example, if you don't have Lotus Domino installed on your server, you won't see the Lotus Domino backup options in your backup dialog.

- For the backup stage, allow editing of Full + Incremental options for each tab *across* the backup jobs.  You no longer lose the context of your Full's options when editing your Incremental/Differential job.  This is a layout change, but hopefully a timesaver (and error-saver!)

- Keep the labels and overal placement of options the same where it makes sense.  Several pages are largely unchanged.  The Schedule and Storage tabs are noteable exceptions -- but hopefully the options are in a new permanent home that makes more sense than it used to.

[Biker_Dude]

Click on the Backup and Restore tab.  On the ribbon, click on the Backup Calendar button.  The default view is by month, but you can change it to week, or day.  This should help you determine which job(s) is the intruder in to your backup scheme.

[gshathaway]

Thank you.