Exobyte Magnum 1X7 LTO3

[Neil_Goodwin]

I have a few questions. We have an LTO 3 Exobyte Magnum 1X7. It is a 7 slot changer. The following questions are totally independent of each other.

1) If I do not have a tape in slot 1 Veritas will not automatically start a job on slot 2. It just alerts to insert a tape in slot 1. Is there a way to tell Veritas to check 1, if nothing go to slot 2, then 3 etc.

2) Currently all of our data will fit on a 400/800 GB tape. Until we span tapes I would like Mondays job to run on slot 1, Tuesdays on 2 etc. The other option for doing this, is to have the full backup go to slot 1, and then the incremental backups go to slot 2 on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday etc. If I need to do the media partitions, then I am assuming I will have 5 backup jobs? Monday Full to slot 1, Tues incremental to slot 2, Wed incremental to 3 etc.? Anyway to automatically do this with partitioning etc.?

3) Once we need to span tapes to backup all the data, will Veritas automatically move on to the next slot to continue the backup?

Any info will be a huge help. Links to support articles etc. Please read this post and answer my questions. No offense but far too often Veritas reps will jsut post a link and move on without actually fully reading and answering the questions.

Thanks again!
Neil

[Renuka_-]

Hello Neil,

Firstly having read your post, would like to clarify that Backup exec does search for other available tapes if it is not found in destination 'media set'. Backups cannot be directed to slots unless you have configured partitions.In which case backup exec will not pickup tapes from other slots/partitions.

Once Partitions are configured each partition/slot is treated like a seperate drive to which the backup jobs can be directed.

If on the other hand if partitions are not configured the backup job can be directed to the drive, backup exec will search for available media as follows:

Whan a job is submitted to backup exec:
1. It checks whether the job is set to overwrite the tapes or to append to them. Accordingly it will check for overwritable/Appendable tape in the targetted media set, if none is present here it checks either for scratch or recyclable media(Check the technotes provided for definition).

2. The search will depend on the setting made in Tool>Options> Media management. Overwrite recyclable media first or overwrite scratch media first.

3. When Backup Exec comes across several media in the desired category it goes for the oldest overwritable media available.

4. After this entire operation if still no overwritable media is found backup exec displays an alert for the operator to insert an overwritable media(This is what is happening in your case)

5. If operator fails to provide the overwritable media the job fails with the error that you have.

6. In order to avoid this situtation, check the number of media sets you have and the OPP and AP set on these media sets. Create and configure the media sets and their OPP and AP according to your requirements, so that each job has sufficient media to complete.

7. To better understand media management please refer the media management chapter in backup exec admin guide. and the following two technotes:
http://support.veritas.com/docs/237374
http://support.veritas.com/docs/192265
admin guide:
http://support.veritas.com/docs/266190


Additional Information :
For information on the recent VERITAS Backup Exec security vulnerabilities, including links to the downloads for the necessary hotfixes, please refer to the following document:
Patch summary for Security Advisories VX05-001, VX05-002, VX05-003, VX05-005, VX05-006, VX05-007

http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/277429.htm

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