General Media Management - Tape Libary

[Jason_Nash]

Hi All,

Not directly a question about Backup Exec but hope someone can offer their experience. Looking for some general advice, we currently use Backup Exec 2010 with standalone tape drives. We have a basic media rotation policy in place and we just label up the LTO cartridges with days of the week/month with printed labels. This allows us to easily grab tapes back from our archive stores/safes if required.

We will shortly be moving to a tape library (running out of space and backup time) still using Backup Exec. The library strongly recommends the use of tape bar codes. My issue with this is how do you manage your tapes or know what is on them without inserting into the library. If we continue to operate in the way we do now, how would we know which tapes to retrieve from our archive stores/safes as all that is on the tapes is a bar code.

I am sure this is really straightforward but just interested in how everyone else manages this?

Jason

[AmolB]

If you open the restore window and check the "view by media" tab you will come to know

what data is saved on any particular tape. Catalogs are responsible to display the information

in the restore window.

[CraigV]

Hi Jason,

The bar codes simply replace the manual manner in which you identify your tapes.

With the bar code, BE will detect that via what the library scans. When you run your first job (and the tapes will be scratch if you use new tapes!), BE puts the tape into the relevant group based on the backup job that runs. The next day it does the same thing etc.

To see which tapes are used for which backup set, open up your Media tab in BE, and you will see your media sets. You can then check which tapes are located in which sets.

To see which tape was used for a particular day's backups, you can either check the Media tab --> the media set --> date written, or open up the job log for that particular day.

When you create a media set, you set overwrite protection and append periods. You need to ensure that if you send your tapes offsite, that you get them back the day before/the same day the tapes are needed. I am sure you might have a report in BE as well that will help you check which tapes are needed.

Thanks!

[pkh · Accepted solution]

You might want to read my article on why barcode should be used.

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/using-barcode-labels-why-and-how

and how to manage your tapes

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/must-mondays-backup-be-monday-tape 

Generally, it is a bit unsettling when you switch from a stand-alone tape drive to a tape library.  When you are using a stand-alone tape drive, you have to manage the tapes yourself, i.e. know which tape to put in when you need to restore something.  With a tape library, you can rest easy and let BE manage the tapes for you.  If you are not removing any tapes to store off-site, it is very easy.  BE keeps track of everything.  It will fetch the right tape when it is needed.  If you need to remove tapes to store off-site, just set up an export policy and BE will know which tape to export.  You just need to remove it from the mail or I/O slot of your library.

[Jason_Nash]

Thanks for all of your replies. The articles are particularly interesting and exactly what I was after.

Thanks!