Is this normal? -> Burning cleaning tapes every month

[capriguy84]

After we upgraded to BE 2012, we started burning more cleaning tapes than before. Around every 25-30days. I noticed that invetory job that runs everyday also performs cleaning. previosly in BE2010, we had a separate job to perform bi-weekly cleaning and it simply worked well.

1) How often does a drive needs to be cleaned?

2) Does the inventory job really runs drive cleaning as well? Can this be changed?

Thanks for any input.

[CraigV · Accepted solution]

Hi, Shouldn't be a factor (the upgrade or running BE 2012!). 1. The drive should be cleaned once BE states it should be cleaned. 2. AFAIK if you have a cleaning tape installed in the autoloader/library and the cleaning tape is inventoried, then the drive gets cleaned. The simplest way to change this is to remove the tape and use it when necessary. Might also be worth your while to download your manufacturer's drive diagnostic utility and check to see if you have any hardware issues with the drive. Stop the BE services before doing so! Thanks!

[Larry_Fine]

2) Does the inventory job really runs drive cleaning as well? Can this be changed?

Yes, change the properties of the slot containing your cleaning media to indicate that this is a cleaning slot.  Usually this is the last slot in the library, but it can be any slot.  In the properties, change "cleaning slot" from  "no" to "yes".  BE will not inventory a cleaning slot.

It is a personal choice, but I see no need for scheduled cleanings with modern hardware.  The tape drive will notify BE when it feels it is dirty.  BE then automatically responds by cleaning the drive.  That way you do not waste cleaning media or cuase extra wear on your tape drive.