Media overwrite errors

[JCGould]

I have a client who has been having numerous problems with their backup. There has been a few unrelated errors that we have worked through, including having the LTO drive replaced, as well as replacing some of the tapes themselves. 

The last 3 days, the backup has gotten to the point where it is almost complete, then ejects the tape and requests another. We believe the tape is getting filed and wanting another. We have worked with the client identified data we can un-select. I've done a test run this afternoon and it was successful (See screenshot). 

The more important question I have is regarding the media itself. Tracking the last 3 failed backups and then looking at the corresponding tapes that were used, they are all set to "Not appendable (Media Full)", where as the last few successful backup's corresponding media is set to "Infinite - Allow Append". I'm a little inexperienced with BE, and I have been doing some online reading, but I am still not clear on how to make ALL the tapes "Infinite - Allow Append" 

Can anyone advise. Please ask if you need more info

[lmosla]

Hello,

take a look at the solution for this error here: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH37091 and it is recommended to have your overwrite and append periods set for a time rather than Infinite allow append.  Review this document for some more information  http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH5459

[pkh]

"Not appendable (Media Full)"

means exactly that.  That is, the tape is full and cannot be appended to.

I think your overwrite protection period of 4 hours is too short.  Your tapes are hardly protected and can be easily overwritten.  With such short OPP, you might as well don't do any backups.

[Rahul_Kumar1]

Overwrite Protection Period only comes into picture once append period is over. As you have set infinite alow append so OPP will only come into picture once media is full.

Thanks

[pkh]

This is not true.  OPP starts after the last job finishes writing to the tape, regardless of the append period. If what you say is true, then a partially filled tape is unprotected and leave the user vulnerable.  This would be a serious disadvantage for using BE.

Do read this document carefully

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH5459

[Rahul_Kumar1]

PKH,

          Please read my cooment again. I never said the tape remains unprotected but if my append period is still there and tape is not full the my tape will not get overwritten even if overwrite protection period is over as it is still appendale.

Thanks

[pkh]

Suppose

OPP = 1 hr

AP = 1 day

The job overwriting the tape started at 12.30 p.m. and finishes at 1 p.m.  The tape should be appendable until 12.30 p.m. tomorrow. The tape is not full. What you are saying is that if a job tries to overwrite this tape at 4 p.m. today, it will fail because the append period is not over.

If this is true then it would contradict the definition of the overwrite protection period as given in this document

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH5459

To quote from the document,

Overwrite protection period is the amount of time specified in hours, days, weeks, or years to keep a piece of media from being overwritten. While the default Overwrite protection period for a media set is Infinite - Don't Allow Overwrite, the Overwrite protection period for the media set can be changed by the user. If the Overwrite protection period is set to four weeks for example, the media will be protected from being overwritten for four weeks. After the four weeks are over, the media becomes "recyclable" and can be overwritten. The Overwrite protection period starts at the end of each job run, not the beginning. It is lengthened each time a media is modified. 

There is nothing in the definition to say that the OPP begins AFTER the end of the AP.