Trying to make sense of "devices" in Backup Exec 11d

[Jon_K]

Hi all -

I inherited a backup system running Symantec Backup Exec 11d in Windows 2003 R2 Standard.

I am trying to make sense of everyting going on.  I have jobs defined that I want to maintain but I just do not know what the "devices" are and why they are called one thing in the scheduler but another thing on the "devices" and "job history" window.

For instance, you can see in my first screen shot I have a job scheduled TE-Files Full Backup.  It's run on a device called QUANTUM 5.  However, in the job history window it shows that it ran on a device HP 1.  Ok, so I go over to devices tab and see that HP 1 is a ... thing... under QUANTUM 5.  That's confusing me to no end.

Also is there any way to tell which device is "QUANTUM 5" on my rack?  I can identify the Dell Powervault 114T easily but I have two QUANTUM machines and not sure which is which.  Can I blink the device or eject a tape?

Finally, how do I confirm that I have tapes in the machine ready for the job(s)?  I know these seem like silly questions but I have only loaded tapes in the machine with specific instructions and I am now trying to figure it all out.

Thanks!

[CraigV · Accepted solution]

Hi Jon,

Do you have 2 different tape libraries, because it looks like BE picks up 2.

Dell PowerVault in Job Monitor means your jobs are directed at the library itself. Any job can use any of the 2 drives in other words.

The other 4 jobs refer to them being targetted at specific tape drives. If you open the properties of each job you will see the destination.

Thanks!

[lmosla]

and for further information take a look at the Backup Exec 11d Admin Guide Chapter 5 Managing Devices pg 167:  http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC2199

[Jon_K]

Thanks guys - is there any way to tell which device is the right physical device?  Like, I want to make sure I have tapes in the unit for this friday full backup but I don't know which device is actually QUANTUM 4 or QUANTUM 5, etc.

[Larry_Fine]

You can examine your adamm.log file to help determine your environment.  Either use the hardware serial numbers or you can use the Port:Bus:Target addresses and follow some cables.

Standalone drives are easy, if the system is idle.  Just run an eject job and see which drive ejects a tape.  Then push the same tape back in and run an inventory job so it was as you left it.

I always suggest renaming your devices to something logical and friendly.  BE does a faily lame job of just assigning names based upon brand.  I would suggest renaming "IBM 1" to "IBM 1 PV-114T Left" or "IBM 1 PV-114T Right", once you determine which it is.

The Dell PowerVault 114 is just a rack assembly that holds two stand-alone tape drives.  Don't be confused by seeing "IBM 1" and "IBM 2" listed under it in the device pools.

"Quantum 5" is your only tape library, it has 1 drive that is called "HP 1".  I would suggest renaming "Quantum 5" to "Quantum 5 Robot Library" and rename "HP 1" to "HP 1 Robotic drive".

So, you have 3 stand-alone tape drives (2 of which are rack mounted) and one tape library with 1 tape drive in it.

[Jon_K]

Thanks Larry!  That does make sense thanks for explaining.  If I rename anything where would I do that and do I risk any jobs being confused or altered by the rename?

I've attached a screen shot of the media location pane - I assume there's 8 tapes per "side" of the QUANTUM 5 guy.  The only thing that confuses me is the random QUANTUM 4 single tape up top.

Thanks again for everyones help!

So if I wanted to take out the "full" tapes from Quantum 5 how do I go about doing that.  And, when I re-insert new tapes, I have to go under Devices, then slots, and "inventory" the slots right?  Sorry I have not had a chance to read the admin manual as I am up to my neck.  Sorting it out guys thanks so much for replies.

[Larry_Fine]

renaming a device is safe and easy (F2 or right click|rename).  If you noticed, the names I suggested to you were simple additions or suffixes to your names so that you can still refer to old notes/screenshots/logs and determine which device it was.

Quantum 4 is a mystery.  Either post a screen shot of its properties page or attach your adamm.log and then I can give you more info about it.

For you Quantum 5 library, to change tapes, simple click on the slot(s) that you want to change, then right click and select import or export as needed.  Start with export since your slots are full and the export job will guide you.  To go further, I would need to know the model of library.

[Jon_K]

Larry thanks so much.  Really helping out.  Here I am on Thursday I need to insert my tapes.  I have a couple issues though.  Firstly, all my jobs this week show up red and failed yet they did transact data but either encountered corrupt files or files that couldn't be accessed (like PST files), or I see "hardware error".

That said I notice that the on job "Incremental Windows Backup" historically runs on IBM2 but for some reason it is running on IBM1... and having issues.  Why is it not running on IBM2 and how do I make it do that?

Also I attached a screen shot of the inventory/eject/etc activity from prior to my having to use this system - you can see that Quantum 4 gets ejected, then must be inserted, and then inventoried (twice inventoried?).  Quantum 5 though gets unlocked (?) and then inventoried.  I think the loader is broken on this device and the previous person was somehow manually inserting the tapes inside.

Are you able to provide any insight on these issues? I appreciate the time you've taken to help it means a lot!

[Larry_Fine]

That said I notice that the on job "Incremental Windows Backup" historically runs on IBM2 but for some reason it is running on IBM1... and having issues.  Why is it not running on IBM2 and how do I make it do that?

That job is targetted to the pool "Dell PowerVault 114T", which includes "IBM 1" and "IBM 2".  so it is perfectly valid for it to use either drive.  If you want it to use a specific drive, then you need to edit the job and change the storage target to the specific drive you want to use.

Also I attached a screen shot of the inventory/eject/etc activity from prior to my having to use this system - you can see that Quantum 4 gets ejected, then must be inserted, and then inventoried (twice inventoried?).  Quantum 5 though gets unlocked (?) and then inventoried.  I think the loader is broken on this device and the previous person was somehow manually inserting the tapes inside.

"Quantum 5" is a tape library.  "Quantum 4" is a stand-alone drive.

I see a proper eject and a two inventories for "Quantum 4", so I don't see any problems with that.  an extra inventory job never hurt anything.

I see a successful inventory for the "Quantum 5" library, so I don't see any problems with that.

I think you will benefit from the naming suggestions I outlined above.  It will help you going forward and will not prevent you from decoding past events.