BUG REPORT: Automatic job for database extensions unnecessarily allocates a drive and may unexpectedly unload a tape causing degraded backup performance
http://support.veritas.com/docs/294061
Details:
Detail/Symptom(s):
The backup job for a policy of type DB2, Informix, Oracle, SAP, SQL-Server, or Sybase is handled by an application backup schedule which must allocate drive and tape resources to complete the backup. An automatic schedule, if present in the policy, is used only to initiate a backup script on the client host and is not expected to require drive or media resources.
At current release levels, the NetBackup master server is allocating drive and media resources for both the automatic and application jobs. Because the resources for the automatic job are not truly needed, the resources are immediately released. However, the allocation request may result in the unloading and ejecting of a tape that will be needed by the application job. For standalone tape drives, this can cause the next job to be delayed or to fail if an operator is not available to insert the previously ejected media.
Workaround:
Prevent unexpected tape ejection by configuring the backup policy to use a different storage unit for the automatic schedule compared to the application schedule.
1) Assign a disk storage unit to the policy and/or automatic schedule to prevent the allocation of unneeded drive and media resources. The target disk must exist, but does not need to have available space because it will only be allocated/deallocated and not targeted for any write operations.
2) Assign the appropriate tape storage unit and volume pool to the application backup schedule that will receive the job request from the NetBackup client.
ETA of Official Fix:
Symantec Corporation has acknowledged that the above-mentioned issue is present in the current version(s) of the product(s) mentioned at the end of this article. Symantec Corporation is committed to product quality and satisfied customers.
This issue is currently being considered by Symantec Corporation to be addressed in a forthcoming Maintenance Pack or version of the product. The fix for this issue is expected to be released in 6.0MP7 and 6.5.2. Please note that Symantec Corporation reserves the right to remove any fix from the targeted release if it does not pass quality assurance tests or introduces new risks to overall code stability. Symantec's plans are subject to change and any action taken by you based on the above information or your reliance upon the above information is made at your own risk. Please refer to the maintenance pack readme or contact NetBackup Enterprise Support to confirm this issue was included in the maintenance pack.
