Image selection for Vault that only Ejects

[DavidParker]

Good day,
I'm hoping to clarify the functionality of a Vault session.
The case in question is for a Vault session that is only used to Eject certain volumes (volumes from an 'offsite' pool that were written during an inline copy backup session).

I would like to know:
How important is the image selection portion of this kind of Vault session?
Do you even need to have selection criteria?

Inquiring minds want to know ...

[Richard_Mansell]

I have set up an eject vault profile called PostRestoreEject. It is used specifically to eject tapes that have come back from the vault and have been used for a restore.

The main difference between this and our normal eject process is that it has the settings "Backups started between" set to 1000 days and 10 days rather than 9 days and 0 days. The duplication and catalogue backup steps are skipped.

[Chia_Tan_Beng]

Hi David,

If you only has a single media server (or single tape library), it shouldn't matter. The vault should just eject out all media in the volume pool you've added in "Eject" tab. However, in a scenario if one having different media servers and tape libraries in different locations, he needs to specify media from which media server or/and tape libraries (or other selection criteria) to be ejected, the "Choose Backup" tab is where one's criteria being define. Hope I understood your question correctly.

[DavidParker]

Hi Chia,
Thanks for the post.
Yes, we are a 1 library site (2 media servers plus a master).
Basically, I'm wondering if the Choose Backup selections have any affect on the Eject tab?

For example, one of my vaults looks for tapes in an 'offsite' volume pool and ejects them each day. Do I still have to specify Backup Selections for it to choose from or will it eject ALL 'offsite' tapes regardless?

I'm leaning towards saying that the Choose Backup selections are still needed; reason being, we have several batches of older 'offsite' tapes in the library that are never ejected.

DP

[Chia_Tan_Beng]

> I'm leaning towards saying that the Choose Backup
> selections are still needed; reason being, we have
> several batches of older 'offsite' tapes in the
> library that are never ejected.

It didn't happen in my test environment. Could you provide more information such as:
Does those un-ejected tapes belongs to same media server? same strorage unit?
Are they there before Vault profile created?
Are they expired, Full, Suspended or Frozen?
Did this still happen? Intermittently or some kind of periodically?
What do you do to those un-ejected tape? Manually eject them out for daily offsite?

Basically, try to find out what's the different between those ejected and un-ejected batch and identify any occurence pattern to it.

[DavidParker]

Same media server: yes
Same SU: yes

Existed before Vault profile: possibly (this was before I started this job). Technically, yes; I had to re-create the profile because the original author created all his profiles in the same vault.

Expired, Full, etc: No, seem to be in Active state (only checked a sample as there are 200 to go through)

Still happens: yes, every day
Actions: we leave them in the library

The differences I know of off the top of my head are: the older tapes have a 7 year retention and were created in early 2005. Also, the tapes ejected usually fall within the backup selection's 'window' of 0 to 5 days ago.

[Chia_Tan_Beng]

> The differences I know of off the top of my head are:
> the older tapes have a 7 year retention and were
> created in early 2005. Also, the tapes ejected
> usually fall within the backup selection's 'window'
> of 0 to 5 days ago.

Does all the vault profiles for ejecting specified "0 to 5 days ago" in backup selection's 'window'? If it is, that could be the reason. i.e. The media are either Active or Full but had backup images older than 5 days. Hence they're not in the selection criteria for vault to eject.

One test you may like to perform is: On NBU Admin Console, go to Media and Device Management -> Media -> Volume Pools -> Offsite, sort the result by Last Mount column by clicking on the column title. The nearest date of these 200 tapes should be more than 5 days.

Do this test with care -> Create a test vault profile with the backup selection windows to just covers those unejected media with neartest date. Be careful of the setting, we don't want to end up ejecting 200+ tapes.

There's an example in NBU help. (Go to the Vault profile Choose Backup tab, click on Help button and select Choose Backup Configuration Options from the left plan (help content), read the description of Backup Started property.

[DavidParker]

>
> Does all the vault profiles for ejecting specified "0
> to 5 days ago" in backup selection's 'window'? If it
> is, that could be the reason. i.e. The media are
> either Active or Full but had backup images older
> than 5 days. Hence they're not in the selection
> criteria for vault to eject.
>

Yes, the (only) profile has 0-5 days.

This is exactly what I was thinking that made me post this question.

I was hoping to have a definitive yes/no answer as opposed to a 'well its behaving that way, so it must be the answer'.

At least the behavior makes sense =)