NBU-6.5. How to assign a certain cleaning tape to a certain drive

[EvgenyL]

I need this feature to avoid transferring the dirt among other drives.

I have 4 drives library and > 4 cleaning tapes.

Is it possible in Netbackup (6.5)? 

[Marianne]

Automated cleaning in NetBackup as well as Robotic cleaning does not work like that.

Any cleaning tape can be used for any drive.

Cleaning tapes are not rewound like normal tapes, so you can rest assured that dirt will not be transferred among drives.

If you really want to control it like that, you will have to insert cleaning tapes manually in the tape drives.

[Zahid_Haseeb]

One TIP I can may give you.

I think this may be possible in such Tape Library which have a Virtual Tape Library option. For example: I know a Tape Library IBM 3310 which have 6Tape Drives (In my scenerio). This Tape Library also has an option in which you split this Tape LIbrary in to six Virtual Tape Libraries and Netbackup Server detect this as six Tape Libraries attached. You also specify specific Slots to each Virtual Tape Library in which you can keep Tapes Cartridges and Cleaning Tapes. Through this way the Tape Cartridges and Cleaning Tape  which are assign to one Virtual Tape Library cant go to another Virtual Tape Library.

I hope this may help you.

[Will_Restore]

removes virtual dirt?

[mph999]

... he he   ... no, some librarires can be partitioned, everything is still 'physical' just 'hardware' partitioned - hence virtual library ...  

M

[mph999]

Good idea but will not work in practice.

The library such as the IBM you mention will partition in to 'virtual' libraries - but, a drive can only belong to one library.  therefore, to do as you suggest, you would have to have x6 libraries defined, not good - very complex.

Also, I have a feeling that the cleaning tapes are shared, so you may have x3 virtual partitioned  libraries, but only require x1 cleaning tape.

The correct answer has already been given - there is no need  to reserve a cleaning tape for a particular drive.

Martin