fpound Posted November 16, 2009 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 New question: I'm backing up lots and lots of Final Cut Pro project files and corresponding data to LTO tape for long term storage. I'm kind of new to the process and I've been using an 'archive' script. I recently found out that a couple of the project folders I updated weren't the most recent (grr) and I need to update the backup. Is there a way to do this (having 'archived' previously) that wouldn't require erasing the whole tape and starting over? also, because several projects can sometimes fit on a single tape, if I'm updating one project, how does that affect the other projects on that same media set? Thanks- y'all are awesome! Forrest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted November 16, 2009 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 There is no way to "groom" or delete files in a tape media set (f/k/a/ backup set). Changed files are appended to update the media set, and the snapshot paradigm shows the most recent complete set of files. A tape can only be a member of a single media set. You cannot have multiple backup sets (um, media sets) on a single tape. So, if you want to put multiple projects on the same tape, put them all in the same backup set (media set destination). Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fpound Posted November 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 Thanks for your response Russ- So what I understand is that if I've got a 200gb folder that I've archived to tape, and I need to add a 7Gb folder to that archive as well as update an FCP file, I can do that by adding those folders to the end of the tape and when we retrieve the project, Retrospect will understand where those files/folders need to go? What's the best way to do this? should i manually add the new folder as a new source and archive it to the same media set or is there a easier/more official way? A way that will result in the least amount of headache later on... Also, as you mentioned, I've been putting multiple projects onto the same tape via just one media set destination... thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted November 16, 2009 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 Yep. It's all magic. Retrospect does what is needed. One way to do it would be to pull that project back in from tape, make the modifications (you will need the entire project in order to modify it, won't you?), then back it up again. Set the matching options appropriately. Before firing things off, you can view the list of files that are about to be backed up. Another approach, if you really want to remove the old stuff off of the tape, would be to transfer the entire backup set (um, media set) back to a disk media set, back up the changes to that backup set, groom it appropriately, recycle the tape backup set, transfer back. Make sure that you have everything in the disk backup set before doing the recycle. If it were me, considering the value of the data, I wouldn't do the recyle, just add the new stuff to the backup set. Tape is cheap, lost data is priceless. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fpound Posted November 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 hmmm... ok, but when you say then back it up again. Set the matching options appropriately. Before firing things off, you can view the list of files that are about to be backed up. are you referring to running the original script again? or at least a script with the same original source/media set info? Doing a 'backup' will let you update only the files that change right? but will performing an 'archive' do the same? basically, this project is on a tape which is a member of a given media set- if I make all the changes I need, and then set the same folder (by name) as a source, and the same media set/tape, then it will append only the changed/new files and folders to the end of the tape? Thanks, Forrest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted November 16, 2009 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 From your problem description, it was unclear whether the files still existed on the source. Archiving optionally involves deleting the source files, and it was unclear what you had done. If the source files still exist, modify, then backup. Retrospect will do the right thing, and will back up the changed files, and will give you a "snapshot" showing all files at the time of the backup session, regardless of whether those files were backed up in a previous session or in the new incremental session. The snapshot is an illusion, allowing you to retrieve files as if they had all been backed up during that session. In reality, it is a database pointer into the media set (f/k/a/ backup set), telling where in the media set the files are, regardless of which session backed them up. Does that help? Admittedly, it's hard to figure out what is happening in the absence of a manual. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fpound Posted November 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 I really appreciate you working me through this.... I have been doing 'archive' installs and no it has not been deleting the source files- we'll do that manually when the time comes, but because we're still a little unsure about this whole process, I haven't deleted anything.. I ran the same script again- the one with the content that I wanted to change. It ran fine, but just put a second copy of the 100gb folder on the tape. generally, I guess this is fine- we haven't lost anything certainly, but it does seem a little repetitive. I could have certainly just erased the tape and started over, but i was hoping this would have been the solution i was looking for. I'm thinking that because I'm choosing 'Archive' the option to just back up what is new or changed is not available to me. is this the case? what is the advantage of using a 'archive' script over a 'backup' one? thanks again! Forrest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted November 17, 2009 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 Who knows. There is no manual, and there are a lot of bugs. Hard to tell whether experimentally-determined reverse-engineered behavior is the desired operation. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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