Pokeseven Posted June 9, 2010 Report Share Posted June 9, 2010 I'd like to find out if any one has successfully managed to archive data onto Tape via retro 8 and successfully restore. I'm concerned as retro8 has been buggy since day 1 - i cant afford to take risks whereby i write data to tape but am unable to restore from the tape because of some random anomaly in the software. Apologies for starting on a pessimistic note; having to wait almost half a year for update is not ideal. Scenario: i was previously using retro 6 to archive data onto tape which was then deleted from the original volume. the archive data was duplicated onto 3 tapes from a network volume. This worked out neatly as i always have the scripts to go back to restore data - however the catalogue files are not written to Tape but sit on the original machine with retro6 installed….will this cause problems going forward? In March i asked if it would be possible to restore data from a tape that used retro 6 to write to it - but using retro 8. i was told i'd be able to do this in the next retro 8 update… ---- Moving back to retro 8: whats the best process to write archive data to tape via retro 8? i've experienced corrupt retro 8 preferences in the past and as a result have ended up losing all my scripts and having to start from scratch to rebuild my scripts. I'm concerned that should this happen again and i've written archived data to tape via retro 8 - these tapes may become redundant and i'd have lost invaluable data. Can any one clarify the process from experinace - please? Having invested in retro 8 - i'm now regretting it but have no alternative so would really like to make the best of it Many thanks in advance for your advice and patience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted June 9, 2010 Report Share Posted June 9, 2010 i was previously using retro 6 to archive data onto tape which was then deleted from the original volume. the archive data was duplicated onto 3 tapes from a network volume. This worked out neatly as i always have the scripts to go back to restore data - however the catalogue files are not written to Tape but sit on the original machine with retro6 installed….will this cause problems going forward? Right now, Retrospect 8.1 is unable to read backup sets made with earlier versions of Retrospect. So, yes, it's a problem now. Assuming that Retrospect 8.x, at some point in the future, becomes able to read backup sets created by earlier versions, then, hopefully, it should also be able to recreate the catalogs, if necessary, from the tapes. Having the catalogs (Retrospect's database index into the backup set) is a necessary prerequisite for being able to restore from a backup set. It's simply a time-saver to have the catalogs available so that you don't have to waste hours (or even days) recreating a catalog from a backup set (now renamed to use the term "media set") before doing a restore. Note, however, that past versions of Retrospect (e.g., Retrospect 5.x and 6.x), in order to read backups made with earlier versions of Retrospect (e.g., Retrospect 2.x and 4.x), had to recreate the catalogs for those backup sets into a format that the later version could use. See, e.g.: Retrospect 6.1 for Macintosh Read Me Retrospect 6.1 for Macintosh Read Me]Older Backup Sets:[/b] Starting with Retrospect 6.0, the format that Retrospect uses for backup sets' catalog files was changed to support some new features. Users upgrading from a version of Retrospect earlier than 6.0 will need to create new backup sets in order to back up data. The new backup sets will not be recognized with previous versions of Retrospect. Older backup sets will be treated as read-only. While users will not be able to append to pre-existing backup sets, they will be able to restore data from them, and will be able to recreate the older backup sets' catalog files from their media if necessary. This can take a long time depending on the number of members in the backup set and volume of data in each member. Been there, done that, many times with several version changes of Retrospect. In March i asked if it would be possible to restore data from a tape that used retro 6 to write to it - but using retro 8. i was told i'd be able to do this in the next retro 8 update… More correctly, Retrospect 8.x cannot at present read any backup sets made with earlier versions of Retrospect. It is rumored that Retrospect 8.2, to be released for beta testing later this quarter century and hopefully "real soon, now", and to be "released" some time after the beta testing is concluded, will be able to read backup sets made with earlier versions of Retrospect. There has been no word on whether the catalogs will have to be rebuilt from scratch. Note also that you only say you were using some unspecified version of Retrospect 6.x. The backup set format changed with Retrospect 6.1. See, e.g.: Retrospect 6.1 for Macintosh Read Me Retrospect 6.0 backup sets: Retrospect 6.1 supports backup sets created with Retrospect 6.0. However, once you write to a 6.0 backup set with Retrospect 6.1, you may get errors if you try to use Retrospect 6.0 to restore from this backup set. New backup sets created with Retrospect 6.1 cannot be used with Retrospect 6.0. Note also that it's possible that the beta, though believed and expected by the Retrospect programmers and Retrospect support group to be able to read backup sets made by earlier versions of Retrospect, may have a bug that prevents restoration from your specific tapes. It may also be that Retrospect 8.2 beta can read from Retrospect 6.1.x backup set tapes but not from Retrospect 6.0.x backup set tapes. I suggest that you participate in the Retrospect 8.2 beta testing, when that time arrives, to ensure that the released product can handle your tapes that were made with older versions of Retrospect. Moving back to retro 8: whats the best process to write archive data to tape via retro 8? Wait until the release of Retrospect 8.2 beta, test then. It's not worth wasting your time until then. Just my opinion. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pokeseven Posted June 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2010 Hello Russ Thank you for your advice - its disappointing hearing that having paid for retro8; investing in a new xserve and tape drives - your recommendation is not to archive to tape via retro 8. when will i know if retro8 is any good for archiving data to tape... am i correct in assuming - very few people have had any luck creating archive tapes via retro 8? -s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniels Posted June 11, 2010 Report Share Posted June 11, 2010 I have had almost no problems backing up to tapes using Retrospect 8. I have been doing it for the last couple of months now and have been able to backup and restore from AIT-3 tapes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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