jswingchun Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 I have an Xserve running OS X server 10.2.6 and Retrospect 5.0.238. I have a Dell PowerVault 132T tape library attached. I have a question about recycle backups. Let's say I have a backup set named Week_1. Let's also say I have tapes in my library that have been previously used with backup set Week_1, and still contain data, and are named 1-Week_1, 2-Week_1, etc. My question: will the recycle backup erase and reuse those tapes that are named correctly but still contain data from an old Week_1 backup, or do I have to manually erase and name the tapes again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcswgn Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 They do not need to be manually erased. Retrospect will not actually erase them either, but they will have been marked as available when the recycle is done and Retrospect will use them just like a blank tape. HOWEVER, if you have labels on the outsides of the tapes 1-Week_1, 2-Week_1, etc., there is no guarantee that they will be used again in the same order--or even by the same storage set! One of the gripes I have with Retrospect is that you can't "pre-label" a tape as belonging to a specific storage set. You can label it, but it doesn't do any good. It's either currently in use by a storage set or it's "blank", there's no middle ground. If you have a script that writes to multiple storage sets this can easily lead to a tape being appended to the wrong storage set unless you are VERY careful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jswingchun Posted August 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 So when it finishes 1-Week_1 and goes to move on, it won't use the tape I have erased and named 2-Week_1? What is the point of using Retrospect with tape librarys if you can't get it to use the tapes you want it to use? I have had good luck in simple setups with Retrospect, but I am extremely frustrated with the network backup and tape library management functions. If there was a decent alternative, I would be on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcswgn Posted August 26, 2003 Report Share Posted August 26, 2003 Not having a tape library myself, I can't tell you what it will do, but the name on the tape won't make any difference to Retrospect (until it's actually used, that is). Presumably the library will do things in a consistent way each time and so as long as you don't re-arrange the tapes they would hopefully be used in the correct order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jswingchun Posted August 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2003 What will happen in this scenario? I have these tapes in my library. 1-Week_1, 2-Week_1, 3-Week_1 1-Monthly_1, 2-Monthly_1, 3-Monthly_1 Tape 1,2,3-Week_1 have data from the 6 weeks ago, the last time they were used. Tape 1,2,3-Monthly_1 are named, but empty I have two scripts scheduled Week_1 backup script does a recycle backup to a backup set called Week_1 Monthly_1 backup script does a recycle backup to a backup set called Monthly_1 Will Retrospect not look for the tape with the proper name? If not, how is one supposed to manage tape usage? In the post above, I do not understand "but the name on the tape won't make any difference to Retrospect". If Retrospect does not care about the name of the tape, why does it have the ability to pre-name tapes within the erase function? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcswgn Posted August 27, 2003 Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 Quote: jswingchun said: In the post above, I do not understand "but the name on the tape won't make any difference to Retrospect". If Retrospect does not care about the name of the tape, why does it have the ability to pre-name tapes within the erase function? Good question, but this is the way it has always behaved. If it needs a new tape it will ask for a blank and will tell you what it is *going* to name it, but it won't pay any attention to what it *is* named unless the tape is already part of a storage set (in which case it won't let you use it). This is its behavior without a library. I don't know if this is changed in some way in the presence of a library, although I don't see why it would. If you consider your situation--6 tapes from two different storage sets in the library at the same time--the storage sets are not going to be recycled until just before they are to be reused. If the Week_1 set is recycled before the Month_1 set runs, then Week_1 will be used with the equivalent of 6 blank tapes in the library. In that case I have no idea which of the 6 tapes will end up with the Week_1 data (probably the first three tapes in the library). But if the Month_1 is used before Week_1, then Week_1 hasn't been recycled so those tapes wouldn't be available, and Month_1 would use the expected tapes. Likewise, when Week_1 then ran later, Month_1 would have already grabbed the Month_1 tapes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jswingchun Posted September 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2003 I figured out a way around this. It is a pain, but at least I can control which tapes I back up to in my library. In the prefs, I set the skip to new media function on. I put the first tape in, then run a backup of just a couple of files using the backup set I want the tape to belong to. The tape gets named and joins the backup set. I then eject the tape and put in the next tape in the sequence, change the name of the couple of files I'm backing up and run the backup. It names the tape and adds it to the backup set. I continue this process until all of the tapes have been named. When I do this, I can see all of the tapes with the correct names under the loader menu. On the next recycle backup, they retain the proper names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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