Tape devices are reported as offline during backup operations using the NDMP Option when the library is connected to a NetApp Cluster. In addition the message log on the NetApp Filer will report a "Reservation conflict on tape device" message and if Backup Exec SGMON.exe logging is enabled a similar message will be reported as seen in the error details above.

Currently this problem has only been seen where the library is also shared with another device such as the Backup Exec Media Server or another NetApp Cluster.

After feedback from various customers that originally experienced the issue in older versions of Backup Exec, Symantec currently believe that this issue may not be present in Backup Exec 2010

Workarounds:
Symantec now have one workaround to recover from the offline status and a choice of workarounds reduce the chance of the issue occurring in the future.

To recover from the Offline status use the following steps:
1) In the Devices section of the Backup Exec Console, set the drives back to Online
2) Restart the Backup Exec Services
3) In the Devices Section of the Backup Exec Console, Pause and then un-pause the Media Server itself.

To reduce the chance of this issue occurring in the future choose from one of the following options:
Option A: Configure the NDMP jobs so that the option "Eject Media after job completes" is Enabled in the Device and Media section of the Job Properties
Option B: Configure all the NDMP Jobs to "Overwrite media" when the job begins in the Device and Media section of the Job Properties
Option C: Configure different media sets so that the jobs that are intended for one filer use a different media set from the job configured for the other filer.

NOTE:
Because we could not reproduce the problem and are relying on customer feedback against the solution, any customers that experience this issue with Backup Exec 2010 are encouraged to contact Symantec Technical Support.

Symantec Corporation has acknowledged that the above-mentioned issue is present in earlier versions of the product(s) cited at the end of this article. Symantec Corporation is committed to product quality and satisfied customers.
There are no plans to address this issue by way of a patch or hotfix in earlier versions of the software at the present time.  However, the issue has been addressed in the revision of the product specified at the end of this article.  

 

Please contact your Symantec Sales representative or the Symantec Sales group for upgrade information including upgrade eligibility to the release containing the resolution for this issue.  For information on how to contact Symantec Sales, please see  http://www.symantec.com .