BE changes tape assignments after tapes already set up then duplicates media entries
I have recently purchased and installed a Dell ML6000 tape library with two drives (two more ordered) that holds 126 tapes. Using BE 12.5, I run (currently) thirty-one backup jobs nightly with a mix of daily and weekly jobs scheduled depending on the business need. The number of scheduled jobs will soon increase significantly and I will be moving all weekly and monthly jobs to the weekend. The tape library has been set up with a single partition, but BE has been configured to create two which I use to divide daily and weekly jobs. Each day, the tapes are removed and either archived or put back into the rotation which has been set up by media set assignments. Currently, thirty-one servers are being backed up with each having three jobs set up using BE's policies for daily, weekly and monthly rotation. Each job has a uniquie media set assignment with tapes associated to each media set and append\overwite protection has been set to reflect the needs of each policy.
My problem is that as I import, assign to media sets, and configure tapes (either new or part of the rotation) BE tends to either ignore my media assignments and use tapes at will and\or duplicate each tape entry in the database to show one as offline and the other active. I spend too much time daily trying to figure out what has taken place overnight and getting the tapes re-named to fit BE's new and sometimes arbitrary assignments.
For example, last night I imported a fresh set of scratch tapes (remember, I just set this up a few weeks ago and am still working through getting my first full rotation to work correctly) via BE's import feature. Daily tapes are put in Partition 1 and Weekly tapes in Partition 2. From there, I opened the Media tab and found the tapes I just imported. Selecting each in sequence, I assigned a media set and the set the properties of each tape where I entered the media set name, backup type (daily or weekly) and day of the week, tape type (LTO) and then selected LTO4 from the dropdown menu. No big deal.
This morning I find that most of the tapes are duplicated (by name and barcode number, not data) and some even used by media sets to which they weren't assigned. What's going on here?
The data I collect and archive is sensitive and proper management is a high priority. What am I doing wrong? If I can't resolve this issue soon, I may need to investigate other backup software solutions. I have used BE for many years with minimal problems and find this to be a real issue.
Let me add that I am running BE 12.5 with all current patches.
Thanks in advance for your input!
Comments
FIrstly if you have barcodes
FIrstly if you have barcodes the tapes will use the barcode as the name/label - so not sure why you are naming your tapes manually.
Secondly Backup Exec has rules for how media is selected - which is covered in a table in the Managing Media section of the admin guide. Every possible sequence of how a tape is selected will at some point always reach the option to use "Recyclable media in any media set" once it reaches this option it will select a media and move it from the media set it is in - to the one specified by the job. This in effect means unless you are very carefull with exactly what media is available then tapes can move between media sets.
To solve this you must put more partitions into the library (in the Devices screen in Backup Exec) as once a job targets a partition it cannot move a media from one partition to another even if it is in the same media set as the job. Again you have to be careful with this option too as if you don't have enough tapes in the parttion to complete your jobs then you will get a failure as it won't grab from a different partition.
Hope this helps
Sorry, but not much at this point...
Yes, I have barcodes and some of the tapes that I am particurlarly mentioning have been used earlier and have been assigned to media sets previously. Again last night, BE ignored the previous tape usage by media set and used tapes as it saw fit and even re-assigned the tapes to different media sets.
The partitions I have already created seem to work as the backup jobs will pull tapes from either partition as it needs to. However, I can't tolerate BE writing data to any tape it chooses. I have the daily tape protection set to 1 week\1 year so the data is not overwritten. However, I apparently am getting multiple data sets across multiple servers written to each tape. That can't be right.
If I understand it correctly, if I have a tape to which I have applied a barcode that the tape library recognizes and that tape is assigned to a media set and has written data from the server to which the media set is assigned, shouldn't BE continue to acknowledge those settings and continue to use that tape for the purpose it was intended?
Apparently I have missed something in my setup that is causing this, but for the life of me I can't find it.
The partitions I have already
The partitions I have already created seem to work as the backup jobs will pull tapes from either partition as it needs to. However, I can't tolerate BE writing data to any tape it chooses.
The only way that a job can pull tapes from more than one partition is if your job points to All Devices or All Pools rather than at a specific partition
Verify that the job description points to the partition that you want. ie that the Daily job points at the Daily partition
I don't see that anyone else explicitly mentioned it, but the ONLY way to have Backup Exec write to only a specified volume or set of volumes is to use partitions. Even if you use media sets and manage your OPP and APP values very carefully, BE will still grab from other media sets when circumstances arise
If this response answers your concern, please mark it as a "solution"
Update:
I changed the media protection to "scratch before recycleable", verified the barcode setup, and double-checked everyting else. What else can I do?
Also, in regard to naming tapes, i find it easier to manage a large group of tapes if I can look at the media list or the list of tapes in the Devices\Slots list to verify that each server has indeed been processed. As i mentioned earlier, I simply name them to denote the purpose for each tape by rotation schedule\day of the week\server name\policy. For example "1 - MON - (server) DAILY". that way each operator can identify the tapes easily and verify that the proper servers' backups have occurred.
Am I making this too hard for myself? I like easy, and if there is an easier way please let me know.
As previously advised if you
As previously advised if you do not want tapes to move between media sets you must understand the sequences discussed in the chapter in the admin guide and when they will reach "Recyclable Media in Any Media Set". You also have to understand your media set rules to make sure that media will be available in the same set that is either appendable or overwriteable which is the real cause of why a tape from a different set might be selected. If this does not help then you have to create more logical partions in the library and target the jobs to the partitions.
Backup Exe has been written to assume that if you start a backup you want it to be able to find a useable tape at all costs (as getting a backup is usually more imporant than whether or not it uses an unexpected tape) which is why the rules all include this option to move media between media sets.
How did you name your tape "1
How did you name your tape "1 - MON - (server) DAILY"? I am using a HP autoloader and the barcode labels for LTO tapes can only have 8 alphanumeric characters. Furthermore, the last 2 characters of the label is reserved for denoting the type of LTO tape. For example, a LTO4 would be labeled like xxxxxxL4, where x = alphanumeric character. How many characters can a Dell barcode label take?
Under the tape properties,
Under the tape properties, there is a field that usually has "Blank" or "Unknown media" in it. Delete that and add in your own description.
This is the Description field
This is the Description field and it is just for reference. It is not used in anyway during the operation of the tape drive. The important bit of information is the Media Label field above this field. The information in the Media Label field should correspond with your barcode label. This is the information that is used by BE to assign the tape to their corresponding media sets. Did you change the Media Label field manually? If you do, it may account for the strange behaviour of your tape. You should then delete those tape entries where the Media Label field does not correspond with the barcode labels.
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