Backup Central

Hiya! Got an ADIC Scalar 100 with two Sony SDX-700C SCSI drives, with about 70 tapes in it currently. Also in the mix is a Windows 2003 Server with Brightstor ARCserve Backup V. 11.5 SP3 (Build 4402)

It's backing up to both tape and HDD currently, and I'm having trouble with the tape backup. The jobs consistently fail, giving errors like the following:

[02/16/2009-01:35:13 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] W3895
[02/16/2009-01:35:13 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] Unable to position media. (MEDIA=A-ADICGFS-MON- 2/16/09 [S/N: 000047], EC=NO DATA DETECTED)
[02/16/2009-01:37:28 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] W3550
[02/16/2009-01:37:28 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] Failed to connect to media.(MEDIA=A-ADICGFS-MON- 1/26/09 [S/N: 000049],SEQ=1,EC=MEDIA MISCOMPARE ERROR)
[02/16/2009-02:17:48 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] E3705
[02/16/2009-02:17:48 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] Unable to format media (MEDIA=A-ADICGFS-MON- 2/16/09, EC=UNRECOVERABLE DATA ERROR)
[02/16/2009-02:17:48 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] E3831
[02/16/2009-02:17:48 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] Unable to find any media that can be used in this job.
[02/16/2009-02:17:59 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0]

Also happening fairly consistently, one of the drives in the ADIC goes offline when the backup job fails. Several tapes are showing as unreadable as well. I tried formatting a couple of tapes, and got unrecoverable data errors, but the same drive that spontaneously drops offline was used, and lo and behold, it drops offline when the format fails. I left it offline, and tried formatting the same tapes with the drive that never goes offline, and got the same result (unrecoverable data error), but the drive stays online.

What are your thoughts, folks?

Hi fintoozler:
Apparently it's a HW realated prob. I would start by checking the scalar library. Make sure that you have the updated the firmware in both the server and library finally the OS must be using the latest drivers.
Most of the times an error like the one that appears on the log has to do with dirty tape heads, so clean them using a tape clean cartridge
On Arcserve be sure to have it updated to the latest SP ei. 11.5 should have SP4 and r 12 should use SP1, you shouldn't forget to apply the device patch. The device patch fixes tape engine problems.
To do operational tests use out of the box tapes.
Hope this helps you

That sounds like hardware problems to me.

-----Original Message-----
From: arcserve-bounces < at > backupcentral.com
[mailto:arcserve-bounces < at > backupcentral.com] On Behalf Of fintoozler
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 11:09 AM
To: arcserve < at > backupcentral.com
Subject: [ARCserve] Is it the hardware, or Brightstor???


Hiya! Got an ADIC Scalar 100 with two Sony SDX-700C SCSI drives, with about
70 tapes in it currently. Also in the mix is a Windows 2003 Server with
Brightstor ARCserve Backup V. 11.5 SP3 (Build 4402)

It's backing up to both tape and HDD currently, and I'm having trouble with
the tape backup. The jobs consistently fail, giving errors like the
following:

[02/16/2009-01:35:13 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] W3895
[02/16/2009-01:35:13 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] Unable to position media.
(MEDIA=A-ADICGFS-MON- 2/16/09 [S/N: 000047], EC=NO DATA DETECTED)
[02/16/2009-01:37:28 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] W3550
[02/16/2009-01:37:28 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] Failed to connect to
media.(MEDIA=A-ADICGFS-MON- 1/26/09 [S/N: 000049],SEQ=1,EC=MEDIA MISCOMPARE
ERROR)
[02/16/2009-02:17:48 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] E3705
[02/16/2009-02:17:48 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] Unable to format media
(MEDIA=A-ADICGFS-MON- 2/16/09, EC=UNRECOVERABLE DATA ERROR)
[02/16/2009-02:17:48 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] E3831
[02/16/2009-02:17:48 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0] Unable to find any media that can
be used in this job.
[02/16/2009-02:17:59 ,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0]

Also happening fairly consistently, one of the drives in the ADIC goes
offline when the backup job fails. Several tapes are showing as unreadable
as well. I tried formatting a couple of tapes, and got unrecoverable data
errors, but the same drive that spontaneously drops offline was used, and lo
and behold, it drops offline when the format fails. I left it offline, and
tried formatting the same tapes with the drive that never goes offline, and
got the same result (unrecoverable data error), but the drive stays online.

What are your thoughts, folks?

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The first two can be caused by a number of different things.

It is the UDE unrecoverable data error that is the most precise. Basically it means that the drive is reporting back to the host application that it can right to the tape. It tried the operation a number of times until an internal counter maxed out and so the operation was canceled.

Could be tapes or the drive. As for tapes, the brand tapes makes a difference. Drive manufactures recommend specific brands that are compatible, or could even be a bad batch of tapes.

See if it is restricted to specific tapes or all.

The ARCserve Database Media view will give you the statistics for all the tapes or you can use a Report.