Backup Central

I have a question from my legal staff. Let's suppose I create a tape with
a 2 months browse/retention policy. And I leave it in my library for more
than 2 months - i.e., it is now older than it's expiration period, and is
therefore recyclable (all savesets on the tape have expired). And I also
have new blank tapes that are labeled in the same pool.

Which will NW use first, if it needs a tape - will it re-label the
recyclable tape, or will it use one of the blank unused tapes in the same
pool? And what settings would control that?

(the reason for the question - we are legally prevented, at the moment,
from overwriting any tape. So they want to know what will happen if we
happen to put in an old tape that has expired, but have forgotten to slide
the switch to make the tape read-only. Will that tape be overwritten
first, or will NW use unused, labeled tapes in the same pool first)

--
Michael Leone
Network Administrator, ISM
Philadelphia Housing Authority
2500 Jackson St
Philadelphia, PA 19145
Tel: 215-684-4180
Cell: 215-252-0143
<mailto:michael.leone < at > pha.phila.gov>

Hello,

here's the info that's at my disposal, it's not an official document.

How networker selects a volume for writing :

After a backup starts and the Networker server determines what pool the save set should be written to, it’s now necessary to determine what volume within the pool to use.

5 categories in order of priority : (each requiring the volume available on an appropriate storage node)

- mounted, appendable volume from the required pool
Not currently mounted ? Server sends an Alert “Volume not immediately available” and
continues search.
- unmounted, appendable volume from the required pool
- unmounted, recyclable volume from the required pool
- unmounted recyclable volume from a different pool (disabled by default)

Now it depends if “Auto media management “ is enabled or not.
- not enabled : volume request Is not cleared from Alerts and administrator
must manually provide a volume
- enabled : networker looks for 1 more category

- unmounted, unlabeled volume (any volume without a Networker or EDM (EMC
Datamanager) label.




Best regards,

Jacques Lapeire

-----Original Message-----
From: EMC NetWorker discussion [mailto:NETWORKER < at > LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU] On Behalf Of Michael Leone
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 3:07 PM
To: NETWORKER < at > LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU
Subject: [Networker] Precedence of use - expired or blank tape, in the same pool?

I have a question from my legal staff. Let's suppose I create a tape with
a 2 months browse/retention policy. And I leave it in my library for more
than 2 months - i.e., it is now older than it's expiration period, and is
therefore recyclable (all savesets on the tape have expired). And I also
have new blank tapes that are labeled in the same pool.

Which will NW use first, if it needs a tape - will it re-label the
recyclable tape, or will it use one of the blank unused tapes in the same
pool? And what settings would control that?

(the reason for the question - we are legally prevented, at the moment,
from overwriting any tape. So they want to know what will happen if we
happen to put in an old tape that has expired, but have forgotten to slide
the switch to make the tape read-only. Will that tape be overwritten
first, or will NW use unused, labeled tapes in the same pool first)

--
Michael Leone
Network Administrator, ISM
Philadelphia Housing Authority
2500 Jackson St
Philadelphia, PA 19145
Tel: 215-684-4180
Cell: 215-252-0143
<mailto:michael.leone < at > pha.phila.gov>

Hello,

here's the info that's at my disposal, it's not an official document.

That's great and very helpful, thanks. My tests seemed to indicate that,
too. I had 2 unmounted tapes from the same pool, one appendable (well, 0%
used, so blank) and one recyclable. The job pulled the appendable (blank)
tape first. But I didn't know if there was an order of precedence (I
assumed there was), or if NW just randomly choose an available unmounted
tape from the required pool.



How networker selects a volume for writing :

After a backup starts and the Networker server determines what pool
the save set should be written to, it?s now necessary to determine
what volume within the pool to use.

5 categories in order of priority : (each requiring the volume
available on an appropriate storage node)

- mounted, appendable volume from the required pool
Not currently mounted ? Server sends an Alert ?Volume not
immediately available? and
continues search.
- unmounted, appendable volume from the required pool
- unmounted, recyclable volume from the required pool
- unmounted recyclable volume from a different pool (disabled
bydefault)

Now it depends if ?Auto media management ? is enabled or not.
- not enabled : volume request Is not cleared from Alerts and
administrator
must manually provide a volume
- enabled : networker looks for 1 more category

- unmounted, unlabeled volume (any volume without a Networker or EDM
(EMC
Datamanager) label.




Best regards,

Jacques Lapeire

-----Original Message-----
From: EMC NetWorker discussion [mailto:NETWORKER < at > LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU
] On Behalf Of Michael Leone
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 3:07 PM
To: NETWORKER < at > LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU
Subject: [Networker] Precedence of use - expired or blank tape, in
the same pool?

I have a question from my legal staff. Let's suppose I create a tape
with
a 2 months browse/retention policy. And I leave it in my library for
more
than 2 months - i.e., it is now older than it's expiration period, and
is
therefore recyclable (all savesets on the tape have expired). And I also

have new blank tapes that are labeled in the same pool.

Which will NW use first, if it needs a tape - will it re-label the
recyclable tape, or will it use one of the blank unused tapes in the
same
pool? And what settings would control that?

(the reason for the question - we are legally prevented, at the moment,
from overwriting any tape. So they want to know what will happen if we
happen to put in an old tape that has expired, but have forgotten to
slide
the switch to make the tape read-only. Will that tape be overwritten
first, or will NW use unused, labeled tapes in the same pool first)

--
Michael Leone
Network Administrator, ISM
Philadelphia Housing Authority
2500 Jackson St
Philadelphia, PA 19145
Tel: 215-684-4180
Cell: 215-252-0143
<mailto:michael.leone < at > pha.phila.gov>

You could always set the tape volumes you don't want overwritten to a "read-only" status - what I am unsure of is if Networker will still see the data as expired and recycle it anyway. I have to do that a lot as of late because our offsite storage keeps sending back tapes that were sent just a week or so before saying their retention period is up - our tape retention is 6 months and tapes are returning in 2 weeks. So, under media I will set the tape volume to read-only and then add the tape volume to Networker's library, and inventory the tape volume(s) so I can check the savesets just to be sure they were sent back prematurely. I'm always afraid Networker will grab one by mistake, but it's nice to refresh my memory on how it checks for available media again. Perhaps I'm just overcautious...




Bryan
Storage/Database Administrator

________________________________________
From: EMC NetWorker discussion [NETWORKER < at > LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU] on behalf of Michael Leone [Michael.Leone < at > PHA.PHILA.GOV]
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 10:11 AM
To: NETWORKER < at > LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU
Subject: Re: [Networker] Precedence of use - expired or blank tape, in the same pool?

Hello,

here's the info that's at my disposal, it's not an official document.

That's great and very helpful, thanks. My tests seemed to indicate that,
too. I had 2 unmounted tapes from the same pool, one appendable (well, 0%
used, so blank) and one recyclable. The job pulled the appendable (blank)
tape first. But I didn't know if there was an order of precedence (I
assumed there was), or if NW just randomly choose an available unmounted
tape from the required pool.



How networker selects a volume for writing :

After a backup starts and the Networker server determines what pool
the save set should be written to, it?s now necessary to determine
what volume within the pool to use.

5 categories in order of priority : (each requiring the volume
available on an appropriate storage node)

- mounted, appendable volume from the required pool
Not currently mounted ? Server sends an Alert ?Volume not
immediately available? and
continues search.
- unmounted, appendable volume from the required pool
- unmounted, recyclable volume from the required pool
- unmounted recyclable volume from a different pool (disabled
bydefault)

Now it depends if ?Auto media management ? is enabled or not.
- not enabled : volume request Is not cleared from Alerts and
administrator
must manually provide a volume
- enabled : networker looks for 1 more category

- unmounted, unlabeled volume (any volume without a Networker or EDM
(EMC
Datamanager) label.




Best regards,

Jacques Lapeire

-----Original Message-----
From: EMC NetWorker discussion [mailto:NETWORKER < at > LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU
] On Behalf Of Michael Leone
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 3:07 PM
To: NETWORKER < at > LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU
Subject: [Networker] Precedence of use - expired or blank tape, in
the same pool?

I have a question from my legal staff. Let's suppose I create a tape
with
a 2 months browse/retention policy. And I leave it in my library for
more
than 2 months - i.e., it is now older than it's expiration period, and
is
therefore recyclable (all savesets on the tape have expired). And I also

have new blank tapes that are labeled in the same pool.

Which will NW use first, if it needs a tape - will it re-label the
recyclable tape, or will it use one of the blank unused tapes in the
same
pool? And what settings would control that?

(the reason for the question - we are legally prevented, at the moment,
from overwriting any tape. So they want to know what will happen if we
happen to put in an old tape that has expired, but have forgotten to
slide
the switch to make the tape read-only. Will that tape be overwritten
first, or will NW use unused, labeled tapes in the same pool first)

--
Michael Leone
Network Administrator, ISM
Philadelphia Housing Authority
2500 Jackson St
Philadelphia, PA 19145
Tel: 215-684-4180
Cell: 215-252-0143
<mailto:michael.leone < at > pha.phila.gov>

Actually, if a volume is marked "read-only" but is also recyclable,
NetWorker can automatically relabel that volume if it needs to (no
appendable volume available). Instead of setting the volume to
"read-only", it is safer to mark it "manual recycle"; this keeps
NetWorker from ever deciding to relablel it on its own.

Rick


On 6/7/2012 10:05 AM, Bowersock, Bryan wrote:
You could always set the tape volumes you don't want overwritten to a "read-only" status - what I am unsure of is if Networker will still see the data as expired and recycle it anyway. I have to do that a lot as of late because our offsite storage keeps sending back tapes that were sent just a week or so before saying their retention period is up - our tape retention is 6 months and tapes are returning in 2 weeks. So, under media I will set the tape volume to read-only and then add the tape volume to Networker's library, and inventory the tape volume(s) so I can check the savesets just to be sure they were sent back prematurely. I'm always afraid Networker will grab one by mistake, but it's nice to refresh my memory on how it checks for available media again. Perhaps I'm just overcautious...




Bryan
Storage/Database Administrator

Good tip. Thank you! I guess I have been getting lucky as of late.




Bryan
Storage/Database Administrator

________________________________________
From: Rick Brode [rick < at > brodetraining.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 12:38 PM
To: EMC NetWorker discussion; Bowersock, Bryan
Subject: Re: [Networker] Precedence of use - expired or blank tape, in the same pool?

Actually, if a volume is marked "read-only" but is also recyclable,
NetWorker can automatically relabel that volume if it needs to (no
appendable volume available). Instead of setting the volume to
"read-only", it is safer to mark it "manual recycle"; this keeps
NetWorker from ever deciding to relablel it on its own.

Rick


On 6/7/2012 10:05 AM, Bowersock, Bryan wrote:
You could always set the tape volumes you don't want overwritten to a "read-only" status - what I am unsure of is if Networker will still see the data as expired and recycle it anyway. I have to do that a lot as of late because our offsite storage keeps sending back tapes that were sent just a week or so before saying their retention period is up - our tape retention is 6 months and tapes are returning in 2 weeks. So, under media I will set the tape volume to read-only and then add the tape volume to Networker's library, and inventory the tape volume(s) so I can check the savesets just to be sure they were sent back prematurely. I'm always afraid Networker will grab one by mistake, but it's nice to refresh my memory on how it checks for available media again. Perhaps I'm just overcautious...




Bryan
Storage/Database Administrator

On 07/06/12 14:06, Michael Leone wrote:
I have a question from my legal staff. Let's suppose I create a tape with
a 2 months browse/retention policy. And I leave it in my library for more
than 2 months - i.e., it is now older than it's expiration period, and is
therefore recyclable (all savesets on the tape have expired). And I also
have new blank tapes that are labeled in the same pool.

Which will NW use first, if it needs a tape - will it re-label the
recyclable tape, or will it use one of the blank unused tapes in the same
pool? And what settings would control that?

This used to be a configurable item. I think it was part of the NSR
jukebox resource. I have looked, but this option no longer seems to be
available. I don't know when it was taken away but I guess it was
between 7.2 and 7.3, when some fairly major architectural changes were
made without incrementing the major release number.

I set both, and don't keep client indexes (past 'normal' expire) for the backups/tapes in question.

Since our usual 'please hold this' backups are Sybase dumps (backup of 3-5 files each day), saveset recovers of this sort aren't painful for us. The difference becomes a few extra arguments in the recover command (including sudo).


For the original question, in our setup (EBS 7.1.3 and then 7.4.4) I've always seen it pull from new tape before recycling old.

--TSK

Tim Kimball
http://sungak.net



-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Brode [mailto:rick < at > BRODETRAINING.COM]
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 12:39 PM
Subject: Re: Precedence of use - expired or blank tape, in the same pool?

Actually, if a volume is marked "read-only" but is also recyclable,
NetWorker can automatically relabel that volume if it needs to (no
appendable volume available). Instead of setting the volume to
"read-only", it is safer to mark it "manual recycle"; this keeps
NetWorker from ever deciding to relablel it on its own.

Rick


On 6/7/2012 10:05 AM, Bowersock, Bryan wrote:
You could always set the tape volumes you don't want overwritten to a "read-only" status - what I am unsure of is if Networker will still see the data as expired and recycle it anyway. I have to do that a lot as of late because our offsite storage keeps sending back tapes that were sent just a week or so before saying their retention period is up - our tape retention is 6 months and tapes are returning in 2 weeks. So, under media I will set the tape volume to read-only and then add the tape volume to Networker's library, and inventory the tape volume(s) so I can check the savesets just to be sure they were sent back prematurely. I'm always afraid Networker will grab one by mistake, but it's nice to refresh my memory on how it checks for available media again. Perhaps I'm just overcautious...




Bryan
Storage/Database Administrator

Just remember that NW will overwrite 'potentially valid' backups as last choice.
Keeping this is in mind, he will always use new media first.

Hi, just to chime in on this i have a kind of related question...

If the browse / retention policy is configured on the media pool instead of the client (client settings are set to 1 day each as i believe the longest time wins so the longer time is on the media pool)... When the tape becomes recyclable, does Networker automatically then use that tape for the next backup with the same label? Does Auto Media Management need to be enabled for it to auto re-label the tape and if it does, does it use the same label name it already has?

The scenario is this... we have a 9 week cycle on incremental tapes but a 12 week cycle on the full backups, so i need to set the policy on the pools rather than the client and i'm hoping that by doing this, it will mean that we wont need to continually re-label the tapes to blank them off for the next run... Once they're configured in this way, we can just swap tapes in the library and forget about them.

I will eventually test this, but if someone can shed some light it will speed things up for me a bit.

Thanks in advance

NE will relabel the media automatically when
- it has the status recyclable
- he needs a media
- Auto Media Management is enabled
according to the selection criteria (recycle from/to other pools). This also determines the new label as he must follow the label template for the pool. The only exception: If you specify that Volume Label=Barcode 'Label'.

On 16/06/12 10:44, bingo wrote:
NE will relabel the media automatically when
- it has the status recyclable
- he needs a media
- Auto Media Management is enabled
according to the selection criteria (recycle from/to other pools). This also determines the new label as he must follow the label template for the pool. The only exception: If you specify that Volume Label=Barcode 'Label'.

Wrong! AMM is NOT required in order for NetWorker to relabel used tapes
in a library.

Why is it that I keep saying it but no-one remembers?

AMM for a library is only concerned with labelling blank tapes.

Hi Davina,

i forgot about that . of course you are correct. It is also clearly stated in the 'nsr_jukebox' manpage:

Auto Media Management
"This attribute indicates whether automated media management for the jukebox is enabled. The value can be yes or n o. If the value is set to yes, then unlabeled volumes in the jukebox may be automatically labeled by NetWorker. .:."

Thanks for correcting me.