Backup Exec 7.0 Differential Backup Will not append

[janeybean]

I'm trying to append daily updates to a tape with a full backup on it.

I get the following msg in the log:
No appendable media could be mounted. Switching to overwrite operation on reusable media.

It does successfully backup the differential files but it should be appending .. not overwriting the data on the tape.

Any ideas? Media sets are the same for the Full and Daily Backup jobs.

Thanks.

 

[WildDoktor]

Janeybean, please see:

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?spid=481&sfid=502&CFID=13036375&CFTOKEN=28237600

Bill

 

[janeybean]

WildDok, Tks for your help.

I d/checked the MediaOverwrite options and they are set to append (i didn't see the option mentioned in your FAQ .. "overwrite if no appendable media is available" --maybe its a version thing). Media set protection time (retention and append times) are set to infinite.

Perhaps my tape is at capacity from the full backup. I am going to try a larger tape (even though i don't think i'm supposed to use anything larger than a 4gb tape in this drive) and see what happens.

Thanks .. I'll post back the results.

 

[WildDoktor]

A quick check would be to click the "job monitor" tab and see how big your full backup is. For example, if you're using a 4Gb tape and a full backup is 3.5Gb, and your diff's are .8Gb, then you won't be able to append the diff's to that tape (not enough space left); it will want to overwrite instead.

Also, does your version of BENT have a "reports" tab? If so, click that tab and go to the reports folder, and you should be able to create a report that details your tapes and tells you how much information is on them.

bill

 

[janeybean]

bill,

Acc to the #s, even with the full b/up on the tape, it should still have room to do at least 2 updates -- so I'm not sure if that is it. But will test it with the larger tape. I did check the Report (there was one already created) and it shows this: Totals - Write MB - 2,486.125 I'm assuming this means total MB EVER written to the tape and under Current MB -- 389.000 (which matches the reading from the Daily Report).

Thanks again!

 

[janeybean]

bill,

i just was thinking .. the tapes I am using are 4gb/8gb tapes .. meaning 8gb if the data is compressed (right?) and I believe I have that box ticked in my setup options ... is this not how it should work?

 

[WildDoktor]

In general, yes; but I have heard a lot of people say that they never get close to the "compressed" capacity that the tape advertizes...apparently it depends on a lot of factors, including the type of data you're backing up, how your SCSI devices are setup, what type of drive you're using, etc. I don't have any hard facts about any of that; just have read the complaints! I know that my 35Gb (native) / 70Gb (compressed) tapes usually only get to about 59Gb; but some have gotten to 79Gb. It just depends...

Bill