Format a media always before starting backup

[chappy72]

Hello

I'm not sure if I'm right.
Is it true that it doesn't make sense to format every media before backup to it?
Because with each format the tape gets a new ID. And this is a little bit too much if I want to restore by session, that means I would have hundreds of sessions (for each ID one new session).

Is it still the best way to format the medias one time before the first usage? Like "Monday 1", "Monday 2", etc.

Thanks

Daniel

 

[vschumpy]

It is recommended to quick erase plus tapes before use or re-use if you are using different software or a different version of ARCserve - this just ensures that the tape header all things being equal is written correctly.

As regards formatting - if you have selected the overwrite option in your backup job then yes, the tape will be formatted each time. You would only get a new session when you append. What I think you're trying to get at is that a new tape name (rather than session) will appear in the restore views/database when the tape is overwritten, and that to a certain extent is true, however, the 30 day default prune job should routinely keep those down to a manageable level.

An important distinction between formatting and erasing - formatting simply wipes out the existing tape name and RID (random ID) and reuses the existing header, running a quick erase plus wipes out the existing header and writes a new one with the new information. To be honest I never use formatting if I am blanking a tape - always quick erase plus - just a habit I got into over the years. It is fine to let ARCserve format the tape as part of the job though.

 

[dprello]

Is it possible to set up "Quick Erase Plus - Destroy label and Serial #" in the Job Scheduler?

 

[davidmichel]

ca_devmgr erase qz, see help for details