Tape Ejection in BE8.6

[sgscit]

Hi All,

One of my LTO tapes keeps ejecting. The backups are set to Append, Overwite if tape full, but it still ejects the tape and fails the job.

The error recieved is:
The media provided to continue the backup already contains data
from one or more sets created during this operation.
The operation can not be continued.


As we are using 100/200 LTO's we are not getting any where near capacity on the tapes without having multiple backups on each tape - even using the full backup method.
We would prefer not to have to erase the tapes prior to use as this allows more scope for troubleshooting and recovery of old files that we use and modify.

Q&A time.

Thanks ppls.

Cheers,

Pete.

 

[SQLBill]

A tape cannot have data, from a single backup, at both the end of the tape and at the beginning. So, if the backup job is appended to the tape and the tape runs out before the job is over, it CANNOT go to the beginning of the tape and finish there. About the only things you can do is to allow overwrite more frequently or keep a close eye on how full the tape is getting and replace it before it gets to the point where the data will have to 'spill over' onto another tape.

-SQLBill

 

[pwong]

I got the same problem. Any way to resolve this other than keeping track of the tape? Thanks.

 

[Qdog]

Dude, your job filled the tape and needed to span to a second tape. But because you got None or zero hours/days (whatever) overwrite protection on your targeted media set, the backup software sees the tape that it just wrote to as available for overwrite. But then it sees it just wrote to that tape via the header on the tape and it then bombs out w/the error in your post.

I know....you don't believe me. It's ok, I won't take it personally. So, next time that happens, try running an 'Append-Terminate if no appendable media found' backup of just one file, like the boot.ini file, to the tape it just wrote to before getting that error. If it errors out w/a weird error about appendable media not found or physical volume media not found, there you go! Your tape is full.

Cheers!

 

[Rols]

QDOG is 100% right

 

[royalmail]

Ironically, this is the exact same issue that I am having, and started a different thread about it...

If there is no other way to deal with this other than watching out for the tape utilisation then I suppose that is all there is to do.

Incidentally, is there an easy way to determine how full a tape is, or do you just have to add up the sum of the jobs that have already run?

 

[sgscit]

Thanks ppls. I've altered the tape rotation to allow for the full tape.

Any answers on Royalmail's Q?

Cheers,

Pete

 

[Qdog]

Sadly, tape capacity is not easy to determine. It's detective work. You have to look at a backup job log that started overwriting a particular tape and then follow along thru the log(s) to see when it spans to a second tape. Then just add up the bytes.

happy hunting!

 

[Cuba7]

A media report will tell you all the stats of your media, including current capacity.


Cuba

 

[sgscit]

Cuba - Kewl.

Now as there are a few people on this subject who don't know how to do the media report - or didn't know it existed, can you please enlighten us on how to access and utilise this little known secret?

What versions is it available in?

Cheers,

Pete

 

[Cuba7]

"Reports" tab, double-click on "Media Set"

That's in version 9.0, 8.6 has a similar report name, I can't remember it exactly.

v9.0 has a huge amount of reports, very useful for users with complex backup jobs


Cuba