Append to tapes that have been ejected and reinserted

[ASCIInoSymbols]

I cant figure out how to append data to a tape that has been ejected and then reinserted.

We have three tapes in rotation, but use them every work day. We want to append data to the tape that was used on monday, when its reinserted on thursday, without it deleting the previous backups on the tape (unless the tape is full). But i keep reading on this forum that its not possible if the tape has been offline?

Is this possible, and if so, what settings are essential for getting this to work?

[david.domask]

Hi ASCIInoSymbols,

This will depend on your Media Set Creation configuration, and I'm guessing the reason you cannot append is because the media set closed; once a media set is closed, it cannot be re-opened and you cannot append.

If I get you right, you have 3x tapes and each day in sequence you use a new tape, correct? If so, a strategy similar to the last question on our Tape FAQ should work for you (3x jobs, 3x media pools with each dedicated tape)

[ASCIInoSymbols]

Thank you for helping me out!

1. Is it not possible to prevent the media set from closing, or to re-open the media set?

2. I dont think making 3 jobs will work for me but correct me if I am wrong.
Because we run a full backup on friday that takes around 24 hours to complete, and run incremental backups the rest of the workweek days.
If I create 3 jobs, i would also have to run the full backup also three times, correct? and I wouldn't have enough time to do that during workweek days i think.

[david.domask]

You're quite welcome.

1. As noted, once a media set is closed, it cannot be re-opened. The Media Set option "Do not create, always continue" will continue the same media set without closing it barring the exceptions listed on the User Guide page.

2. With this particular tape-out scenario, you are correct, the suggestion probably is not applicable.

Can you explain your tape-out strategy a bit more? As I get it, you have:

3x tapes
1 for full backups (?)
2 for incremental backups (?)
Full backup should run on Friday, remainder of the week should be incremental backups(?)

I'm not quite getting your rotation strategy -- originally I understood your plan was to use a dedicated tape for each day, but I see that's not the case, so please confirm if I have it correct or elaborate on your desired strategy.

Potentially Tape GFS can help here (Weekly GFS point on friday with the append option, then use the Daily media set to capture the incrementals), but I'm not confident on your intended rotation scheme.

[ASCIInoSymbols]

1. I wish i could set it up to append to a closed media set, would be usefull.
2. i realized my backup strategy was flawed, and have since told the employee who inserts the tape to just use 6 tapes, 1 monday tape, 1 tuesday tape, 1 wednesday tape, 1 thursday tape, 1 friday even week, 1 friday uneven week.

3. i am going to give GFS a try, but they keep forgetting to place the tape on friday, which is when i want to start using a GFS schedule. So i havent gotten to it yet.