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How often do you replace tapes?
We need to design a policy for tapes replacement. At the web i founded a recomendation for LTO4 media, It must be replaced after 250 full backups.
So My idea it's to use the recycled counter as a limit (250) for mark a tape ready for replace.
Is it correct, please what do you think about IT?
Thank you very much!
Gustavo. Uehara
Anonymous
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March 18th, 2011 13:00
Hi,
Yes, recycled count is probably the only option available for you from NetWorker using the mminfo command.
Recycled shows how many times it has been overwritten and generally it should be good indicator. It does not necessarily mean that the tape was written to its full capacity all the time. For example, when tape is recycled and only had some data written to it. Or if the administrator is manually recycling tapes with little data written to it. Relableing tapes will also increment the account.
So, recycled can be used to count the number of times the volume has been used for writing. Please make sure to consult the tape manufacturer to find out how often should the tapes be replaced.
Chamkaur Sandhu
Mark_Bellows
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March 17th, 2011 12:00
Hello!
Tapes are a tough call. Yes, 250 full backups is a good average for LTO4 - as long as they are stored in proper tempature and humity controls. If not (espeically if it is too hot or too dry), the life of a tape can be a fair amount shorter. That is the biggest concern.
Have you considered backing up to disk? It is far easier to manage, as there is no tape replacements for daily / weekly backups. Also, if implemented properly, there is no need for shipping tapes offsite for long term storage.
GustavoUehara
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March 18th, 2011 11:00
Hello Mark,
Thank you for your response.
At the moment it'snt possible to think in disk. May be in another project We will start doing disk backup.
My doubt it's about how to count a tape full backup? for keep control of the 250 full backup limit.
Is it correct to count the recycle cycles as a limit?
than you
GustavoUehara
10 Posts
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March 18th, 2011 13:00
Hi Chamkaur Sandhu,
Thank you for you response! . Now , It's clear for me.
I'll start working in mminfo comand.
example. mminfo -av -r volume,recycled,mounts,pool
Gustavo Uehara