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Dell NetWorker 19.9 Administration Guide

Non-rewinding tape device usage (UNIX/Linux only)

Tape drives used as storage devices must be accessed by non-rewinding device files. The NetWorker server assumes that a tape is in the same position in which it was the last time it was accessed. If the operating system’s device driver rewinds the tape, then the position is lost, and previously written data will be overwritten by the next backup.

The NetWorker configuration software automatically chooses the correct device pathname for tape devices. If the user specifies the pathname, then it must be non-rewinding, and it must follow the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) semantic rules.

For example, /dev/rmt/0mbn, where:

  • The b satisfies the BSD semantics requirement on Solaris and HP-UX.
  • The n specifies non-rewinding behavior on Solaris, HP-UX, Linux, and HP-Tru64.

On AIX, the number following the decimal selects the BSD and non-rewinding behavior and must be either 1 or 5 for NetWorker software (for example /dev/rmt2.1).

NOTE:Never change a device pathname from non-rewinding (/dev/rmt/0cbn) to rewinding (/dev/rmt/0cb). When the pathname is changed to rewinding, the data could only be saved, but never recovered. All but the last save are overwritten by later saves.

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