Saving some library space...

[pcspxp]

Hi,



Our 3584 Library is getting a bit full, and seeing as we keep all our Exchange backups for ever, it would be nice if we could find a way getting all the EXCHTAPE pool tapes out fo the library to make some room. I know we have our EXCHCOPY pool tapes in secure storage, but I was wondering if anyone knows any way we could achieve this?



At the moment we have 230 out of 500+ tapes which have Exchange data on them!



Thanks



Paul

[sgabriel62]

This may be some work for you, but you could change the statuses of the volumes to out of library; check out the media; and when the media is requested check in the volume again. It's actually more work on your tape handlers. The quickest is to take the media that is FULL and check these out. Those that are PENDING or FILLING, I would leave in since these most likely are the most frequently requested pieces of media.



Hope this helps



Steve

[CBell]

Funny you should mention this, we have an almost identical problem. In our situation, the importance for the Exchange data is not that it is offsite, but available, so I only have a sequential storage pool, no copy pool. However, I have been ejecting all full Exchange volumes manually once every couple of weeks, but I plan on writing a script to check these out once a week. I am storing the ejected tapes in the data center until they decide we no longer have to keep the emails forever, when I will then change the retention policy back to something feasible, and WALA! oodles of scratch barely-used LTO2 tapes. I'm rambling. I would suggest doing what I am going to do, and check those out with the method of your choice if you have a place locally to store them. Hope this helps!

[sgabriel62]

C

Good for you - already on top of things. Paul sounds like we have found the solution for you.

Give it a go and let us know your results.



Steven

[pcspxp]

Thanks guys, that's just got rid of nearly 200 tapes!



Haven't tried it yet, but I guess that if I do a restore, the library manager will ask for the relevant tape to be checked in...



PP

[snydosaurus]

Same problem here!



We send exchange tapes to an overflow pool with the MOVE MEDIA command (move media * stg=exchange_tapepool). This could be automated with a schedule, as they'll go to your mail/bulk slot(s) without having to issue a reply. As they become empty, we check them back in as scratch.



As far as I know, Q REQ should indicate which tapes to mount for your restores, but fortunately haven't had to restore my Exchange... yet.