I've run into this problem before using Alexandria.  Format was cpio,
fragment size was 2.5GB or thereabout on Solaris 2.5.  When trying to
extract single files from the fragment I was unable to because of the size.

Ken Zufall
Work: 330.202.4113
Cell: 330.465.8113
Pager: 888.896.3272
E-page: 4403037243.8963272 AT pagenet DOT net
<mailto:4403037243.8963272 AT pagenet DOT net> 

                -----Original Message-----
                From:   Rob Worman [mailto:rworman AT yahoo DOT com]
                Sent:   Wednesday, October 17, 2001 2:49 PM
                To:     Zufall, Ken
                Cc:     EBU (E-mail)
                Subject:        Re: [Veritas-bu] Fragment size settings

                Are you saying that a Solaris version that doesn't support
largefiles 
                (ignoring the fact that that vintage of Solaris is no longer
supported 
                by NBU > 3.2...) would not be able to extract files from a
tape that 
                contains a 10 GB tar file?  I can't disprove this fact, but
I can doubt 
                it.  ;-)

                rob

                Zufall, Ken wrote:

                >Fragmentation shouldn't be a problem.  Not sure about NBU,
but other
                >applications I've worked with won't cut a file in the
middle of a fragment,
                >it will continue to end of current file.  So, if you've
already backed up
                >1.5GB and the next file is .7MB, your fragment size will be
2.2GB.  Not
                >using fragmentation will cause problems however, because
some systems
                >(Solaris 2.5 for sure, think they finally fixed in 2.7?)
won't allow file
                >sizes over 2GB in size.  So a 10GB tar file would be
unmanageable in this
                >instance.
                >
                >Ken Zufall
                >Work: 330.202.4113
                >Cell: 330.465.8113
                >Pager: 888.896.3272
                >E-page: 4403037243.8963272 AT pagenet DOT net
                ><mailto:4403037243.8963272 AT pagenet DOT net> 
                >
                >               -----Original Message-----
                >               From:   Rob Worman
[mailto:rworman AT yahoo DOT com]
                >               Sent:   Wednesday, October 17, 2001 11:56 AM
                >               To:     EBU (E-mail)
                >               Subject:        Re: [Veritas-bu] Fragment
size settings
                >
                >               and I know of one price you pay for the use
of fragment
                >size: 
                >               complication of a "non-NBU" tape restore,
i.e. reading from
                >a NetBackup 
                >               tape using only tar.
                >
                >               Without fragmentation, a single 10GB backup
image = a single
                >10GB tar 
                >               file. But with a fragment size of 2000, that
10GB backup
                >image is now 5 
                >               separate tar files.
                >
                >               Unlike the use of multiplexing, fragmenting
is not
                >necessarily a 
                >               "showstopper" when considering this aspect
of NetBackup's DR
                >
                >               capabilities, but if you really want to be
prepared for
                >tar-only 
                >               NetBackup restores, you MUST understand the
effect
                >fragmentation has on 
                >               your media contents. (and you'd be smart to
write a script
                >to automate 
                >               all the tar commands...)
                >
                >               HTH
                >               rob
                >
                >
                >               Kyle Adamski wrote:
                >
                >               > The theory behind the fragment size
setting on the storage
                >unit is to 
                >               > break the larger tar images into smaller
fragments. This
                >allows 
                >               > restores to speed up because in between
the fragments is a
                >tape mark 
                >               > (identifying what is on the fragment) that
will allow NBU
                >to scan the 
                >               > tape faster for what it is looking for vs
reading the
                >entire image. We 
                >               > use them and have them set at 2G....I have
never tested
                >the speed of 
                >               > restores with and without them....I have
just accepted
                >them in 
                >               > principle and assumed that they worked as
advertised. If
                >you have them 
                >               > set at 0(unlimited) there will be no
fragmentation.
                >               >
                >               > Hope that helps.
                >               >
                >               > Kyle A. Adamski
                >               >
                >               > kylea AT firstlogic DOT com
                >               >
                >               > 608.788.8154 x3093
                >               >
                >               > -----Original Message-----
                >               > From: Brochart, Fabrice
[mailto:BrochF AT europe.stortek DOT com]
                >               > Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 9:23 AM
                >               > To: 'Sixbury, Dan'; EBU (E-mail)
                >               > Subject: RE: [Veritas-bu] Fragment size
settings
                >               >
                >               > Hi ,
                >               >
                >               > I read somewhere that restore is more
faster with fragment
                >size 
                >               > (depend on size (depend on backup :) ))
                >               >
                >               > And some customers tells me the same
things but I've never
                >verified.
                >               >
                >               > HTH
                >               >
                >               > F@brice
                >               >
                >               > -----Message d'origine-----
                >               > De : Sixbury, Dan
[mailto:sixbury AT celeritas DOT com ]
                >               > Envoyé : mercredi 17 octobre 2001 16:00
                >               > À : EBU (E-mail)
                >               > Objet : [Veritas-bu] Fragment size
settings
                >               >
                >               > Has anyone seen any benefits for using
fragment size on
                >the storage units,
                >               > or have reasons to not use fragment sizes?
I think the
                >default is
                >               > unlimited, but I noticed that we had some
storage units
                >that were set to
                >               > 2000 while others had the default of
unlimited.
                >               >
                >               > Thanks,
                >               > Dan
                >               >
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                >
                >
                >
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