We are also wrestling with how to figure out when/how to rotate tapes. 
What do people do, just swap tapes out when you get "no media available" 
errors?  (Doesn't that mean at least one backup fails?)  Or just swap 
them out on a schedule, even if some or many tapes might be empty?  We 
used to do this, and we put colored dot stickers on the tapes and 
rotated red, yellow, blue, and green sets and made sure the retention 
lengths would make the tapes available before we put them back in the 
jukebox.

I assume Vault simplifies this process.  Can anyone confirm whether a 
Vault license is or isn't included with a Netbackup Enterprise 5.x base 
license?  Our reseller tells us it's still sold separately.

Thanks!

-Adam


JR advises:

Alternately, you could use the Vault option of
NetBackup without the duplication step. Assuming you
are using 5.x or above Vault is included in the
licensing. This is what we use to determine the tapes
that need to be removed and put back in the library.
There are multiple reports that will tell you what
tapes to remove and when they need to be reinserted in
the library. Even if you don't have 5.x, it might be
worth looking into licensing for 4.5. It saves a lot
of headaches of scripting and trying to keep track of
it yourself.

"A wise man once said 'Wherever you go, there you are'"
       -Mike Brady