On Thu, 1 May 2003 at 2:57pm, Gregor Ibic wrote

> ok, i understand that there wont be a single file, but the issue is that
> the entire package has to be read if a small piece wants to be restored.
> maybe this is a gnutar issue, but still it is annoying and sometimes an
> issue if you have to wait for few hours to get a small piece from the tape.

I'm still not quite sure we're there.  Only the tape file (backup image) 
containing the files you've requested needs to be read -- not the entire 
tape.  That backup image may be large, or it could be tiny, depending on 
the level of the backup that night and the size of the DLE.  Also, amanda 
2.4.4 has the option to 'mt fsf' directly to the correct file number on 
the tape, further saving time that used to be spent reading each file 
header.

If I've misunderstood you, I apologize.

And yes, this is a gnutar issue.  It may be different with a vendor dump 
program, but I don't know.

-- 
Joshua Baker-LePain
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Duke University