Networker

Re: [Networker] Tape library operations

2003-06-10 19:10:23
Subject: Re: [Networker] Tape library operations
From: Jack Lyons <jack.lyons AT ATTBI DOT COM>
To: NETWORKER AT LISTMAIL.TEMPLE DOT EDU
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 19:10:07 -0400
I am not sure exactly about the issue about withdrawing the tapes manually
will make the mminfo db out of date - does someone have a link or more info
about that?

wouldn't you really mean volaccess>"1 week ago"?

What I do to maximize the length of time that I keep my tapes is roughly the
following.  The only variable is 'n' which is how many tapes do you want to
have relabeled:
1) using mminfo, list all the tapes that can be rewritten (for us is it all
tapes in the Daily Pool, so mminfo -q 'Pool=Daily') sorted by date (-o t) -
so for us the command is -> mminfo -a -q 'pool=Daily' -o t
2) I then wrote a awk script that will take the top 'n' tapes (i.e. the 'n'
oldest tapes) and pipe the output of the command above into the awk script.
3) I then get the slot number for each tape if it is in the jukebox and
create the relabel commands for the tapes in the jukebox.  If there any
tapes not in the jukebox, I will email the missing tapes to one of the techs
who knows how load/unload the tapes.

I think that is a little better than volaccess statement, since that may or
may not be enough tapes?  I also might be able to do it a little better in
/bin/ksh if I knew shell programming better.

Jack

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cyndi Smith" <Cyndi.Smith AT ASPENTECH DOT COM>
To: <NETWORKER AT LISTMAIL.TEMPLE DOT EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 5:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Networker] Tape library operations


> Set up a script to do the withdrawals for you and then run it from cron.
>
> Use mmrpt to produce a list of full tapes that have not been written to in
a
> week (or whatever time period works for you) and then eject them. Here is
an
> example in /bin/ksh:
>
>  mminfo -a -r "volume" -q %used="full" -q volaccess<"1 week ago" -q
> location=JUKEBOX > /tmp/withdrawn
>  while read vol_name
>      do
>          nsrjb -w $vol_name
>          print "    Volume $vol_name withdrawn to mailslot. "
>          mmlocate -u -n $vol_name Cabinet
>      done < /tmp/withdrawn
>  rm /tmp/withdrawn
>
> Cyndi
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Stan Horwitz [mailto:stan AT TEMPLE DOT EDU]
> > Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 3:52 PM
> > To: NETWORKER AT LISTMAIL.TEMPLE DOT EDU
> > Subject: [Networker] Tape library operations
> >
> >
> > FYI:
> >
> > Does anyone on this list have some tips on how to more
> > efficiently do tape
> > library operations? Perhaps some of you on this list are
> > confronted with the
> > same issue. Since we bought our Qualstar 412600 library with
> > AIT-2 tape
> > drives three years ago, our backup requirements have
> > mushroomed. I am looking
> > at upgrading the library from AIT-2 to AIT-3, but that is a
> > considerable
> > expense so management here might balk.
> >
> > Currently, I spend several hours a week swapping out full
> > tapes with tapes
> > that are eligible for re-use.  We recently upgraded to
> > NetWorker 6.1.3.
> > Currently, I use "nsrjb -w" to withdraw tapes and
> > individually remove them
> > from our tape library's one-tape load port, then use "nsrjb -d" to
> > individually load replacement tape cartridges into the
> > library. This takes a
> > lot of time.
> >
> > In an earlier version of NetWorker, when we first bought our Qualstar
> > library, I started out by managing tapes by manually opening
> > the front door
> > of the library, and replacing full tapes with eligible tapes
> > without using
> > nsrjb to withraw and deposit tapes; I would just reinventory
> > the library
> > after swapping out the tapes. I did not have to do this very
> > often so it took
> > a little while before I realized that doing so was not a good
> > idea. This
> > practice caused NetWorker's media database to become outdated
> > so I stopped
> > doing that and I resorted to using "nsrjb". I am wondering if
> > the practice of
> > manually loading/unloading tapes with NetWorker 6.1.3 would
> > still present
> > media database problems, or if there is some other more
> > efficient way of
> > swapping out tapes with this type of tape library.
> >
> > When we originally bought this tape library, we intended to
> > keep three months
> > worth of data online in the library. Now, I shoot to keep one
> > week's worth of
> > data in the library, although we still have a lot of data on
> > tape in the
> > library that's many months old. I usually swap out about 15
> > to 20 AIT-2 tapes
> > every other day.
> >
> > I also understand that the current firmware revision 2.20 for
> > the Qualstar
> > 412600 library supports a virtual load port. I just
> > submittede paperwork to
> > order the EPROM chips for that revision. We have revision
> > 2.12 in our library
> > now.  I am wondering if anyone has tried allocating one or
> > two 10-slot tape
> > cradles within the library for use as a virtual load port and
> > what your
> > experience is in doing so. The down side is it would reduce
> > storage capacity
> > in the library a bit, but I am hoping the operational time
> > savings would be
> > worth that sacrifice.
> >
> > Any comments on this issue will be appreciated.
> >
> > --
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>
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