> The question is: What is wrong with a logical copy?
> Pros:
> - Networker will not get confused if he happens to see both tapes at
> the same time
> - Easy to create. No wizardy needed.
> - No issues with varying capacity on tapes due to different write 
speeds.
> 
> Cons:
> - None

So let's assume: I make a logical copy (clone using nsrclone) of my tape 
that has the bootstrap and CFI on it. I keep the clone tape local in my 
tape library; I send the original offsite, for safety. Now I need to do a 
CFI recovery (nsrck -L7). Which tape will NW ask me to load and mount? The 
original, or the clone?

If the original, then I have to recall it from offsite storage (which in 
my case requires approval from further up the corporate ladder), which 
takes time. Then I have to do the CFI recovery, then determine which 
actual data tapes I need, and recall them, which is more time. (you'd be 
surprised at the number of recover requests I get that start (I don't 
remember the exact name of the file, but it's something like ...", meaning 
I need to browse the CFI to determine what I need, and what tapes I need 
from that point onward)

If NW will let me recover the CFI from the clone, then I can cut out one 
of those tape recall steps, and save time.

So (and it's an honest question, since I don't know): will NW use the 
locally available clone to do the CFI recover? I suspect not, but I don't 
know for sure.

This is NW 7.6.2, BTW.

I find it surprising that NW doesn't have a utility to make such a copy. 
According to my boss, even ArcServe had that capability, years ago, before 
we started using NW.