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Backup Schema/Off Site Storage

 
Joe Robinson_1
Occasional Advisor

Backup Schema/Off Site Storage

I'm in the process of implementing a L Class server (along with 2 NT servers) that utilizes a DLT. Along with learning OmniBack, I'm new to the concept of implementing DLT tape rotations as far as how they relate to rotating my tapes off site (done once per week). I back all systems up in full nightly (fortunately for me these aren't systems required to be running 24/7); if someone might have a Standard Operating Procedure or diagram as far as how you're doing your tape rotation, I'd be grateful!

Thanks in advance,
Joe Robinson
SA
USPFO for Oregon
2 REPLIES 2
A. Clay Stephenson
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: Backup Schema/Off Site Storage

Hi Joe,

My favorite way to do what you describe is not to rotate at all. In the DLT environment, the tape lifetimes are very long. I simply let the Omniback Media Pool for my libraries select the expired tape and use it. When you create a backup specification, you specify the protection time. After that, the media is fair game and can be reused. Believe it not, in over
four years, I've not had to replace any media and I backup nitely.

I don't even remove media for offsite storage. Instead, I use the omnimcopy command to copy the media to another DLT tape. That does two things: 1) The media I need for restores is always on hand 2) If the media copy was ok I know I have a good backup. The good news is that this is all automatic and all the operator has to do is run a command to replace the copied media each day. The omnimcopy command is fired of after the backups finish each nite and are ready for the operator the next day.

Regards, Clay
If it ain't broke, I can fix that.
D Wong
Regular Advisor

Re: Backup Schema/Off Site Storage

Hi Joe:

There are good books on backup e.g. Jody Leber from O'Reilly publisher ISBN:1-56592-272-7.

Or some typical ideals 5 day work week:
1) initial install full backup
2) then on nightly incrementals M-Th
3) full backup on F
4) archieve all tape on M
5) repeat with new tapes till 1 month of archieves
6) recycle tapes and repeat cycle

Your IT dept requirements may vary depending
how long your user may need to have archieves of their data.

Pick a reasonable amount of time, since a large number of DLT tapes can get expensive.