Operating System - HP-UX
1834629 Members
3218 Online
110069 Solutions
New Discussion

Question Regarding DDS 3 Autoloader

 
SOLVED
Go to solution
John_44
Advisor

Question Regarding DDS 3 Autoloader

Hello All,

I have a system that has outgrown the single DDS3 drive that is attached to the server. So I am thinking of getting a DDS3 Autoloader. On this server we use fbackup. Can I use fbackup with an autoloader? Or I am going to have to purchase another backup program? Any guidance would be appreciated and I will assign points.

John
9 REPLIES 9
Steven E. Protter
Exalted Contributor

Re: Question Regarding DDS 3 Autoloader

I have one of those guys.

We primarily used it for omniback backups. There was configuration software to deal with tape changes and everything.

I was once told by support that you should be able to use fbackup on it, though how to do so is a question someone else is going to have to answer.

Fbackup will not be able to back up open database files such as oracle or sybase or adabas. To get clean backups of databases stored on vxfs filesystems, you'll either need to shut down the database or use a different product.

In omniback over v 3.5, there is built in oracle 8.x backup functionality using rman.

v 4.1 supports oracle 9.x backups using oracle tools.

Most of the major vendors, like Veritas, also supports the drive.

If you can figure out how to get a tape from the magazine into the tape drive on the auto loader, you should even be able to tar or cpio to it.

On our system it shows up as device /dev/rmt/1m

SEP
Steven E Protter
Owner of ISN Corporation
http://isnamerica.com
http://hpuxconsulting.com
Sponsor: http://hpux.ws
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hpuxlinux
Founder http://newdatacloud.com
Jeff Schussele
Honored Contributor

Re: Question Regarding DDS 3 Autoloader

Hi John,

Although I've personnally never used fbackup with these devices, the man page references autochangers & libraries so I don't see why not.
I'd suspect that in the fbackup command you'd specify the robot or loader in the -f parameter instead of the tape drive itself - but I'm not certain.

Rgds,
Jeff
PERSEVERANCE -- Remember, whatever does not kill you only makes you stronger!
Sridhar Bhaskarla
Honored Contributor
Solution

Re: Question Regarding DDS 3 Autoloader

Hi John,

This was back when I had backup & recovery as one of my sysadm functionality.

fbackup does support autoloaders. You will need to use -c option and specify a configuration file using chgvol script. You will need to chgvol script that will do the job for you.

Look at the following document. It's bit old but should work if you know the device files well.

//from knowledge database

An example fbackup chgvol for autoloaders DocId: KBRC00000107 Updated: 5/2/01 8:04:00 AM

PROBLEM
Below is an example chgvol script to enable the unattended use of tape
libraries and autoloaders with fbackup(1M). It is unsupported, but has
worked fine for many customers. It assumes the device file for the robotics
is at /dev/picker. This maybe changed in the script.

Save this script in the file /var/adm/fbackupfiles/chgvol, and make it
executable. You will need to make sure that one of the switches on the
fbackup command line is -y. If you are using sam to
schedule the backups then it is recommended to do the following to add the -
y:

1) cp /usr/sam/lbin/br_backup /usr/sam/lbin/br_backup.change
2) Change the cron job to call the modified br_backup.change
3) Edit the br_backup.change in the following two lines

FULL) backup_type="-0" to
FULL) backup_type="-0 -y"
and
PART) backup_type="-1" to
PART) backup_type="-1 -y"


Also you will need to use the -c option with fbackup, and specify
a configuration file(/var/adm/fbackupfiles/fbackup_config is a good
place for this file). Sam does this automatically. You will just need
to edit the existing file.

In this configuration file you should specify the following:

blocksperrecord 128
records 32
checkpointfreq 256
readerprocesses 2
maxretries 5
retrylimit 5000000
maxvoluses 100
chgvol /var/adm/fbackupfiles/chgvol
filesperfsm 200


RESOLUTION

#!/usr/bin/sh
####################
# chgvol for autoloaders
# Revision 1.0
# Date: 12/21/99
# Author: James Kirkland / jtk@atl.hp.com
# Purpose: To allow fbackup to work with autoloaders
# NOTE! This script is not supported by HP. It is provided as an example only!!
####################

# Setting up variables

TMPDIR=/var/tmp
RTDIR=/var/adm/chgvol
SES_FILE=$RTDIR/session
NUM=$TMPDIR/chg_num.tmp
PICKER=/dev/picker # device file for the robotic arm

#scripting

get_current_pid(){
NOW_PID=`ps -ef |grep fbackup |grep -v grep | cut -c 10-16`
return 0
}


is_sess_old (){
S_PID=`tail -1 $SES_FILE`
get_current_pid
if [ $NOW_PID -eq $S_PID ]
then
echo "Continuing with current session from fbackup PID $S_PID"
else
echo "This is the first tape change for fbackup PID $NOW_PID"
echo $NOW_PID > $SES_FILE
init_num
fi
return 0
}

init_num() {
echo "1" > $NUM
return 0
}

if [ -a $SES_FILE ]
then
is_sess_old
else
touch $SES_FILE
is_sess_old
fi
if [ -a $NUM ]
then
S_NUM=`cat $NUM`
else
init_num
S_NUM=`cat $NUM`
fi
S_NUM_OLD=$S_NUM
let S_NUM=S_NUM_OLD+1
if [ $S_NUM_OLD -gt 0 ]
then
echo "Moving tape from Drive 1 to Slot $S_NUM_OLD ."
mc -p $PICKER -s D1 -d S$S_NUM_OLD
#err code needed
echo "Moving tape from Slot $S_NUM to Drive 1 ."
mc -p $PICKER -s S$S_NUM -d D1
#err code needed
echo $S_NUM > $NUM
logger -t chgvol -p local0.info "Changing tape. Pulling from Slot
$S_NUM"
fi
exit 0


//end

-Sri
You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try
Frank Slootweg
Honored Contributor

Re: Question Regarding DDS 3 Autoloader

Please note that while you may get it to work (somewhat), the combination of fbackup and a library (autoloader) is not supported (by HP).

If you want a supported solution, you will have to use something like HP's OmniBack.
W.C. Epperson
Trusted Contributor

Re: Question Regarding DDS 3 Autoloader

I think fbackup can handle the autoloader, but HP cautioned me that the DDS3 autoloader was not designed to take daily multi-volume backup usage.
"I have great faith in fools; self-confidence, my friends call it." --Poe
Pete Randall
Outstanding Contributor

Re: Question Regarding DDS 3 Autoloader

John,

For the money you're going to spend on an autoloader, you could actually get some slightly more current technology like a standalone DLT drive.

DLT8000 drives have a native capacity of 40 GB compared to the 12 GB capacity of a DDS3. Transfer rate is 6 MB/s compared to 1 MB/s. They're more dependable as well. Keep your old DDS3 around for loading firmware and the like but get a "real" tape drive for your backups.

Pete

Pete
Tom Jackson
Valued Contributor

Re: Question Regarding DDS 3 Autoloader

Hi John:

I just installed a DLT drive on my J6000. It has a tape changer and holds up to 8 tapes. Each tape holds up to 70 GB compressed. I use fbackup to do backups. I scheduled the backups through SAM. I also have cron automatically load the correct tape for the day. I also used the DLT to create an ignite tape.

Tom
Tom Jackson
Valued Contributor

Re: Question Regarding DDS 3 Autoloader

Hi John:

I forgot to mention that my DLT takes up two SCSI IDs, LUN0 and LUN1. This is because the tape drive uses a device ID (1), and the library changer uses a device ID (0).

Tom