Barcodescan during backup?

[Rob0815]

Hi everybody,

I´am Robert and i´ve got a very simple question:

can i perform a barcodescan while a backup is running?  or should we only scan for new tapes when no backup is running?

We use DP 6.

Thanks in advance

Robert

P.S.This thread has been moved from  Storage>General to Tape Libraries and Drives- HP Forums Moderator

[Matti_Kurkela · Accepted solution]

That probably depends on the exact model of the tape library you're using.

A long time ago, I noticed that a certain HP/StorageTek tape library would automatically perform a barcode scan when it was powered up/reset or the access doors were closed, and would apparently cache the result internally (updating it as the robot arm moved tapes back & forth). When the controlling server issued a scan command, the library would simply return the barcode information from the library's internal cache.

The control panel of the library allowed you to force a real barcode scan if it was necessary, but it was never really needed: if you opened the access door, it caused a safety switch to trip, powering down the robotic mechanism and causing the library controller to automatically re-scan the entire library as soon as the door was closed again.

If your tape library behaves similarly, you should feel free to tell your backup program to run a barcode scan at any time.

[Rob0815]

Thanks MK for that quick response!

We got a MSL6060 and DP06.11

We thought:

we can only put a new tape in our library if no backup is currently running. After changing location from mailslot to slotXX we run a barcode scan und format the tape.

But the "timeframe" when no backup is running, is very short.

So we will try to scan for barcodes during backups. Thanks again!

Robert