Dell DR4300e NetVault Backup - Best Practices for Setting up VTL Containers an - Page 9

To alert administrators that a job has run out of media, you can use NetVault Backup's global

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In our sample DR VTL Container, we can now look at grouping the data that is to be backed up to work with media groups as target sets. For example, if we have 2TB of data to back up, the backup is processed on a weekly Full Backup basis, and the retention is 4 weeks, we need 8TB of media. With media at 100GB each, 80 pieces of media can be added to the target media group. The main reason for using media groups is so we can force the DR Series appliance to reuse media before using blank media. NetVault Backup's media selection algorithm is: • Target media in a drive • Target media in a slot • Target blank media • Target media marked for re-use As you can see, blank media would be used before media marked for reuse. If we do not reuse media, the DR Series appliance will never be able to recover the space. By reusing media, NetVault Backup overwrites the previous contents after the header has been updated and reuses available space that otherwise would not be reclaimable by the clean cycle of the DR Series appliance. Keeping spare media that is not grouped blank will keep the usage of the DR Series appliance unit as low as possible. Because the Automatically label BLANK media option is disabled, the backup may run out of media before it completes, especially if the data set is growing. This is the trade off when using a DR Series appliance; media management becomes necessary to ensure best use of the unit. To alert administrators that a job has run out of media, you can use NetVault Backup's global notification to send an email to the system operator indicating that there is No Suitable Media to complete the job. The media request can then be placed on hold in the Device Management window. Blank media can be added to the relevant target media group, and the media request taken off hold. While this is not ideal, it does allow the job to finish. You could also set up an automated media utilization report (job ID 13), and have it sent to the system operator on a reoccurring basis to track the media usage. This will allow the system operator to add media ahead of time to help prevent the preceding scenario. 9 Best practices for setting up Dell VTL Container or NetVault Backup native virtual tape library (nVTL)

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Best practices for setting up Dell VTL Container or NetVault Backup native virtual tape library (nVTL)
9
In our sample DR VTL Container, we can now look at grouping the data that is to be backed
up to work with media groups as target sets. For example, if we have 2TB of data to back
up, the backup is processed on a weekly Full Backup basis, and the retention is 4 weeks, we
need 8TB of media. With media at 100GB each, 80 pieces of media can be added to the
target media group. The main reason for using media groups is so we can force the DR Series
appliance to reuse media before using blank media.
NetVault Backup’s media selection algorithm is:
• Target media in a drive
• Target media in a slot
• Target blank media
• Target media marked for re-use
As you can see, blank media would be used before media marked for reuse. If we do not
reuse media, the DR Series appliance will never be able to recover the space. By reusing
media, NetVault Backup overwrites the previous contents after the header has been updated
and reuses available space that otherwise would not be reclaimable by the clean cycle of the
DR Series appliance. Keeping spare media that is not grouped blank will keep the usage of
the DR Series appliance unit as low as possible.
Because the Automatically label BLANK media option is disabled, the backup may run out
of media before it completes, especially if the data set is growing. This is the trade off when
using a DR Series appliance; media management becomes necessary to ensure best use of
the unit.
To alert administrators that a job has run out of media, you can use NetVault Backup’s global
notification to send an email to the system operator indicating that there is No Suitable
Media to complete the job. The media request can then be placed on hold in the Device
Management window. Blank media can be added to the relevant target media group, and the
media request taken off hold. While this is not ideal, it does allow the job to finish.
You could also set up an automated media utilization report (job ID 13), and have it sent
to the system operator on a reoccurring basis to track the media usage. This will allow the
system operator to add media ahead of time to help prevent the preceding scenario.