Re: Using an autoloader tape drive to receive level-0 archives?

Andy depends. The autoloaders I have used have a 'auto-magic' option to move to the next tape as required but you still need to code your script to cope with the 'insert' next tape request. The gotcha tends to be what do you set your TAPESIZE to? Too small and the tape won't rotate, too big and ontape is will error out and not all 120m tapes are 120 metres long. So we tend to use the scripts to advance the tape. The Solaris built in autoloader driver is significantly better in Solaris 8. C code for interfacing to this can be seen in the Amanda software (www.amanda.org) We have this successfully scripted at a number of sites. Cheers Paul Andy Lennard wrote: > > I guess there must be an easy answer to this, but I can't find it... > > If an autoloader is used to receive a level-0 archive, would I need to use > any 'custom software' on a Solaris2.6 server running IDS 7.31? Or do the > tapes just follow each other in sequence, as if by magic, so long as set the > correct parameters in the onconfig. > > Many thanks, > Andy. -- Paul Watson # Oninit Ltd # Growing old is mandatory Tel: +44 1436 672201 # Growing up is optional Fax: +44 1436 678693 # Mob: +44 7818 003457 # www.oninit.com #

"Paul Watson" <paul@oninit.com> wrote in message news:40A5E3E1.1E9CE2@oninit.com... > Andy > > depends. The autoloaders I have used have a 'auto-magic' option to > move to the next tape as required but you still need to code your > script to cope with the 'insert' next tape request. The gotcha > tends to be what do you set your TAPESIZE to? Too small and the > tape won't rotate, too big and ontape is will error out and > not all 120m tapes are 120 metres long. So we tend to use the scripts Remember that 9.40 has a new option to set TAPESIZE to 0 which writes up to the end of the tape! I assume onbar with a good storage manager could also do the same thing. > to advance the tape. The Solaris built in autoloader driver is > significantly better in Solaris 8. C code for interfacing to this > can be seen in the Amanda software (www.amanda.org) > > We have this successfully scripted at a number of sites. > > Cheers > Paul > > Andy Lennard wrote: > > > > I guess there must be an easy answer to this, but I can't find it... > > > > If an autoloader is used to receive a level-0 archive, would I need to use > > any 'custom software' on a Solaris2.6 server running IDS 7.31? Or do the > > tapes just follow each other in sequence, as if by magic, so long as set the > > correct parameters in the onconfig. > > > > Many thanks, > > Andy. > > -- > Paul Watson # > Oninit Ltd # Growing old is mandatory > Tel: +44 1436 672201 # Growing up is optional > Fax: +44 1436 678693 # > Mob: +44 7818 003457 # > www.oninit.com #

Not on 9.40 at the moment:-)) The customer was quoted '35K for a storage manager based solution and decided a couple of hours of scripting was worth the effort. David Williams wrote: > > "Paul Watson" <paul@oninit.com> wrote in message > news:40A5E3E1.1E9CE2@oninit.com... > > Andy > > > > depends. The autoloaders I have used have a 'auto-magic' option to > > move to the next tape as required but you still need to code your > > script to cope with the 'insert' next tape request. The gotcha > > tends to be what do you set your TAPESIZE to? Too small and the > > tape won't rotate, too big and ontape is will error out and > > not all 120m tapes are 120 metres long. So we tend to use the scripts > > Remember that 9.40 has a new option to set TAPESIZE to 0 which > writes up to the end of the tape! > > I assume onbar with a good storage manager could also do the same thing. > > > to advance the tape. The Solaris built in autoloader driver is > > significantly better in Solaris 8. C code for interfacing to this > > can be seen in the Amanda software (www.amanda.org) > > > > We have this successfully scripted at a number of sites. > > > > Cheers > > Paul > > > > Andy Lennard wrote: > > > > > > I guess there must be an easy answer to this, but I can't find it... > > > > > > If an autoloader is used to receive a level-0 archive, would I need to > use > > > any 'custom software' on a Solaris2.6 server running IDS 7.31? Or do the > > > tapes just follow each other in sequence, as if by magic, so long as set > the > > > correct parameters in the onconfig. > > > > > > Many thanks, > > > Andy. > > > > -- > > Paul Watson # > > Oninit Ltd # Growing old is mandatory > > Tel: +44 1436 672201 # Growing up is optional > > Fax: +44 1436 678693 # > > Mob: +44 7818 003457 # > > www.oninit.com # -- Paul Watson # Oninit Ltd # Growing old is mandatory Tel: +44 1436 672201 # Growing up is optional Fax: +44 1436 678693 # Mob: +44 7818 003457 # www.oninit.com #

This is only a small installation and I'm trying to get a complete 'level-0' to go to 'tape' with no operator intervention. If your 'auto-magic' option allows tapes to be used from the magazine automatically, as though they were part of a single large 'virtual tape', then couldn't you set TAPESIZE to be <number of tapes> * <capacity of a single tape> and no scripting or tape management would be necessary. That sounds like a really simple (foolproof ((me-proof)) ) operation, doesn't it? Could you lay your hand on a description of the functionality of the 'auto-magic' option? Many thanks, Andy. "Paul Watson" <paul@oninit.com> wrote in message news:40A5E3E1.1E9CE2@oninit.com... > Andy > > depends. The autoloaders I have used have a 'auto-magic' option to > move to the next tape as required but you still need to code your > script to cope with the 'insert' next tape request. The gotcha > tends to be what do you set your TAPESIZE to? Too small and the > tape won't rotate, too big and ontape is will error out and > not all 120m tapes are 120 metres long. So we tend to use the scripts > to advance the tape. The Solaris built in autoloader driver is > significantly better in Solaris 8. C code for interfacing to this > can be seen in the Amanda software (www.amanda.org) > > We have this successfully scripted at a number of sites. > > Cheers > Paul > > Andy Lennard wrote: > > > > I guess there must be an easy answer to this, but I can't find it... > > > > If an autoloader is used to receive a level-0 archive, would I need to use > > any 'custom software' on a Solaris2.6 server running IDS 7.31? Or do the > > tapes just follow each other in sequence, as if by magic, so long as set the > > correct parameters in the onconfig. > > > > Many thanks, > > Andy. > > -- > Paul Watson # > Oninit Ltd # Growing old is mandatory > Tel: +44 1436 672201 # Growing up is optional > Fax: +44 1436 678693 # > Mob: +44 7818 003457 # > www.oninit.com #

Andy you end up with a number of tapes, all the script has to do is advance to the next tape. Andy Lennard wrote: > > This is only a small installation and I'm trying to get a complete 'level-0' > to go to 'tape' with no operator intervention. > > If your 'auto-magic' option allows tapes to be used from the magazine > automatically, as though they were part of a single large 'virtual tape', > then couldn't you set TAPESIZE to be <number of tapes> * <capacity of a > single tape> and no scripting or tape management would be necessary. That > sounds like a really simple (foolproof ((me-proof)) ) operation, doesn't it? > > Could you lay your hand on a description of the functionality of the > 'auto-magic' option? > > Many thanks, > Andy. > > "Paul Watson" <paul@oninit.com> wrote in message > news:40A5E3E1.1E9CE2@oninit.com... > > Andy > > > > depends. The autoloaders I have used have a 'auto-magic' option to > > move to the next tape as required but you still need to code your > > script to cope with the 'insert' next tape request. The gotcha > > tends to be what do you set your TAPESIZE to? Too small and the > > tape won't rotate, too big and ontape is will error out and > > not all 120m tapes are 120 metres long. So we tend to use the scripts > > to advance the tape. The Solaris built in autoloader driver is > > significantly better in Solaris 8. C code for interfacing to this > > can be seen in the Amanda software (www.amanda.org) > > > > We have this successfully scripted at a number of sites. > > > > Cheers > > Paul > > > > Andy Lennard wrote: > > > > > > I guess there must be an easy answer to this, but I can't find it... > > > > > > If an autoloader is used to receive a level-0 archive, would I need to > use > > > any 'custom software' on a Solaris2.6 server running IDS 7.31? Or do the > > > tapes just follow each other in sequence, as if by magic, so long as set > the > > > correct parameters in the onconfig. > > > > > > Many thanks, > > > Andy. > > > > -- > > Paul Watson # > > Oninit Ltd # Growing old is mandatory > > Tel: +44 1436 672201 # Growing up is optional > > Fax: +44 1436 678693 # > > Mob: +44 7818 003457 # > > www.oninit.com # -- Paul Watson # Oninit Ltd # Growing old is mandatory Tel: +44 1436 672201 # Growing up is optional Fax: +44 1436 678693 # Mob: +44 7818 003457 # www.oninit.com #