Re: archive to disk w/ ontape?

David Kosenko wrote: > > > Not true. Ontape will do a check of the volume header before writing to it; it won't > let you write volume 2 of the archive over volume 1 (in a multi-tape archive). You > will get a message "warning: previous tape is still mounted!" It *will* let you > overwrite an earlier archive. This is the main reason no-rewind tape devices can't > be used with ontape: it does the read of the header, then "rewinds" the tape by > closing the device, followed by a reopen and write. It isn't true that you can't use a no-rewind device with ontape. I do it at my site. I back up a large server to /dev/rmt/0, then fsf to the end of media then do another server's archive to /dev/rmt/0n. What IS true is that, for the header-checking reason you describe, you can't restore directly from a no-rewind device. In the case above, I have to use dd to copy the second archive to disk (or another tape), then restore from that. Neil Truby Chase Manhattan Bank Bournemouth, UK neil.truby@chase.com