Tape support

These options are effective when the backup destination is a managed vault located on a tape library.

Tape support options enable you to specify how the backup tasks will distribute backups among the tapes.

Some combinations of tape options might degrade usage efficiency of both the whole tape library and each tape. If you are not forced to modify these options by some specific needs, leave them unchanged.

An archive can occupy several tapes. In such cases a so-called tape set is used for keeping the data backups.

Tape set is a logical group of one or more tapes which contain backups of the specific protected data. A tape set can contain backups of other data as well.

Separate tape set is a tape set which contains only backups of the specific protected data. Other backups cannot be written to a separate tape set. 

  (For the backup policy/plan to be created) Use a separate tape set

The preset is: Disabled.

If you leave this option unchanged, then the backups, belonging to the policy or plan being created, might be written onto tapes containing backups written by different backup policies and comprising of data from different machines. Similarly, backups from other policies might be written onto the tapes containing this policy’s backups. You will not have a problem with such tapes, as the program manages all the tapes automatically.

When this option is enabled, the backups, belonging to the policy or plan being created, will be located on a separate tape set. Other backups will not be written to this tape set. 

  If the console is connected to the management server

The Use a separate tape set option has more precise definitions. So for the backup policy to be created you can use a separate tape set for all machines or for each single machine.

The A single tape set for all machines option is selected by default. Generally this option ensures more efficient usage of tapes, than the A separate tape set for each single machine option. However the second one can be useful, for example, when there are special requirements to store the tapes with backups from a specific machine off-site.

When the Use a separate tape set option is enabled, there might be a case when the backup has to be written onto a tape that is currently out of the tape library device. Define what to do in this case.

  • Ask for user interaction – the backup task will enter the Need Interaction state and wait for the tape, with the required label, to be loaded into the tape library device.
  • Use a free tape – the backup will be written onto a free tape, so the operation will be paused only if there is no free tape in the library. 
  Always use a free tape

If you leave the options below unchanged, then each backup will be written onto the tape specified by the Use a separate tape set option. With some of the options below enabled, the program will add new tapes to the tape set every time when a full, incremental or differential backup is created.

  • For each full backup

The preset is: Disabled.

When this option is enabled, each full backup will be written onto a free tape. The tape will be loaded to a drive especially for this operation. If the Use a separate tape set option is enabled, only incremental and differential backups of the same data will be appended to the tape.

  • For each differential backup

The preset is: Disabled.

When this option is enabled, each differential backup will be written onto a free tape. This option is available only when using free tape for each full backup is selected.

  • For each incremental backup

The preset is: Disabled.

When this option is enabled, each incremental backup will be written onto a free tape. This option is available only when using free tape for each full and differential backup is selected.

Tape support