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NetVault 12.4 - Administration Guide for Managed Service Providers

Introduction Getting started Configuring clients Managing catalog search Configuring storage devices
About storage devices SAN considerations Quest DR Series systems Quest QoreStor NetVault SmartDisk EMC Data Domain Systems Snapshot Array Manager Virtual Tape Libraries Virtual standalone drives Shared Virtual Tape Libraries Physical tape devices Storage tiers
Backing up data Managing policies Restoring data Managing NetVault Backup dashboard Managing jobs Monitoring logs Managing storage devices
Role-based access to manage storage devices Monitoring device activity Managing disk-based storage devices in list view Managing disk-based storage devices in tree view Managing the Snapshot Array Manager Managing tape libraries in list view Managing tape libraries in tree view Managing tape drives in list view Managing tape drives in tree view Adding shared devices
Managing storage media Managing user and group accounts Managing Tenant Monitoring events and configuring notifications Reporting in NetVault Backup Working with client clusters Configuring default settings for NetVault Backup
About configuring default settings Configuring encryption settings Configuring plug-in options Configuring default settings for post-scripts Configuring default settings for Verify Plug-in Configuring Deployment Manager Settings Configuring Job Manager settings Configuring Logging Daemon settings Configuring Media Manager settings Configuring Network Manager settings Configuring Process Manager settings Configuring RAS device settings Configuring Schedule Manager settings Configuring Web Service settings Configuring Auditor Daemon settings Configuring firewall settings Configuring general settings Configuring security settings Synchronizing NetVault Time Configuring the reporting utility Configuring NetVault Backup WebUI default settings Configuring NetVault Backup to use a specific VSS provider Configuring default settings using Txtconfig
Diagnostic tracing Managing diagnostic data Using the deviceconfig utility NetVault Backup processes Environment variables Network ports used by NetVault Backup Troubleshooting
Common errors Safe Mode in NetVault Backup

Importing shadow tapes (NetApp VTL)

The NetApp VTL Shadow Tape option allows you to quickly import a tape from the shadow tape pool whenever possible instead of obtaining the physical tape.

To use shadow tapes, you need to do the following:

•
Configure the Enable Shadow Tapes option on the filer and library containing the virtual tapes. For more information about enabling shadow tapes, consult the relevant NetApp VTL documentation.
•
Select barcodes as the default labels for virtual tapes in NetVault Backup. NetVault Backup requires this method of labeling media to be fully functional. You can use barcodes as default labels by selecting the Use Barcodes as Labels check box in the Media Manager settings dialog box. For more information, see Configuring general settings for Media Manager.

With shadow tapes enabled, whenever a virtual tape is exported to a physical tape, the virtual tape is moved to the shadow tape pool. The shadow tape pool is invisible to the backup application and it is not listed as part of a virtual library, but it is available for quick access if the physical tape is later imported. It is also available for reading if the physical tape is stored off-site or is otherwise unavailable.

The NetApp VTL manages the space used by shadow tapes. It can delete a shadow tape if more space is required for the new backup data. The administrator can set a preferred retention time for shadow tapes. If the retention period has not expired, the NetApp VTL sends a notification before deleting the shadow tape.

Note the following:

•
The media requests for shadow tapes can only be used for Restore or Duplication tasks as these tapes are converted to read-only virtual tapes.
•
No permanent records are created in the NetVault Database for shadow tape media. The database only stores the details of actual media. The shadow tape attribute is associated with the media when they are imported to the library as shadow tapes. Therefore, you must export all shadow media before stopping or restarting NetVault Backup. If you fail to export the media, they lose the shadow attribute and are converted to read-only items. For the same reason, you must export the shadow tapes before opening a library door.
•
Error messages are displayed if you try to import media when nothing is available in the shadow tape pool or when the shadow tapes option is not supported on the device.
To import virtual tapes:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Manage Devices.
2
In the list of devices, click the library containing the virtual tape.
3
Click Import Media. This displays the Select Shadow Tape Media Barcode for Import dialog box which provides a list of media barcodes for the tapes available in the shadow tape pool.
4
In the Media Barcode list, select or type the barcode for the tapes that you want to import.
5
Click OK.
The requested tapes are imported to the medium changer from the shadow tape pool or physical library. When both shadow tapes and physical tapes are available, the shadow tapes are converted to read-only virtual tapes and imported to the entry/exit port. When only the physical tapes are available, virtual tapes are created from the physical tapes and imported to the entry/exit port.

Removing a tape library

You can use the following procedure to remove a tape library that is no longer required.

When you remove a tape library, it does not delete the media information from the NetVault Database. You can use the media on any other library that supports the media type. Scanning is not required if you use the media in the same NetVault Backup domain. In a different NetVault Backup Domain, you must scan the media to access the backups.

To remove a tape library:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Manage Devices.
2
In the list of devices, click the applicable library.
3
Click Remove, and then in the confirmation dialog box, click OK.

Managing tape drives in list view

This section includes the following topics:

•
Viewing tape drive details
•
Configuring performance options for a tape drive
•
Checking the status of a tape drive
•
Changing the status of a tape drive
•
Configuring cleaning slots
•
Configuring the cleaning lives option
•
Configuring automatic cleaning options for a tape drive
•
Manually submitting a drive cleaning request
•
Unloading a tape
•
Loading a tape
•
Removing a tape drive

Viewing tape drive details

To view tape drive details:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Manage Devices.
On the Manage Devices page, you can view the list of storage devices added to the NetVault Backup Server.
2
In the list of devices, click the icon to open the library to list the available drives and slots. For each drive, the activity and status messages (for example, Idle, Writing, Loading media, and others) are displayed on the page.
The device status is indicated using the following icons.
 
Table 95. Device status icons
Icon
Description

Device is online and available for use.

Device is offline. NetVault Backup is able to detect the device, but unable to access it for backup or restore jobs.

Device is unavailable. NetVault Backup is unable to detect the device.

3
To view the details of a particular tape drive, click the drive or the corresponding Manage Drive icon .
4
On the Tape Drive Management page, you can view the following information:
•
Drive Info: This area shows general information about the drive:
•
Name: Drive name.
•
Vendor: Vendor name.
•
Product: Product name.
•
Client: Client to which the device is attached.
•
Serial Number: Serial number of the drive.
•
Status: Online or offline.
•
Contents: Label of the tape loaded in the drive. If the drive does not contain any tape, the column shows “Unloaded.”
•
Offsite Location: Offsite location of the tape, if specified.
•
Library: Library name.
•
Bay: Drive bay number.
•
Block Size: Media block size.
•
Buffer Size: Transfer buffer size.
•
Activity: Idle or writing.
•
Statistics Info: This area displays the drive usage statistics:
•
Total Data Written: Total amount of data written using the drive.
•
Total Data Read: Total amount of data read using the drive.
•
Write Errors: Number of write errors reported.
•
Read Errors: Number of read errors reported.
•
Date Last Written: Date on which the last write operation was performed.
•
Date Last Read: Date on which the last read operation was performed.
•
Cleaning Info: This area displays the drive cleaning statistics:
•
Date Last Cleaned: Date on which the drive last cleaning operation was performed.
•
Time Since Last Cleaning: Time elapsed since the last automatic or manual cleaning operation.
•
Times Cleaned: Number of times the drive has been cleaned.
•
Transferred Since Last Clean: Amount of data read or written since the last cleaning operation.
•
Usage Since Last Clean: Duration of time the drive has been used for read or write operations since the last cleaning operation.
•
Soft Errors Since Last Clean: Number of read or write errors reported since the last cleaning operation.
•
Activity chart: This area shows the activity graph if the device is being used by a backup or restore job.
•
Job details: This area shows the following information for active jobs:
•
Rate: Data transfer rate.
•
Job Title: Name of the job.
•
Job ID: Job identification number.
•
Job Instance: Instance identification number.
•
Job Phase: Phase identification number (1 or 2).
5
To view the slot details, click the Slots link or the Manage Slots icon . On the Slot Browser page, you can view the following information:
•
Drives table: The Drives table lists all tape drives for the library. It shows the following information:
•
Status icon: Drive status icon.
•
Bay: Drive bay number.
•
Name: Drive name.
•
Status: Drive status (online or offline)
•
Activity: Idle or writing.
•
Contents: Label of the tape loaded in the drive. If the drive does not contain any tape, the column shows “Unloaded.”
•
Slots table: The Slots table lists all slots for the library. It shows the following information:
•
Slot: Slot number
•
Status: Tape is loaded or unloaded.
•
Barcode: Barcode of the tape in the slot.
•
Media: Media label of the tape in the slot.
•
Media Group: Media group label of the tape in the slot.
•
Space Available: Free space available in the tape.
•
Cleaning lives status icon: Displays the cleaning lives icon if the slot contains a cleaning tape. ) indicates 5 or more cleaning lives remaining, ) indicates 1-4 cleaning lives remaining, and ) indicates 0 cleaning lives remaining.
•
Cleaning Lives Left: Displays the number of cleaning lives left.
6
To perform a device-related task, click the corresponding button in the Operations pane. Alternatively, click a link in the Navigation pane to open a different page.
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