Free Tape Issue

The technical support forum for Firestreamer (the virtual tape library).
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EmantraSupport
Posts: 3
Joined: 19 Jan 2012, 22:43

Post by EmantraSupport »

jsf
Cristalink Support
Posts: 300
Joined: 29 Aug 2010, 09:03

Post by jsf »

First, check for error messages in the Activity view of Firestreamer Snap-In, to make sure your tapes are operational. Then check the status of the tapes in DPM to confirm that there is no free tape available indeed.

Now if you have 200 tapes loaded, and all of them contain some data, and DPM needs a free tape, I doubt it makes sense to increase the number of slots to load more tapes. After all, DPM will use them all eventually, and then what?

I'd just unload the "offsite-ready" tapes and load new tapes into the vacant slots. Or you can erase ( "mark free") expired tapes manually if DPM doesn't want to do it on its own.
Best regards,
John Smith
Cristalink Support
EmantraSupport
Posts: 3
Joined: 19 Jan 2012, 22:43

Post by EmantraSupport »

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply, perhaps I'm missing something, but how would I go about unloading the offsite ready tapes? Is this a function within DPM or Firestreamer. Within FireStreamer I can see the open to unload 'All Media' not specific disks, and I don't see anything in the DPM console which appears to allow me to unload 'offsite ready' tapes.
jsf
Cristalink Support
Posts: 300
Joined: 29 Aug 2010, 09:03

Post by jsf »

Firestreamer's media layout specifies which tapes are loaded into the library. In your case, you have 200 tapes loaded, say, Tape1.fsrm-Tape200.fsrm. When you remove a tape from the media layout, you essentially unload it from the library. You need to edit the media layout to remove the tapes you want to unload and to add the tapes you want to load. For example, you can unload Tape1.fsrm-Tape50.fsrm and load newly created Tape201-Tape250.fsrm. It's the same as if you ejected some tapes from a physical tape library and inserted some other tapes into it.
Best regards,
John Smith
Cristalink Support
EmantraSupport
Posts: 3
Joined: 19 Jan 2012, 22:43

Post by EmantraSupport »

Ok so if I go into Firestreamer -> Media, I can see the current 200 tapes. I then click on Edit and the only option I can see to remove a tape is the Red X (Delete the current entry), is this what you're referring to?
This appears to just delete the record from the media layout, if that's the case how would I add that tape back in to the library if required?

Or are you suggesting I goto Media -> Unload All or Load from File to load a new set of media, if so, then again how would I target individual tapes in the media library.
jsf
Cristalink Support
Posts: 300
Joined: 29 Aug 2010, 09:03

Post by jsf »

EmantraSupport wrote:Ok so if I go into Firestreamer -> Media, I can see the current 200 tapes. I then click on Edit and the only option I can see to remove a tape is the Red X (Delete the current entry), is this what you're referring to?
This appears to just delete the record from the media layout, if that's the case how would I add that tape back in to the library if required?
Correct, this just deletes the entry in the media layout, effectively unloading the tape. The tape itself (the .fsrm file) will remain, so you can always add it again (unless you deleted it manually outside of Firestreamer) to the media layout (Media > Add Existing File Media, see Media Layout Editor).
EmantraSupport wrote:Or are you suggesting I goto Media -> Unload All or Load from File to load a new set of media, if so, then again how would I target individual tapes in the media library.
You can do it, too. In Media Layout Editor, use Media > Add Existing File Media, Media > Create and Add File Media, or you can edit each entry manually if you wish.
Best regards,
John Smith
Cristalink Support
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