Spectra T950 - Cartridge Rotation

Appendix A — Best Practices Using Cartridges
November 2016 User Guide—Spectra T950 Library
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Cartridge Rotation
Duringnormalbackupoperations,tapesarerotatedintoandoutofthe
library.Thissectionprovidesasimpleexampleofthelibrary’smedialife
cyclefunctionalitytomanagetaperotation.Usingabackupplansimilarto
theonedescribedinthefollowingexampleforaperiodoftimeestablishes
amedia
rotationscheduleforthelibrary.Theexampleassumesthe
following:
 Thelibraryhasatotalof17licensedchambersandusesLTOmedia.
 2chambersareassignedtotheentry/exitpool(20slots,or
2TeraPackmagazines).
 15chambersareassignedtothestoragepool(150slots,or
15TeraPackmagazines).
 Thelibrarycontains15fullTeraPackmagazinesandtwoempty
TeraPackmagazines.
 Twomagazinescontaining20cartridgesworthofbackupdataaresent
offsiteeveryFriday.
 Afterthedataagestwoweeks,themediaisreturnedtothelibraryand
re‐used.
 Thesiteadherestothefollowingbestpractices:
 WheneveraTeraPackmagazineisexported,anothermagazine
(eitherfullorempty)isimported.
 ThelibraryhasenoughemptyTeraPackmagazinestofilltheentry/
exitpool.
Thisexampleshowsthat,byWeek3,thebackupplanresultsinafull
mediarotationinwhichtheoperatorperformedthefollowing:
1. RemovedandstoredtwofullTeraPackmagazinesofmedia.Full
magazineswereexportedfromtheentry/exitpoolandremoved
throughtheTAP,resultinginanemptyentry/exitpool.
2. ImportedtwofullTeraPackmagazinesintotheentry/exitpoolthrough
theTAPandthenusedthestoragemanagementsoftwaretomovethe
mediaintheentry/exitpoolintothestoragepool.
Movingthemediatothestoragepoolleavestwoemptymagazinesin
theentry/exitpools,readytoacceptmediaasthestoragemanagement
softwareidentifiesmediaasreadytobeejectedfromthelibrary.
Thefollowingsectionsdescribeandillustratetherotationprocessinmore
detail.