Using Cartridges In The Library - Spectra Logic Spectra T950V User Manual

Appendix A — Best Practices

Using Cartridges in the Library

This section describes the best practices for using cartridges in the library.
 Use only cartridges from approved vendors in the library. See
 Make sure that the entry/exit pool contains one or more empty
 Make the entry/exit pool large enough to accommodate all of the
 After your library is in use for a period of time, and at least one set of
 During an import or export operation, do not leave the library
 Enable Auto Drive Clean and configure a cleaning partition to clean
 Confirm the quality of your media and verify data integrity by
 Confirm the quality of both media and drives by running periodic
August 2019
Appendix B – Media & Upgrades, beginning on page 469 for more
information about Spectra Certified Media.
TeraPack magazines. This is particularly important when your storage
management software ejects tape cartridges from a partition.
If the entry/exit pool does not have any empty slots available for the
ejected media, then the storage management software must wait until
empty slots become available. The simplest way to avoid this delay is to
import one or more empty TeraPack magazines after you export media
from the library.
Alternatively, always make sure that you import full TeraPack
magazines into the library, then use your storage management software
to move (import) all of the new media into the storage pool for the
partition. After all of the media is moved to the storage pool, you will
end up with one or more empty magazines in the entry/exit pool.
cartridges typically imported or exported during a single operation. For
example, if you run a nightly backup that uses 48 cartridges which are
then exported each morning, create an entry/exit pool of 50 LTO slots (5
chambers) or 54 TS11xx technology slots (6 chambers).
cartridges completes a round trip (exported from the library, stored off
site, then re‐imported), the following rule of thumb applies: if you
remove a TeraPack magazine from the entry/exit pool, replace it with
either an empty magazine to accommodate future eject operations or a
full magazine whose cartridges are then imported into the storage pool
using your storage management software.
unattended for more than a few minutes. If you do, the import or
export operation times out so that the library can continue automated
backup tasks. To continue, restart the operation when you are ready.
drives whenever required to help ensure optimal performance. If you
do not use the Auto Drive Clean feature, periodically check the Drives
screen to determine whether the drives require cleaning (see Cleaning a
Drive on page 415).
occasionally running restores using different drives.
disaster recovery drills. These drills test the overall ability to recover all
of your data using your backups.
User Guide—Spectra T950V Library
Using Cartridges
465