Smart Copy Concepts - HP 12000 User Manual

The backup application will not be aware of any copy failures.
Any mistakes in destination library media management will also affect the virtual cartridges.
For example, if new tapes are not loaded into the destination library, the physical copy will
not exist.
The destination library can only be used for copy operations.
Echo copy is a full tape copy, rather than an incremental change copy, so it can be an
inefficient use of media if you are using non-appending copy pools in your backup jobs.
An echo copy pool is used to define which destination library slots are to be echoed into a specified
virtual library. Automigration then monitors the echo copy pool slots to detect cartridge loads/ejects
in the destination library, and automatically synchronizes the virtual cartridges to the destination
cartridges, creating the matching virtual cartridges as needed.
This means that when new destination tapes are loaded, automigration will automatically scan
them (read the backup application headers) and then automatically create matching virtual cartridges
in the virtual library specified for that echo copy pool.
NOTE: The automatic scanning of new cartridges can take a long time if all the tape drives in
the destination library are busy with higher priority operations such as copies. Therefore, it is best
to load new tapes when copies are not running.
Data written to echoed virtual cartridges will be automatically copied onto matching destination
tapes based on the echo copy policy. An echo copy policy defines for each source virtual library
the copy window (start and end times), the copy on eject option, and the time in days for expiration
after eject. If destination tapes are ejected, the matching virtual tapes are automatically moved to
the firesafe and are deleted at the policy-defined expiration time. This ensures the device does not
fill up its disk space with older cartridges. See
a policy. If virtual tapes are ejected by a backup application, the matching destination tapes are
also automatically ejected into the destination library mailslot when the copy operation is complete.
When an echo copy is ejected (mailslot eject box is checked), the echo copy is performed, then
the eject is carried out. This results in the echo copy being placed in the device's firesafe and
maintained according to the established policy. If a destination tape was ejected while a copy
was pending, then notifications in the VLS GUI will inform the user that they have interrupted the
copy process.

Smart Copy Concepts

Smart copy allows the backup application to trigger copies from virtual cartridges to destination
cartridges, and the VLS then performs that copy inside the device. The backup application can
only use this feature if it supports the HP smart copy mechanism (via SMI-S v1.3 or later copy
services).
Keep in mind the following when determining whether to use smart copy pools:
The destination library is not visible to the backup application.
Copy traffic is no longer routed through the SAN.
All destination tapes created by smart copy are in the native tape format, so they can be
restored directly from any tape drive or library that is visible to the backup application.
Because the copy jobs are initiated from the backup application, the backup application will
be aware of any copy failures.
The destination library can only be used for copy operations.
A smart copy pool is used to define which destination library slots are available as SMI-S copy
targets for a specified source virtual library. Smart copy pools automatically detect all tapes in the
destination library slots that are assigned to that pool. Destination tapes are unrelated to virtual
cartridges – that is, they have different barcodes and headers. Smart copy jobs are initiated by
34 Automigration/Replication
"Creating an Echo Copy Pool" (page 40) to create