Re: large filesystem backup via autoloader

Roger Davis wrote:
Hello,

I have a SuSE 9.2 system with four large filesystems
(two 1.4 Tb and two 2 Tb) that I want to back up to tape.
I am considering buying an autoloader (probably a 16-tape
Quantum SuperLoader 3 DLT-S4 with 800 Gb native capacity
per tape) for this task. I want to make full backups of
all four filesystems.

I have been told that I can use dump and restore's -F
option to run a script that would command the autoloader
to change tapes every time dump or restore needs to change
a tape in a multi-tape dump. This would be important since
none of my filesystems are small enough to fit on a single
800 Gb tape. Has anyone out there done this, and in
particular has anyone done it with a Quantum SuperLoader 3?

Your script will simply need to call the 'mtx' utility to change tapes. Depending on your autoloader and your needs, a simple 'mtx next' might suffice or your might want more complex tape selection logic. There's no reason why it shouldn't work; SCSI autoloaders pretty much stick to the same standards (same with tape drives themselves).

Are there any other good options out there other than
dump/restore?

There are free options such as 'tar', 'cpio', and 'amanda'. There are payware options such as those from BRU, Storix, Arkeia, Veritas, Legato and many others. (Put a ".com" after any of those names and you'll find their respective websites with plenty of info.) It all depends on how much money you have to spend (and/or how much time you have to spend).

In general, an autoloader should be no problem as far as Linux is concerned.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: dat72 autoloader
    ... Behalf Of John Pitman ... Once we have loaded the first tape, we don't touch the drive until we ... From then on its an autoloader - we fill ... >specified load in the above - check help devctrl for options. ...
    (comp.sys.hp.mpe)
  • dat72 autoloader
    ... it appears I've got a faulty unit. ... I don't recall these in any later autoloader devices. ... If you select a cartridge by pressing the Select button and then load it by pressing the Load ... See the electronic User's Guide on the HP StorageWorks Tape CD-ROM for more information ...
    (comp.sys.hp.mpe)
  • (Summary) autoloaders and vdump
    ... You may be able to use dump on an autoloader if the autoloader can ... the autoloader will swap to the next tape in sequence. ... The other point I guess is that although backup S/W is expensive, ... Hi Managers, ...
    (Tru64-UNIX-Managers)
  • Re: dat72 autoloader
    ... Kinda makes the "autoloader" part of this unit pretty useless. ... We have a HP dat 40x6 autoloader (8 tape magazine), and its configured like this in sysgen:- ... The parms available are compress, eject, and load - we have not specified load in the above - check help devctrl for options. ... To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, * ...
    (comp.sys.hp.mpe)
  • Re: dat72 autoloader
    ... autoloader goes into random mode ... If you select a cartridge by pressing the Select button and then load it by pressing the Load ... See the electronic User's Guide on the HP StorageWorks Tape CD-ROM for more information ... To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, * ...
    (comp.sys.hp.mpe)