backup exec

Yes you would.  The tapes in a backup set are specific.  By skipping tapes and just acknowleding the errors, you have essentially ruined the backup set.  you BEST option here is to start over.  Re-format the tapes, wipe them clean and start with a FULL backup.  Once that is complete, it is essential that you stay on the correct tapes.  The system is very good at keeping track of your data.  Let it.

OK.  Thanks.  Now the next question.  I have 2 sets of backup tapes.  5 each.  For 2 weeks of tape backups.  How do I go about reformatting the tapes the right way?  After that if I label these tapes correctly can I just label a tape Friday and begin the backups tomorrow?  Will the system allow this?

Yes.  If you relabel the tapes from inside backup exec, it will erase the tapes.  You can, at that point, start with any tape you wish as that will be the first step in the media set.  I like to label the tapes "monday week 1" or some derivation of that.  Once labeled inside Backup exec, lable the the outside of the tape.  Put in "Friday W1" tomorrow, do a full back up, and then proceed from there.

Can you tell me how to reformat a tape?  I know I could find this but I'll ask anyway.   WIll it ask me to relabel the tape after it is formatted?


How do I specify "full backup" to do on Friday?  What if I did not do full backup on Friday,  what would be backed on the tape?

You do not say how old your tapes are.  Tapes degrade and become unuasable after some usage.  

It is normally a good practice to immediately replace tapes that have a write error.  With your 10 tapes,  you can never retrieve data that is more than 9 tapes old?  Is that adequate?  Do you take the tapes offsite?

I take tapes offsite 10 tapes is sufficient.  They are 1 month old.  Still need to know how to reformat and relabel to get ready for Friday.

Another thing,  If I miss switching a tape, will it screw it up again?  How can I prevent this other than always changing tapes correctly?

What version of backup exec are you using?  If you miss a day, just pick up on the next tape.  Always use the tape the system asks for.

so are you (airborne1128) saying I don't have to reformat all my tapes?

No, you SHOULD re-label all of your tapes.  This will, essentially , erase them.

To be clear: relable using BU exec, this will erase them and rename them.   I don't like tape backup because if you forget to switch the tape or forget to bring back tapes you end up no current backup.

If you haven't invested too much into a tape backup, you might consider switching to hot swappable external drives.  Look at tapesucks.com  for what they offer. BU exec should support backing up to harddrives.

You would then only need to switch the backup out weekly and using 2 or 3 drives would be adequate.  And if you forget to swap, nothing lost the backup would continue on the drive that is currently attached.

@shallics, if you miss a tape and pick up on the next day, then your backup will be larger than normal, but, if set up correctly, you will still have the previous days data, just a day late.

can someone tell me how to relable and reformat a tape?

I have the newest version of Backup Exec