Expiration date problem 1

[segil]

Hello everybody,

I have got a problem with my backup and hopefully you can help me. We use Brightstor Arcserve 11.1 and we backup our data on a AIT3 tape every day.
When we insert a tape which expiration date has passed, arcserve fails to backup and gives the following error:

W381 Unable to find any media that can be used in this job.

When I look in the manual it says that when you use a tape which has an expiration date that has been reached, it still can be used, but a note is made in the logfile. Well, not with our tapes! It just won't backup. When I format the tape and set a new expiration date, I can use the tape again.

Is this normal behaviour? Or is there a way to work around this?

 

[GSC]

Hi,

This is normal behaviour.
Arcserve needs a couple of thing to work:
Tape that are mounted in the tape drive must be in the scratch set. Also the date can not be expired.

If it is a blank tape it will always work. Then however the expiration will be set one year ahead.



I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,
GSC

 

[Cyklops]

With the latest versions the default expiration is set to three years ahead. But there is a registry key that you can alter to customize this:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ComputerAssociates\BrightStor ARCserve Backup\Base\Task\Backup\TapeExpirationIn Year

regards

 

[segil]

Thanks for the replies... guess it's just normal then.

Isn't it strange that the manual explains it is possible to use a tape with an "expired" expiration date?

The reason we run into the problem, is that sometimes we use a backup tape, which isn't used often... and then the tape has an expiration date in the past. That causes the problem.

Also, during every backup, the tape is formatted first before the actual backup proces begins.... is that a correct configuration?

 

[GSC]

The manual says it is possible to use it, you can for example restore files from an expired tape, so it is true.
Always when I format a tape I set the expiration date to 10 years ahead. This way your tape is bound to break before the date expires.

Yes, that is a correct configuration. NOTE! As I said in my first post. If you don't format the tape before using it the expiration date will be set one year from ahead.



I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,
GSC