Finally got the backup issue figured out.
Lately the goofed up tape backups happening at my office have been quite the challenge. Working with drive support and testing various theories about the order of the backup jobs and the likelihood that once the library puts the tape away there is some crazy leprechaun messing with my setup… which by the way turned out to be false.
It turns out to simply be a matter of hardware support. The card I got to operate the library and drive was not on the list recommended, tested, certified, blessed, etc. by the manufacturer. Rather than try to get it working and hoping for the best, I replaced the card and rebooted the server.
The next attempt at backups (and two since) have gone off without a hitch, even with multiple mounts of the tape.
Following the recommendations of the manufacturer is a good idea. While I knew this, I had a perfectly good card here and thought it surely should work. Should and will… definitely not the same.
Thanks to the folks at Quantum support and to a few readers of my blog who emailed me with suggestions. The effort put forth by others to lend a hand has been outstanding.
Here’s to many successful and undisturbed backups to come.
