Backing up to a tape device attached to a storage node

Prerequisites

• A storage node is registered on the management server.
• The tape device is attached to the storage node in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

Before backing up

1. Load tapes to the tape device.
2. Log in to the backup console.
3. Click Settings > Tape management, expand the node with the storage node name, and then click Tape devices.
4. Ensure that the attached tape device is displayed. If it is not, click Detect devices.
5. Perform the tape inventory:
   1. Click the tape device name.
   2. Click Inventory to detect the loaded tapes. Keep Full inventory turned on. Do not turn on Move unrecognized or imported tapes pools to the 'Free tapes' pool. Click Start inventorying now.

      Result. The loaded tapes have been moved to proper pools as specified in the "Inventorying" section.

      Full inventorying of an entire tape device may take a long time.

   3. If the loaded tapes were sent to the Unrecognized tapes or Imported tapes pool and you want to use them for backing up, move such tapes to the Free tapes pool manually.

      Tapes sent to the Imported tapes pool contain backups written by Acronis software . Before moving such tapes to the Free tapes pool, ensure that you do not need these backups.

   4. Decide whether you want to back up to the Acronis pool or to create a new pool.

      Details. Having several pools enables you to use a separate tape set for each machine or each department of your company. By using multiple pools, you can prevent backups created via different backup plans from mixing up on one tape.

   5. If the selected pool can take tapes from the Free tapes pool when required, skip this step.

      Otherwise, move tapes from the Free tapes pool to the selected pool.

      Tip. To learn whether a pool can take tapes from the Free tapes pool, click the pool and then click Info.

Backing up

Create a backup plan as described in the "Backup" section. When specifying the backup location, select the created tape pool.

Results

• To access the location where backups will be created, click Backups, and then click the name of the created tape pool.
• Tapes with the backups will be moved to the selected pool.

Tips for further usage of the tape library

• You do not need to perform full inventorying each time you load a new tape. To save time, follow the procedure described in the "Inventorying" section under "Combination of fast and full inventorying".
• You can create other pools on the same tape library and select any of them as a destination for backups.