Here is what I am currently using.
System overview:
-HP Proliant DL380p Gen 8
-HP D2600 2TB 3G SATA LFF - 24TB Storageworks array
-Quantum Scalar i40
(2) HP LTO-5 tape heads
(25) Licensed slots
Tape library is configured as one partition
Windows 2012 R2 - fully patched
DPM 2012 R2 Data Center Edition with 7/2014 Update Rollup 3
I have used DPM for about 6 years since 2007 version but I have always used stand alone LTO-3 & LTO-5 tape drives. I have used tape libraries before that time but with a different product.
Here is the scenario I am seeing. Any tapes jobs that are scheduled at the same time will pull a tape into each tape drive and backups are performed. All is working normal from that perspective. The problem I see is that after each backup is completed the tape is removed from the drive, placed back in the slot, removed again from the slot and then re-inserted back into the drive to continue with the next backup job that was scheduled at the same time as the previous one.
This seems highly inefficient and time consuming not to mention a lot of extra wear & tear on the library & tapes. Is this behavior normal? If so, can it be changed? or is it is bug?
I would expect the tape to remain in the tape drive until all backups are completed assuming they had available capacity and were not off-site ready. It appears if multiple servers are in the same protection group the tape is not removed between these backups. The issue appears to be when the next separate protection group is backed up.
I’d even be up to manually moving the tape and leaving it in the tape in drive but I don’t see that kind of library control with DPM.
I saw another thread from August where someone mentioned seeing this behavior when doing verifies on their backups.
Thoughts? PSS call?
Thanks!