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Archive Manager Media Options

You can specify the overwrite/append rules for the media used in your archive job while you are configuring the job. This section describes the rules so that you can determine which method is best for your purposes.

Arcserve Backup allows up to 20,000 sessions on a single tape and up to 101 sequences of a series of spanned tapes. Keep this in mind when planning your archives, because, if your sessions are small, you can reach 20,000 sessions quickly. If you have a large amount of data to archive, you can quickly exceed 101 sequences, depending upon how much data each tape can hold. You can stop appending the data to the tape when the sequence number reaches the maximum limit and start a new tape set by selecting the Overwrite Same Media Name, Blank Media or Overwrite Same Media Name, or Blank Media First, then Any Media option.

First Archive Media

The first archive media is the media you use when the archive job begins. The options for the first media determine the overwrite rules for the first media that is used for the archive job:

Be aware of the following:

Additional Archive Media

The Additional Archive Media options apply to jobs that require more than one media to determine the overwrite rules for the additional media. You need to specify which media Arcserve Backup can use when the job spans media.

Distinguish Media by Name Only

Arcserve Backup writes to any media that has the name specified in the Media text box on the Destination tab, regardless of the media's ID or sequence number. This option is useful if you are running a repeating Overwrite job with a specific media and you want to ensure that the same media is used for the job each time.

When this option is not enabled, the second time the archive job is run, Arcserve Backup might not be able to locate the original tape because some of its identifying features will have changed. When this option is enabled, however, Arcserve Backup simply looks for a media that has the name specified in the Media text box and uses it, regardless of the media's other identifying features.

Note: If more than one media in the tape library have the same name, Arcserve Backup will use the first media in the device group that matches the specified name. Therefore, we do not recommend that you use this option to perform a one-time overwrite.