Media management
Data Protector provides you with powerful media management, which lets you easily and efficiently manage large numbers of media in your environment in the following ways:
Media management functionality
•Grouping media into logical groups, called media pools, which allows you to think about large sets of media without having to worry about each medium individually.
•Data Protector keeps track of all media and the status of each medium, data protection expiration time, availability of media for backup, and a catalog of what has been backed up to each medium.
•Fully automated operation. If Data Protector controls enough media in the library devices, the media management functionality lets you run the backup sessions without operator intervention.
•Automated media rotation policies that allow media selection for backups to be performed automatically.
•Recognition and support of barcodes on large library devices and silo devices with barcode support.
•Recognition, tracking, viewing, and handling of media used by Data Protector in large library devices and silo devices.
•The possibility of having information about the media in a central place and the sharing of this information among several Data Protector cells.
•Interactive or automated creation of additional copies of the data on the media.
•Support for media vaulting.
What is a media pool?
Data Protector uses media pools to manage large numbers of media. A media pool is a logical collection of media of the same physical type with common usage policies (properties). Usage is based on the data on the media. The structure and quantity of the pools, as well as which pool contains what type of data on its media, depend entirely on your preferences.
When a device is configured, a default media pool is specified. This media pool is used if no other media pool is defined in the backup specification.
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