Configuring a backup media pool
A special media pool, called backup FSE media pool, must be configured before FSE sever can be backed up. The Backup value for the PoolType variable in the media pool configuration file makes FSE distinguish backup media pool from ordinary media pools. Backup media pool can include any of the supported tape media families. Nevertheless, to enable media recycling, it is not allowed to use WORM tape media for backup storage.
Backup FSE media must be initialized before they can be used.
TIP: Since FSE backup uses only the first data volume on each medium for storage of backup images, the backup FSE media pool should preferably be configured to include single data volume and no system volume. Such configuration maximizes backup FSE media.
Estimating resources
Storage space on media in the backup FSE media pool should fulfill the requirements of your backup policy. You should allocate enough backup media so that FSE backup sessions will succeed. This is particularly important when your backup policy includes FSE backup sessions that have been scheduled to run automatically. To reduce the space required for storage of FSE backup images, you can reuse backup FSE media that store old backup images.
FSE backup process is designed so that storage space on backup FSE media is used as efficiently as possible. Partially full media are checked for the available space before empty media are considered. You can estimate the total required storage in the backup FSE media pool by calculating the sizes of FSE components that are backed up, taking into account the total storage capacity of backup media and the backup frequency. Additionally, after a particular FSE backup session is complete, you can check the FSE backup log for record of the backup medium that was used to store the backup image.
Preparation of new media
New LTO Ultrium media have only one preformatted partition. Provided that backup FSE media pool is configured with single data volume and no system volume, these media only need to be initialized with the fsemedium command, before being used for FSE backup.
For more information on media initialization, see section ”Initializing media” on page 103 and the fsemedium man page.
Preparation of already used media
FSE media that have already been used for storage of the migrated data can only be reused for FSE backup storage if the following conditions are true:
•The media have been reorganized and they need to have their status set to free.
These actions ensure that the media do not store valid migrated data and can be reused for other purposes.
•The type of media is the same as that of the configured backup FSE media pool. This is required since all media in any FSE media pool must be of the same type.
If both prerequisites are met, you can reuse the media for FSE backup storage by following the procedure:
1.Remove the medium from its FSE media pool as described in section ”Removing FSE media” on page 121.
2.Add the medium to the backup FSE media pool as described in section ”Adding media to an FSE media pool” on page 102.
3.Initialize the medium:
fsemedium
This step is mandatory regardless of the media family used in the backup FSE media pool. After initialization is complete, the medium is ready to be used for FSE backup storage.
224 Backup, restore, and recovery