HP Data Protector Operations Guide

Data Protector media management automatically selects the most appropriate media for backup.
Basic media selection criteria:
If available, media in good condition are used first.
Media in fair condition are used only if no media in good condition are available.
Media in poor condition are not selected for backup.
Media are always selected from the specified pool. If the pool does not contain
unprotected media, Data Protector accesses a free pool (if configured).
Heavy usage and age result in an increased number of read and write errors with tape media.
You need to replace media marked as POOR. This media status means that the threshold for age
or usage has been exceeded, or read/write errors have occurred on the tape.
What to do with media marked poor?
It is recommended that you investigate why media are marked poor. If a tape is marked as poor
due to a device error, you can verify the tape to check and change its condition. If the error was
due to a dirty drive, clean the drive and verify the tape to reset its condition. You can use Verify to
get more information on each tape’s condition. It is not recommended to simply recycle the tape.
Rerun the failed backup session to a different tape.
Tapes that are accidentally poor (because of SAN or drive issues) can be switched back to
normal using the command
omnimm –reset_poor_medium id.
The following screenshots show an example of a tape that is marked poor:
12 | Page