SUMMARY
When is it "safe" to rotate or remove my archive media.
ISSUE
Purpose
Information
Applies To
Backup systems 5.0+
Symptoms / Description
- When is it safe to rotate or remove my archive media?
- What are the consequences of removing the archive media when the system is not ready?
- How do I recover when I am facing the consequences of improper archive media removal?
Cause
- It is safe to remove the archive media whenever it is not mounted. It will be mounted when you are running an archive, an archive restore, or importing an archive. When the archive completes it will send a report via email; however, you may also check the Jobs screen to make sure that any archive tasks are in a completed state. You may also check in the Support Toolbox->Disk Free Space to make sure that /mnt/archive/0 is not mounted. For archive imports, you will need to manually unmount the archive, so you should know when it ready because it is manually triggered.
- If the archive device is not ready for removal when it is removed it is possible that the kernel will not release the device. This may make it impossible to detect new archive media for the remainder of the current boot, or until the kernel offlines the dead device. Typically, if the kernel is able to detect the next archive media when it is this state a new device node will be created, such as /dev/sdf where the normal eSATA device would typically be /dev/sde, for example. If you have a Recovery-Archive, then there may be some LVM metadata remaining after the disks are improperly removed which may make it difficult for the software to operate normally.
- If you have concerns about whether or not you are in a consequence state then you should reboot the backup system.
Resolution / Workaround / Execution Process
If you have concerns about whether or not you are in a consequence state then you should reboot the backup system. If the problem persists, contact Unitrends Support Center at (888) 374-6124 or support@unitrends.com.
Third-Party Sources
n/a