Removable Drive Frustration

[techbiker]

Hi,

While I enjoy the flexibility that Firestreamer provides me for my installation of DPM 2010, I have been having a seemingly unlimited number of issues with removable drives and Firestreamer.

I would like to run a weekly data backup (500gb) to the 5.3 TB RAID array on my DPM server and a monthly backup (500gb) to a removable 2TB hard drive. I reasoned that there were a couple ways to accomplish this task. I created 10 virtual tapes in Firestreamer for the RAID array and monthly backup in one library. I then created another library just for the removable drive.

I then set the removable drive to expire every month in DPM. I created a "Drive" media file in Firestreamer and associated it with the interface for the removable drive so that I could insert any hard drive in this removable slot. I then created a monthly and weekly backup and set the monthly backup to copy from the RAID array to the removable drive library in DPM.

For whatever reason the RAID array backed up fine, however the removable drive became un-writeable when the data was set to copy over from the RAID library to the removable drive library. I also created a folder on the drive with the title "FirestreamerWriteAllowed" and formatted the drive as a simple volume. Basically, I'm trying to set the removable drive to hold a monthly backup that can be taken off-site while keeping a couple months of weekly backups on the DPM server. What do I need to set to achieve this?

Thanks!

[jsf]

What is the error displayed in the Activity view of the Firestreamer Snap-In?

[techbiker]

08/28/2012 09:00:11 | Error | E025 | L2 | Unable to insert the medium [drive://\??\scsi#disk&ven_areca&prod_longterm_backup#5&3b2ac4&0&000200#{53f56307-b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b}] into a tape drive: The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error [C0000185] | drive://\??\scsi#disk&ven_areca&prod_longterm_backup#5&3b2ac4&0&000200#{53f56307-b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b} | WSLKGM60SS0_2000000001D

08/29/2012 09:00:12 | Error | E002 | L2 | The media drive reported the following error: NOT READY, Sense/ASC/ASCQ=02/04/01, SRB/SCSI Status=04/02 | drive://\??\scsi#disk&ven_areca&prod_longterm_backup#5&3b2ac4&0&000200#{53f56307-b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b} | WSLKGM60SS0_2000000001D

08/29/2012 09:00:12 | Error | E029 | L2 | Unable to determine the type of the medium [drive://\??\scsi#disk&ven_areca&prod_longterm_backup#5&3b2ac4&0&000200#
{53f56307-b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b}]: The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error [C0000185] | drive://\??\scsi#disk&ven_areca&prod_longterm_backup#5&3b2ac4&0&000200#{53f56307-b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b} | WSLKGM60SS0_2000000001D

Here are the errors that firestreamer is giving me.

[jsf]

The NOT READY error was reported by Windows when Firestreamer tried to access the removable drive. Have you been able to perform a backup to it at all? What kind of drive is it? Looking at the product ID, "areca&prod_longterm_backup", it doesn't seem to be a standard drive. Why don't you use file media mode instead of drive media mode?

[techbiker]

Hi John,

I apologize for the slow reply. The removable drive is actually a physical drive plugged into my ARECA raid controller. I believe that the drive is technically a RAID 0 device on the controller, however it is just a single port physically. Would you recommend using the file mode instead of drive mode on Firestreamer? How would I be able to use more than one drive on that port? I would like to be able to insert and remove multiple drives in a single hot-swap bay (at different times obviously) without Windows, Firestreamer, or DPM getting confused. Should I copy the Firestreamer-generated data file to each removable drive?

Thanks

[jsf]

You should use file media. Each external drive should contain a media map file that describes all tapes on the drive. When you connect a drive, you need to load the media map from the drive. The script from the link below will help you to automate the procedure.

Firestreamer Automation: Sample Script