User's Manual

HP StorageWorks File System Extender Software user guide 225
For more information on formatting, and initializing media, see sections ”Formatting media” on page 102
and ”Initializing media” on page 103, respectively, and the fsemedium man page.
Backup media recycling
Backup FSE media with old backup images eventually become no longer useful, as the contained data
become out-of-date. If these media are recycled, they can be used for storage of new backup images, and
thus dismiss the need for adding new media to the backup FSE media pool.
CAUTION: You should only recycle a particular backup FSE medium after assuring yourself that all
backup images stored on the medium are obsolete.
There are two ways of recycling a backup FSE medium: recycling in advance and recycling on demand.
To recycle a backup FSE medium in advance, you must re-initialize it using the following command:
For more information on media initialization, see section ”Initializing media” on page 103 and the
fsemedium man page.
To recycle a backup FSE medium on demand, you need to use the option --init in the command line
where the fsebackup command is invoked:
The option --init will cause the backup FSE medium to be initialized, if it does not have enough storage
space for the backup image.
Defining the backup policy
FSE backup is initiated with the fsebackup command. You can run it either manually from the command
line, or you can schedule its invocation in order to automate creation of FSE backup images. Manual
fsebackup invocation is usually used to monitor the complete FSE backup process and determine the
required backup window. For an appropriate backup policy, however, you need to schedule FSE backup
process to run periodically. The most important factor when setting up the backup policy is backup
frequency. Besides this factor, you should also consider the backup window and choose backup
destination.
Estimating backup frequency
You need to estimate how often FSE backup process should be run. Analyze environment of the FSE
implementation and actual FSE usage tendencies. If there is a lot of traffic on HSM file systems and big
changes are frequent, this should be reflected in your plans for backup. The more frequent the changes, the
more frequent FSE backup sessions should be.
When estimating backup frequency, you should also consider the backup window and the fact that you
cannot run more than one FSE backup process at a time. You can determine the backup window by
checking the FSE backup log for records of the backup start and stop times.
Once you determine these factors, schedule your backups accordingly.
Linux specific
Using the crontab command, you can configure a regular cron job that will start fsebackup with the
desired frequency.
Windows specific
You can schedule a task to run the fsebackup command at a specified time using either Scheduled Task
Wizard or the at command. To start Scheduled Task Wizard, click Start > Settings > Control Panel,
double-click Scheduled Tasks, and then double-click Add Scheduled Tasks.
fsemedium --init Barcode --force
fsebackup --medium Barcode --init