Tape Labels



  • Now, I know that in Western Culture, labelling tapes (VHS or data) is a black art which few people master, but I just want to reassure myself before you guys that I did a Good Thing when I numbered the server backup tapes, rather than having to identify them by whether the label is written in pen, ballpoint, pencil, or is completely empty.



  • Clearly you should label your tapes with an appropriate barcode so that your automated tape robot can find and identify tapes in the library.



  • I recommend using the strategy we used to use at work: find them based on their physical location. The one in the drive, the one on the drive, and the one in the safe. I mean really, what more do you need?



  • How did you number them?

    We always used the Day Name, Month Name or Year Number depending on which back up it was.



  • The year number, eh?

    You have a warehouse for tapes?

    I numbered them 1, 2, 3, and 4. One for each day of the... week...



  • You guys have more than one tape?

     



  • @dhromed said:

    The year number, eh?

    You have a warehouse for tapes?

    I numbered them 1, 2, 3, and 4. One for each day of the... week...

    Ummm no...

    For 2006 we would have had just 1 tape after the year ran out. We ran daily, monthly and yearly backups.

    So 19 tapes that were used throughout the year and a new one at the end of each year.

     Its been a while, we might have had a 1-4 for weeklys but I do not think so.



  • the correct way is to have a stack of say 20 and just pull on o the bottom of the stack and put the previous used on on the topof the stack.

     

    that way if there is any data transfer from stray magnetic alignments the one immediatly underneath the top the tapes will recieve the newer information

     

    a side benefit is that in case of recovery emergency the latest copy is on top 'to hand'






  • I label all my tapes "Sports Highlights" so that my wife doesn't find them... wait, what are we talking about?



  • @bstorer said:

    I label all my tapes "Sports Highlights" so that my wife doesn't find them... wait, what are we talking about?

    "Backup Copies."

     

    Of "sports highlights". 



  • So you guys keep your stack of backup tapes near the tape drive, which presumably is in reasonably close proximity to the disk drives. Um, what do you do in case of fire?

    No, fire, no! Bad fire! Stay away from the tapes, you bad fire you!



  • @snoofle said:

    So you guys keep your stack of backup tapes near the tape drive, which presumably is in reasonably close proximity to the disk drives. Um, what do you do in case of fire?

    No, fire, no! Bad fire! Stay away from the tapes, you bad fire you!

    Tapes? We burnt our tapes a while ago. Instead, nowadays, we have three USB hard drives. Distinguished like this: "the one plugged in", "the one in the drawer" and "the one the secretary took home last week". They are constantly exchanged for one another, of course.



  • we burn CDs with year-month. Stored in a wardrobe next to server in stacks of 50.
    But there is one tiny problem - list of what each CD contains is still stored on the server.... -]



  • CDs?

    We use 200GB tapes. What can you do with 700MB CDs?



  • @snoofle said:

    So you guys keep your stack of backup tapes near the tape drive, which presumably is in reasonably close proximity to the disk drives. Um, what do you do in case of fire?


    Restore from the other backup set, which is off-site.


Log in to reply