Administration Guide › Managing Backup Job Template Files › Creating or Updating Backup Job Template Files › Specifying Tape Guidelines

Specifying Tape Guidelines

To specify the resource pools from which CA VM:Backup is to select tapes during the backup, use the Tape Guidelines section of the Work with Backup Template template screen. Depending on the options you select, you can have CA VM:Backup perform the following actions:

• Specify the number of tape streams CA VM:Backup is to use in the backup.
• Select the resource pool from which CA VM:Backup uses tapes. Also select the number of tape copies to make.
• Record unique retention periods and data set names on each tape copy that you create

All tapes are written with standard labels.

Number of Tape Streams

In the Number of Tape Streams field, specify the number of tape streams CA VM:Backup is to use in the backup. When using tape streams, CA VM:Backup divides the minidisks and file spaces among two or more streams. This division allows data to be backed up from several minidisks and file spaces simultaneously. CA VM:Backup writes the data to each stream independently and concurrently. CA VM:Backup can manage a maximum of 15 streams in one job. One stream is the default.

Resource Pool Name and Tape Copies

In the Resource Pool column, specify the name of the resource pool or superpool from which CA VM:Backup selects tapes for use in the backup. If you want to create tape copies, specify the resource pool from which CA VM:Backup obtains each tape copy. You can specify the same pool name for all tape copies. You can create up to four tape copies in addition to the primary tape.

Note: Except for the tape label and header information, tape copies are duplicate tapes that are created simultaneously on different drives.

Retention Period

In the Retention Period column, specify the number of days from the date the backup is run that CA VM:Backup is to retain the tapes that are created. CA VM:Backup writes the expiration date in the label of each tape that is used in the job. You can specify different retention periods for the primary tape and each tape copy. The number of days must be a number from 0 through 5000; 30 is the default.

Note: You can extend the expiration date of a tape. You must extend this date if you extend the auto-discard date. For more information, see Updating Tape Expiration Dates.

Data Set Name

In the Data set Name column, you can specify data set names for the tape files that are created during the backup. You can give different names to the primary tape and each tape copy. By default, CA VM:Backup creates data set names that are based on the tape copy number (for example, VMBACKUP.PRIMARY and VMBACKUP.COPY1).

Use the following characters for data set names:

• Alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9)
• Special characters: the period (.), the at sign (@), the pound sign (#), and the dollar sign ($)

The data set name can contain up to 44 characters. However, to conform to OS standard tape label support, only the last 17 characters of the data set name are written to the tape label. If you use CA VM:Tape, the full data set name (up to 44 characters) is cataloged in the CA VM:Tape TMC, but the tape label still contains only the last 17 characters.