Lately I've been working with System Center - Data Protection Manager from Microsoft and I have to say that while it's a nice product, there are some areas that need improvement. One of the things I've been wanting to do is talk about some of the issues I've had and open up a forum to discuss those issues. To start this off, I'm taking some of the problems that I've had with DPM's tape handling.
Note: I don't want it to look like I'm just bashing DPM. I DO like parts of it. If you know of ways to resolve these issues, PLEASE let me know. I'll post those fixes as updates.
Tape Issue Numero Uno:
No tape controls in DPM. When I am using DPM to back up data to tape in a library, it would be nice to be able to eject and load tapes using DPM, instead of having to navigate through the menus on the front of the tape library.
Tape Issue Number Two:
Lack of success at erasing ANY tape. Whenever I try to put in a new tape and erase it, it fails. It does not matter if it is a new tape, fresh from the plastic or one that has been used for backups before, I’ve never had a tape get successfully erased. As far as I know, erasing the tape using DPM is the way to get around the issues of media with no OMID.
Tape Issue The Third:
Lack of success identifying any tape. This is the situation, I have five tapes.
- Tape 1 – Fresh out of the box
- Tape 2 – Fresh out of the box
- Tape 3 – Used on the old system (has data)
- Tape 4 – Used on the old system (has data)
- Tape 5 – Used on the old system (has data)
Every tape is put into the loader and then once a Detailed Inventory is run. Here are the results:
- Tape 1 – Unknown
- Tape 2 – Unknown
- Tape 3 – Unknown
- Tape 4 – Unknown
- Tape 5 – Unrecognized
I try to Erase or Identify any of the individual tapes. The jobs all fail, but when a particular tape gets put back, it changes from Unknown to Unrecognized and I can “Mark as Free…” So now, I have:
- Tape 1 – Unknown
- Tape 2 – Free (Contains Data)
- Tape 3 – Unknown
- Tape 4 – Free (Contains Data)
- Tape 5 – Free (Contains Data)
So now, out of 5 tapes, I have three that I can use. This seems like a lot of work with little return.
I know that DPM is supposed to be very different from traditional backup systems, but I think that the change has been too radical. It is hard to educate IT organizations to the point where they are comfortable migrating to a new technology when something as important as backups are concerned. I'm looking forward to see where Service Pack 1 will take us in the future.