Hello all,
I've just inherited our tape backup system and am trying to get a hold on everything - establishing documentation/guidelines/best practices/etc for the system. I'm having a bit of trouble finding good solid documentation or even recommendation on how older tapes should be handled.
What I'm essentially looking for is input on some of the following questions:
- After how many mounts/seeks/hours in use, should a tape used for daily, incremental backups be 'retired'?
- After how many months, since the tape was first inventoried and used (was new), should a tape used for daily backups be considered degraded and potentially unreliable?
Sorry if this is the wrong place - but just wanted to try and get some input from those more versed in the tape world!
Thanks in advance!
-Mike