Table of ContentsView in Frames

Backing up data to tape using SMTape

You can perform an SMTape backup by using the smtape backup command. You can specify a Snapshot copy name for the backup, in which case the specified Snapshot copy is used as the base Snapshot copy for the backup. When you do not specify a Snapshot copy for the backup, a base Snapshot copy is created and backed up.

Step

  1. Enter the following command:
    smtape backup [-g volume_geometry] [-b block_size] [-s snapshot_name] path tape_device

    g specifies that the geometry of the backup image is supplied in the command line. This option optimizes the tape for a particular traditional volume destination and increases the restore performance. This option is applicable only to traditional volumes.

    Note: The geometry of a FlexVol volume is always 1.

    volume geometry is the volume geometry of the traditional volume. You can determine the geometry by using the smtape restore -g command on that traditional volume.

    b specifies that a blocking factor for the backup is supplied in the command line. It can be in multiples of 4 KB, in the range of 4 KB to 256 KB. The default tape record size is 240 KB.

    block_size is the blocking factor for the backup.

    s specifies that the base Snapshot copy is supplied in the command line.

    snapshot_name is the base Snapshot copy that must be used for the backup.

    path is the path of the data to be backed up.

    tape_device is the tape device to be used for the backup.

    If the storage system crashes during the backup session, the auto-Snapshot copy of the volume being backed up continues to remain in the storage system. This stale Snapshot copy is deleted when you perform an SMTape backup of the volume again.

    A unique job ID in the range of 1 to 99999 is assigned to this backup operation. You can subsequently use this job ID to check the backup status or to abort the backup operation. Also, an entry is made in the /etc/log/backup file.

Example

In the following example, the data in /vol/testdata is backed up to the rst0a tape device in blocks of 256 KB:
filer>smtape backup -b 256 /vol/testdata rst0a
Job 9 started