5 1 0:Creating a Media Event

Welcome to the latest SEP sesam documentation version 5.1.0 Apollon. For previous documentation version(s), check documentation archive.

Overview

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If you are using an older SEP sesam version, refer to Documentation archive.

Media events enable you to control and automate different media management tasks. There are two types of media events: user-defined events and internal events, generated by SEP sesam.

Internal media events are automatically created by SEP sesam to handle situations such as unavailable media at the start of a backup or reaching the end of media (EOM) during data transfer. These internal events determine the next media to be used for the backup. If no other media events are configured in the schedule, only internal media events are executed.

User-defined media events allow you to perform specific actions related to media management and can be configured using the SEP sesam GUI. These events are automatically activated by SEPuler, the SEP sesam scheduling component.

The following types of user-defined media events can be configured:

Initialization: This event prepares backup media for use with SEP sesam. If a medium meets certain requirements, such as expired EOL and is not write-protected or locked, it can be initialized. During the initialization process, all existing data on the media is deleted, and the media is prepared for reuse. SEP sesam assigns a new tape label to formatted media and removes all information about old backups from the database.
Readability Check: This event verifies the readability of backup data on the medium. It reads the data in blocks, checks the tape structure, and ensures that all determined backup sets on the tape are recorded in the database and vice versa. This helps ensure the integrity and reliability of the backup data. For details see Configuring a Readability Check.
Tape Closing: This event marks the tape as full by defining the End of Media (EOM) and closing the tape, even if it is not actually full yet. Once a tape is closed, it cannot be used for writing or appending additional data.
Archive Adjustment: This event scans the media in a selected loader (tape library) and compares it with the SEP sesam media archive database. The archive adjustment process ensures that the SEP sesam database is updated with the latest inventory information from the scanned device, providing accurate and up-to-date records of the media inventory. It is necessary when there are changes in the media within the loader, such as adding new media. For details, see Setting up Archive Adjustment.

	Note
	Media events can only be configured in schedules that do not have any backup events configured. This restriction ensures that media-related actions are performed separately from backup tasks, preventing conflicts in media availability.

Create a media event

To create a new media event, go to Main Selection -> Scheduling -> Schedules, right-click on a schedule and then click on New Media Event.

Define the settings and options as required. For detailed explanations of the available options, refer to section Media event options.

You can view the status of your media management jobs. In Web UI navigate to Monitoring -> Tape Actions and review the job results. The status overview lists media actions by type, along with details of completion status, start and end times, and media pools used for the job.

Media event options

When creating a media event, all media event types share the same options, except the archive adjustment event type, which includes additional options that are specific to that event. Note that some Parameter options, depending on the selected media event type, are read-only and cannot be modified because they are specifically designed to fulfill the requirements of the selected media event type.

General settings

Sequence control
Priority	Select a priority that will determine the relative importance of this event and establish the execution order of events in a backup day. Event priorities in SEP sesam range from 1 (lowest) to 99 (highest). Events with priority 0 are always executed first, cannot be blocked or used for blocking events.
Blocking date	Select this option to create a blocking event that prevents the execution of equal events scheduled on the same backup day as the blocking event, but with lower priority. By using this option, events associated with the same task and having lower priority will be blocked from starting.
Media actions
Initialize	Select this option to prepare backup media for use with SEP sesam.
Readability check	Select this option to verify the readability of backup data on the medium. For more information, see Configuring a Readability Check.
Archive adjustment	Select this option to scan the media in a selected loader (tape library) and update the SEP sesam media archive database. For more information, see Setting up Archive Adjustment.
Close tape	Select this option to mark the tape as full (define the End of Media (EOM) and close the tape).
Parameters
Media pool	Select the target media pool for performing the associated media-related actions in this event.
Drive (opt.)	Optionally, you can select the drive number of the drive in the target location that will be used to perform the media action. This option is useful when you have multiple drives configured and wish to allocate a specific drive exclusively for the selected media action, optimizing performance and resource utilization.
Media (opt.)	Optionally, you can select a specific medium from the target media pool for the media action. Instead of performing the media action on all media in the selected media pool, selecting a single medium restricts the action to that specific medium only.
Options	Optionally, you can configure additional options to be performed with this event.
Drive group	This field displays the predefined group of drives on the datastore that is configured for the selected media pool.
Loader	You can select the specific loader or tape library on which the media action will be performed.
First slot	You can enter the number of the first slot to specify a slot range, which limits the synchronization to the specified loader segment.
Last slot	You can enter the number of the last slot to specify a slot range, which limits the synchronization to the specified loader segment.
Note	Add any comments or information related to the media event.

Screenshots

Additional settings for archive adjustment

Automatic introduction	Select this option if you want to automatically add unknown media (media without a SEP sesam label) from the tape library to the specified media pool. When using this option, it is recommended to also select Adjustment by barcode only. This combination enables you to introduce new media by their barcode, eliminating the need to load the media into the drives and interrupt ongoing backups or restores. This functionality is applicable only when the new tapes have barcodes. If initialization is initiated at a later time, it will work under the following conditions: The tape is empty, meaning it does not have a SEP sesam label on it. The tape has a SEP sesam label, but it is not already present in the SEP sesam database. In this case, the existing label will be overwritten with the requested label.
Tape type	If Automatic introduction is enabled, select the appropriate tape type that is used in the tape library to ensure compatibility and enable SEP sesam to optimize operations for the specific tape technology employed in your tape library.
Handling unknown SEP sesam media	If Automatic introduction is enabled, select how SEP sesam treats tape media that do not have a SEP sesam tape label stored on the tape. If a tape has an existing SEP sesam label that is stored in the SEP sesam database (media table), it will remain untouched and no further action is taken. For tapes with an unknown SEP sesam label (not present in the SEP sesam database) select one of the following options: Accept without initialization (enabled by default): A tape with an unknown SEP sesam label (for example, a tape from another SEP sesam Server) will be automatically inserted into the system. Note that these tapes are added to the SEP sesam database without providing any meta information about their contents. Overwrite: A tape with an unknown SEP sesam label will be initialized and added to the selected media pool. This is useful when you want to completely overwrite the existing data on the tape.
Check label on tape, ignore barcode labels	Select this option if you want to perform a scan of the tape labels. When this option is enabled, each tape label is re-read and verified, and the barcode information associated with the tapes is ignored. This is useful when you want to validate the integrity and accuracy of the tape labels stored in the SEP sesam database. By performing a scan of the tape labels, you can ensure that the recorded information matches the physical tapes present in the tape library.
Adjustment by barcode only	Select this option to use the barcode reader in your loader for the archive adjustment process of tapes in the loader. When this option is selected, SEP sesam checks the barcodes of all tapes that are not currently loaded in drives. This allows adjusting the archive while the drives are in use. With this option enabled, SEP sesam will only scan the tapes that are in the slots, while the tapes currently loaded in the drives will not be scanned. You can combine this option with the Automatic introduction option.