Arcserve Backup is an enterprise data protection solution that lets businesses backup and restore data from different heterogeneous environments, i.e., from systems connected over a shared network or remote devices. It is a powerful and flexible solution to back up data from various sources and restore it as per the requirement. It consists of a Backup Manager Server that lets users to take full, incremental, or differential backups, based on their needs.
In some scenarios, a data archive created on an LTO tape using Arcserve Backup software becomes inaccessible, which could disrupt business operations. This happens if you’re trying to restore the backup that was created using the legacy version of the software in the latest version of the backup software. It can also happen if the data parser (backup software) fails to recognize the tape.
In this post, you will learn more about the Arcserve Backup solution and see how you can recover data from an LTO tape backed up using Arcserve Backup.
How Arcserve Backup Works?
Arcserve Backup software – a comprehensive storage solution – is designed primarily to work with systems running on Windows. This advanced solution can help you to back up the data stored on devices attached to a network from one of the following sources:
- Administrative shared drives
- User shared files, directories, and drives
Arcserve segregates the connected Windows devices into two categories – domain or workgroup, thus simplifying taking data backups for individual device groups. Additionally, you can utilize the Arcserve Backup Client Agents to take the whole system backup from non-Windows systems, such as UNIX and remote workstations in separate environments.
This backup solution uses the Backup Manager to create backup jobs, which you can also customize based on the type of backup, data source, and destination device. Additionally, it allows you to schedule data backup jobs.It uses staging areas or temporary storage locations, such as a disk or a virtual tape library, to hold the data for further processing before it is migrated (copied) to the destination device.
Types of Arcserve Data Backups
Depending on the amount of changes made to the data, users can choose the type of data backup. This reduces the scope of backup and the data transfer rate, which in turn prevents unnecessary wear and tear on the LTO tapes or disk drives.
Here are the types of backup offered by Arcserve Backup software:
Full Backup: A Full Backup is a complete copy of all the data from the specific dataset. It is mainly taken when a substantial amount of data is being changed regularly. However, it is an inefficient way to back up data in case the amount of changes made to the data are small as it is time taking and can result in duplication of files. Moreover, it can lead to unnecessary network overload and wear and tear of the storage media.
Incremental Backups: Incremental Backup copies and stores only that data and files that have been modified since the last full or incremental backup. It is used where the amount of changes made to the data are small.
Differential Backups: A Differential Backup is used to take a backup of new data and the data that has been modified since the last full backup. If done multiple times after taking a full backup, it may create copies of some files that are already backed up, thereby creating a second data copy, which can help restore files and data safely and quickly.
How to Restore LTO Tape Data using Arcserve Backup?
Arcserve Backup has a Restore Manager that lets you create, manage, and execute a data restore job. Such a job can be customized based on the source (data) and its destination (disk, tape, etc.). You can also schedule the restore jobs from within the Restore Manager.
You can use the optional Arcserve Backup Client Agents and optional Backup Agents to restore data to remote workstations and non-Windows systems.
There are several options in Arcserve Backup that you can use to find files or sessions and restore them based on your requirements. These are:
- Restore by Tree
- Restore by Session
- Restore by Query
- Restore from Backup Media
- Recover Virtual Machine
- Restore by Image (available with Arcserve Backup Enterprise Module only)
Arcserve Backup also comes with an advanced data protection solution – Arcserve Replication that provides disaster recovery capabilities. When it is installed, the Advanced Disaster Recovery (ADR) keeps a track of full, incremental, and differential backups. In the case of performing disaster recovery, ADR first recovers the full backup and then subsequent incremental or differential backups.
What if your LTO Tape Data becomes Inaccessible?
If your LTO tape is working flawlessly, you can easily find and restore files from an LTO tape backed up using Arcserve with the help of the built-in utilities. But there are times when you can’t access archive data stored on the magnetic tape. Your LTO tape data becomes inaccessible due to the following reasons:
- Backup configuration issues
- Tape drive failure
- Incompatible version of the tape parser
- Compatibility issues with various hardware components, such as tape libraries, library robots, etc.
- Connectivity issues
In such scenarios, the best way to recover data from the tape drive is by using Stellar Data Recovery for Tape Toolkit – a dedicated LTO tape data recovery software that is capable of recovering data from inaccessible tape cartridges. You can use this tool to recover all kinds of data archived on an LTO tape, like user files, documents, presentations, folders, videos, photos, audio files, and more. The software can also recover large database files of SQL/MySQL, MS Exchange, Oracle, and more, with 100% accuracy.
You can use this software to recover data from magnetic tapes of various generations – from LTO-1 to LTO-9. Moreover, the tool supports various tape data parsers (backup software), like HPE Data Protector, Veritas (.BKF and compressed .BKF), Symantec, Symantec Compressed Backup, Tivoli Storage Manager (B/A Client), and more.
Here are the steps to recover data from LTO tape using this powerful software:
Note: Before you proceed, ensure that the LTO tape cartridge is compatible with the tape drive you are using.
- Purchase and install Stellar Data Recovery for Tape Toolkit on a PC running on Windows/Windows Server OS.
- Connect the tape drive to the system.
- Insert the tape cartridge.
- After inserting the cartridge into the tape drive, launch the software.
- The Select Option screen will appear. Click on Create Image and then click on Next.
- The Select Destination Path screen will appear. Click on Browse to choose the path where you wish to save the tape drive image.
- Then, select Auto from the dropdown in the Block Size field. This will select the pre-defined block size and ensure faster processing and image creation.
- Click on Create. The software will begin creating the tape drive image. Wait for it to complete.
- After the image is successfully created, it will show the Image Created screen. Click on Scan to begin scanning the image for recoverable data.
- After finishing the scan, the software will display all the recoverable files. Select a file to preview it.
- Select the files you want to save and click on Save in the ribbon.
- The Save dialog box will appear. Choose either the Default Path (selected by the software) or the User Defined Path to save the data.
- After selecting the destination path, click on Save. The software will start saving the data at the selected location.
- After the software saves the recovered data, it will show the Process Complete dialog box. Click on OK to complete the process.
- The recovered files will be saved at the selected destination.
Conclusion
As explained in this guide, you can restore tape drive data backed up using Arcserve Backup solution using its built-in utilities. But if the LTO tape becomes inaccessible, then the apt solution is to use a powerful LTO tape data recovery software. Stellar Data Recovery for Tape Toolkit is one such reliable software that can assist you in recovering data from inaccessible LTO tape drives. It can recover data backed up on tape drive using backup applications or data parsers, like Sun Solaris, Arcserve Backup, HPE Data Protector, Veritas, and more. This software supports tape drives of all generations and popular brands, such as IBM, Quantum, HP, and Oracle.
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