Allowing Automatic Tape Creation
The Tape Gateway can automatically create new virtual tapes to maintain the minimum number of available tapes that you configure. It then makes these new tapes available for import by the backup application so that your backup jobs can run without interruption. Allowing automatic tape creation removes the need for custom scripting in addition to the manual process of creating new virtual tapes.
The Tape Gateway spawns a new tape automatically when it has fewer tapes than the minimum number of available tapes specified for automatic tape creation. A new tape is spawned when:
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A tape is imported from an import/export slot.
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A tape is imported to the tape drive.
The gateway maintains a minimum number of tapes with the barcode prefix specified in the automatic tape creation policy. If there are fewer tapes than the minimum number of tapes with the barcode prefix, the gateway automatically creates enough new tapes to equal the minimum number of tapes specified in the automatic tape creation policy.
When you eject a tape and it goes into the import/export slot, that tape does not count toward the minimum number of tapes specified in your automatic tape creation policy. Only tapes in the import/export slot are counted as being "available." Exporting a tape does not initiate automatic tape creation. Only imports affect the number of available tapes.
Moving a tape from the import/export slot to a tape drive or storage slot reduces the number of tapes in the import/export slot with the same barcode prefix. The gateway creates new tapes to maintain the minimum number of available tapes for that barcode prefix.
To allow automatic tape creation
Open the Storage Gateway console at https://console.amazonaws.cn/storagegateway/home
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In the navigation pane, choose the Gateways tab.
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Choose the gateway that you want to automatically create tapes for.
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In the Actions menu, choose Configure tape auto-create.
The Tape auto-create page appears. You can add, change, or remove tape auto-create options here.
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To allow automatic tape creation, choose Add new item then configure the settings for automatic tape creation.
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For Tape type, choose Standard to create standard virtual tapes. Choose WORM to create write-once-read-many (WORM) virtual tapes. For more information, see Write Once, Read Many (WORM) Tape Protection .
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For Minimum number of tapes, enter the minimum number of virtual tapes that should be available on the Tape Gateway at all times. The valid range for this value is a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 10.
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For Capacity, enter the size, in bytes, of the virtual tape capacity. The valid range is a minimum of 100 GiB and a maximum of 15 TiB.
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For Barcode prefix, enter the prefix that you want to prepend to the barcode of your virtual tapes.
Note
Virtual tapes are uniquely identified by a barcode, and you can add a prefix to the barcode. The prefix is optional, but you can use it to help identify your virtual tapes. The prefix must be uppercase letters (A–Z) and must be one to four characters long.
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For Pool, choose Glacier Pool, Deep Archive Pool, or a custom pool that you have created. The pool determines the storage class in which your tape is stored when it is ejected by your backup software.
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Choose Glacier Pool if you want to archive the tape in the S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval storage class. When your backup software ejects the tape, it is automatically archived in S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval. You use S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval for more active archives, where you can retrieve a tape typically within 3-5 hours. For more information, see Storage classes for archiving objects in the Amazon Simple Storage Service User Guide.
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Choose Deep Archive Pool if you want to archive the tape in the S3 Glacier Deep Archive storage class. When your backup software ejects the tape, the tape is automatically archived in S3 Glacier Deep Archive. You use S3 Glacier Deep Archive for long-term data retention and digital preservation, where data is accessed once or twice a year. You can retrieve a tape archived in S3 Glacier Deep Archive typically within 12 hours. For more information, see Storage classes for archiving objects in the Amazon Simple Storage Service User Guide.
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Choose a custom pool, if any are available. You configure custom tape pools to use either Deep Archive Pool or Glacier Pool. Tapes are archived to the configured storage class when they are ejected by your backup software.
If you archive a tape in S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval, you can move it to S3 Glacier Deep Archive later. For more information, see Moving tapes to S3 Glacier Deep Archive storage class.
Note
Tapes created before March 27, 2019, are archived directly in S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval when your backup software ejects them.
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When finished configuring settings, choose Save changes.
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In the navigation pane, choose Tape Library > Tapes to see your tapes. By default, this list displays up to 1,000 tapes at a time, but the searches that you perform apply to all of your tapes. You can use the search bar to find tapes that match a specific criteria, or to reduce the list to less than 1,000 tapes. When your list contains 1,000 tapes or fewer, you can then sort your tapes in ascending or descending order by various properties.
The status of available virtual tapes is initially set to CREATING when the tapes are being created. After the tapes are created, their status changes to AVAILABLE. For more information, see Understanding Tape Status.
For more information about changing automatic tape creation policies, or deleting automatic tape creation from a Tape Gateway, see Managing Automatic Tape Creation.