Tapecopy Span Enhancement

Dear CA Customer,

It has come to the attention of Computer Associates and the BrightStor Brand that a serious limitation exists with regard to the tapecopy functionality as released in CA ARCserve Backup for UNIX r11.1 and BrightStor Enterprise Backup 10.5 for UNIX and earlier versions. The limitation exists in the tapecopy function's ability to span media. If you are currently using the tapecopy functionality in any of the following affected scenarios, please read below for the enhancement that has been delivered to lift this limitation.

Affected Scenarios

Scenario I: Source media is located on multiple media and the span session is copied to a single media using tapecopy. Multiple media source to single media destination.

Scenario II: Source media is located on multiple media and the span session is copied to multiple media using tapecopy. Multiple media source to multiple media destination.

Scenario III: Source media is located on single media and is copied to multiple media using tapecopy. Single media source to multiple media destination.

If you are using tapecopy in a situation in which source media is located on single media and is copied to a single media using tapecopy (single media source to single media destination) the tapecopy functionality is unaffected.

In the affected scenarios, if tapecopy is used before you apply the enhancement, there may be a block of up to 64 KB from any span (source or destination) that is not properly copied from the source to the destination media. While this does not affect the source media, the copy may be incomplete and will not contain file data in the affected blocks. This will cause the data from these blocks to be unrecoverable from the tapecopy destination media.

This enhancement, to use tapecopy in a span, has been delivered and is generally available for download from the Computer Associates Int. supportconnect website. Computer Associates Int. recommends immediate application of this patch for any tapecopy user, and the enhancement will be carried forward in all future product releases and support maintenance. If you have any questions please contact your local support team for further instructions and clarification of this enhancement.