EMC LAB TAPE UTILITIES TAPERK - Disk to Tape Backup Utility Got a magtape drive standing around? Need a reliable on-line backup? Have I got a utility for you. TAPERK. This utility will back up 4800 block sized devices. It was origional- ly written to back up RK05s, but will also back up subdevices ( LDs ), as long as the LD is 4800 blocks. The tape type defaults to MS, but will also work by issuing the monitor command ASS (drive type) MS drive type = MT or MM TAPERK initializes a tape in its own special format, there- fore, the tape is unreadable by any other RT11 utility. The directory entry for each backup is 80 characters long, consisting of a 56 character descriptor name and also includes the date and time of backup. There are a total of 15 entries in the tape directory. Once a disk is backed up by TAPERK, it can easily by re- stored using the R command. The directory name can also be changed with the N command. Individual files from the backup can be retreived by using the F command. TAPERK backs up RK05-sized (4800 block) disks. Up to 15 disks (approx. 33mb total) can be backed up onto each tape (2400 ft. at 1600 bpi). EMC LAB TAPE UTILITIES Page 2 Starting TAPERK --------------- To run the program, type: R TAPERK You will then see the following menu: Commands: B - back up disk F - Access Files R - restore disk V - Verify tape D - display disk directory I - Initialize tape P - print disk directory E - Exit program N - change name in directory Most users should NEVER use the I command. The only com- mands normally needed are B, to back up your disk, and R, to re- store your disk by reading it back from the tape. D, to display the directory, can be used explicitly but is also done automati- cally at the beginning of each backup and restore operation. When you back up a disk it is verified automatically, but occa- sionally it may be a good idea to use the V command to verify the complete tape. N modifies only the directory area of the tape. The F command allows displaying or printing the directory of a backup, and copying files from the backup to DK:. The F com- mand has its own menu: Enter: D for a directory of the tape backup P to print the directory DD for a directory of DK: PD to print the directory of DK: C to copy a file from tape to disk E to exit to main menu D and P display and print the directory of the backup. They prompt for whether the directory should be normal, DIR/DEL, or DIR/FULL. They also prompt for a filename (optional) which can include wildcards, equivalent to "DIR *.FOR" and so on. DD and PD display and print disk directories. C copies files from a tape backup to DK:. Wildcards are al- lowed, but a new filename cannot be specified, so each file co- pied from the tape is created on DK: with the same name. Unlike the operating system COPY command, the new file gets the current date, not the old one. The C command asks whether you want to copy existing files or deleted ones, so if you delete a file be- fore backing up your disk you can recover it from the backup more easily than recovering it on your disk! EMC LAB TAPE UTILITIES Page 3 Backing Up a DISK ----------------- To back up a disk, use the B command. You will be shown the tape directory which contains the index and description of each tape area. Type the index of the area that you want to use, keeping in mind that the previous data in that area will be des- troyed. Then you must enter the disk drive code, such as DK:, RK2:, RK3:, etc., and you may also enter a new description if desired. If you do not enter a new description, the old one will be kept, so it is not necessary to retype the description. If you use any logical assignment other than "ASS RKn DK", the logical name will not work. For example, if you type "ASS RK1 CWT", you cannot specify "CWT:" as the disk to be backed up. EMC LAB TAPE UTILITIES Page 4 Restoring a Disk ---------------- To restore a disk, use the R command. You will be asked to enter the index (1 - 15) of the tape area and the name of the disk drive. The disk drive MUST BE an RK05 or a 4800 block sub-device (LD) assigned as your DK. EMC LAB TAPE UTILITIES Page 5 Hardware reguirements --------------------- TAPERK runs only under TSX. It is too big to run under RT11 (BL/SJ/FB). It has not been tried under XM or under VBGEXE. A limited version of TAPERK, (TAPERK.RT) is included with the dis- tribution. This version has most of the functionality of TAPERK, except the individual file backup feature. It will only backup and restore full RK sized disks. As mentioned, TAPERK needs a magtape drive. It defaults to an MS (TS-11) magtape, but will work for MT or MM drives by as- signing MT or MM to MS (ASS MT MS). The specifications given (15 backups) are for a 2400 ft. tape at 1600 bpi / 125 ips. However, TAPERK will work at 800 bpi and lesser ips with the fol- lowing restriction. TAPERK must be aborted by ^C before it reaches the END OF TAPE. TAPERK will not recognize EOT, and may run of the end of the tape reel while initializing a tape while operating at less than 1600 bpi / 125 ips. As an example, TAPERK was tested on a TM11 type drive operating at 800 bpi at 75 ips, using a 2400 ft. tape. While initializing the tape, 9 backup entries were reserved with no problem. While reserving space for the 10th entry, the tape ran off the reel. Therefore, the tape had only 9 usable backup en- tries, while entries 10 - 15 were unusable, but still listed in the directory. Thus TAPERK was usable for backups on entries 1 - 9, but backups on entries 10-15, or verifying (V command) the tape could not be done, or had to be aborted by ^C before the tape reached EOT. See the file TAPERK.LOG for a sample session of TAPERK. EMC LAB TAPE UTILITIES Page 6 TAPEDL and TAPEDU TAPEDL and TAPEDU operate in a similar fashion as TAPERK. TAPEDL will backup 4 RL02 sized disks (10 mb each). TAPEDU will backup an RD52 sized disk (30 mb). The commands and operation are exactly as explained for TAPERK. EMC LAB TAPE UTILITIES Page 7 ANSIR and ANSIW These two programs are used for reading (ANSIR) and writing (ANSIW) unlabled 80 characters per record, 1 to 50 records per block, ANSI tapes, under RT / TSX. The record size is specified by the user. The output file for reading can be any device (DDn:filnam.ext), including TT:. The dialog is self-explanatory as it runs. EMC LAB TAPE UTILITIES Page 8 T20IBM This program is used for reading EBCIDIC tapes having the format of unlabled, 80 characters per record, 20 records per block. The program used a datafile (EBCDIC.DAT), which must be on the same device that T20IMB is run from. EMC LAB TAPE UTILITIES Page 9 Any comments / suggestions / bug reports should be directed to M. P. (Mike) Marak or David Gaudine LOYOLA EMC LAB Room AD-532 LOYOLA CAMPUS / CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY 7141 Sherbrooke St. W. Montreal, CANADA (514) 848-3118