About TapeAlert cleaning (reactive cleaning)
Reactive cleaning by using TapeAlert is a function of the tape drive. The drive determines and initiates the cleaning when needed. If a drive supports the TapeAlert capability and it is enabled on the drive, the NetBackup bptm process polls the drive for status from TapeAlert.
TapeAlert allows reactive cleaning for most drive types. Not all platforms, robots, drives, or firmware levels support TapeAlert reactive cleaning.
A drive with TapeAlert capability tracks how many read and write errors it has encountered within a certain time period. Although a drive can recover from these errors, the drive sets a CLEAN_NOW or CLEAN_PERIODIC flag when a threshold is reached.
If the bptm process detects that either of the following flags are set, it performs a cleaning at one of the following times:
At the end of a backup or a restore to the drive.
Before the next backup or restore to the drive.
Veritas recommends that you use reactive cleaning.