"John F. McLaughlin" john.f.mclaughlin@lmco.com writes

I would like to know if it is possible not to append a backup to a previous backup tape.

Possible *not* to append to a previous tape? Surely: take the tape away and lock it up in a safe where the filer can't work its evil ways with it... :)

Can you clarify what you mean here? Are you having some problem with dumps being appended to a tape when you intended to use a new one? Are you using basic dump/restore commands, or an NDMP product, or what? Manually loaded tape drive, or a stacker, or an all-singing all-dancing robot? etc. ...

Chris Thompson University of Cambridge Computing Service, Email: cet1@ucs.cam.ac.uk New Museums Site, Cambridge CB2 3QG, Phone: +44 1223 334715 United Kingdom.