I've got amanda set up but after looking at the logs i realise its only using a tiny percentage of the tapes. I would like to make it so it will perform a full backup if it will fit on the tape.

Currently on a 2 week cycle with 12 tapes and 10runs per week. This is ideal but due to how the tapes are stored off site the number of tapes with 'current data' meaning the last fullbackup and last incremental need reduced.

This has been changed to only use 1 level of incrementation but the backup has been split into 3 sections for expandability and to reduce risk of backups being larger than the available tapes. (which was a problem originally)

the system uses 12/24GB dds tapes. If anybody can help with this id be grateful.

If your system is running long enough to get all of the hosts well integrated into the system, reduce the cycle time. This will cause more data to be backed up to each tape. I would go to fourums.zamanda.com for more info. They have forums on amanda as well as zamanda.

ive solved this by imposing a cycle time on individual backups instead of changing the amanda settings.
This removed both issues as i can set larger cycle times on backups when it becomes a problem.

Thanks for the hint.