Forum Discussion

tgassett's avatar
tgassett
Level 2
9 years ago

Need help with Differential backup

I have been running BUE 2014 for a little over a year.  I use it to perform some Full and Diff tape backups.  It does a good job and I am satisified with it.

This issue is dealing with something totally different.  See question below.

My Issue:  I am trying to perform a "to disk" backup of data based on the archive bit being set.  I have data that is being backed up to this server from a remote server.  It is a simple 2nd copy exact routine that runs nightly.  Most of this data is never touched.  I have cleared the archive bit on all of this data.  The total data is about 800Gb.  From this point forward, when new files are copied or existing files are changed the archive bit will be set.  I want to do a "backup to disk" differential backup of this data using BUE 2014.  Trouble is I can't figure out how to do it because it wants to run a full backup when I try to configure the job.  I can't figure out how to tell it NOT to run the Full backup.  I only want to run the Differential backup using the "archive bit" as the backup method.

Can someone please tell me how I can do this? 

thanks, tom

  • Never mind.  I am using a different piece of software to accomplish what I am trying to do.

  • Unfortunately, you cannot do a differential backup without doing a full backup.  If you are planning to do a differential backup forever, this is not recommended.  You should run a full backup periodically.

    You should also use the modified time method for your backup which is faster than the archive bit method.

    • Grayc's avatar
      Grayc
      Level 4

      pkh,

      How does changing from archive bit to modified time impact the differentials if one is in a "FULL monthly and daily differential" backup cycle?  Does the change require a FULL-level backup first before the differential will run using modified time?

      Thanks, GrayC

      • pkh's avatar
        pkh
        Moderator

        It should be faster and yes, you need to run a full with modified time first.

  • You might need to consider using client-side deduplication in this environment.
    https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.HOWTO23347
    This type of backup will allow the remote server only to send the unique blocks, regardless of the backup method selected. That way, if the full backup is already present in the storage the amount of information to be transfered will be very small.

    About deduplication storage folders: https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.HOWTO23352

  • Never mind.  I am using a different piece of software to accomplish what I am trying to do.