11D Backs up my Server but skips SQL data files

[Rick_Lawsha]

Well it came time to actually restore some files. One of my servers run Solar Winds from Orion and it's database is SQL. I needed to restore  the SQL database because of a problem. I went into 11D and selected the whole data folder and tried to restore. Guees what, there were NO FILES in that folder!

I tried a restore from disk and another from tape, both created on different days. All along, 11D has been telling me the backup has been successful. I even went back and checked that my selection list was right and I had an SQL license. All the options looked correct also.

Bottom line, good thing I put an external USB drive on that box and run NTBACKUP every night. It restored the SQL database and it worked like a charm.

I run live update all the time so I am current on my patches.

This isn't the first fiasco I have had with 11D, after getting really tired of fighting with Exchange 07 backups I gave up and went to an MS DPM server for backup of that box.

It seems backups work for a few days then for no apparent reason, throw out an obscure error, work for a few more days, throw out a different error, etc etc etc

Thanks again...

[Ken_Putnam]

To backup active SQL databases, you need to have the SQL agent installed 

See http://support.veritas.com/docs/285757

As for no notification that the files were not backed up, Veritas added Active File Exclusion in v9.0

"Backup Exec (version 9.0 and later) uses the Active File Exclusion feature to eliminate the Microsoft Exchange Server, the SQL Server, the SharePoint Portal Server, and the Lotus Notes/Domino flat-files from the file system backup. This will prevent "in use - skipped" errors on the .EDB, the .STM, and the .LOG files."

From  http://support.veritas.com/docs/259152

[Rick_Lawsha]

I have an SQL license for Veritas:

"Agent for Microsoft SQL Server 2000"

The server in question is running SQL Server 2005. Is that why it just silently skipped those files and still reported a complete backup? Sounds like a very dangerous practice to me.Especially when NTBACKUP can get a good backup for me every night on an external USB drive. So Veritas' answer to the wrong license is to just skip the data and not even report an error? Is that really how it works?

[Ken_Putnam]

It skips all SQL files regardless of whether you have the agent or not, unless you have disabled AFE

Are you specifying the SQL databases during backup?

[Rick_Lawsha]

My bad....

When I went to restore the database I selected the volume instead of the SQL database. When I went back and looked at it the SQL databases are indeed backup up. I was just trying to restore from the volume object instead of the SQL object.