03-25-2011 05:02 AM
Hi,
hot can I stop BE from appending to media? I have two jobs, the first one starts a 11 pm, the second one one hour later. In the media set configuration I've set "append period" to "0 hours". But in job protocol for the first job append period is reported as "January 1., 1900", because this is in the past the second job appends to this media.
I'm missing a way to set append period to none. In the job configuration settings itself "overwrite media" is activated, which is necessary to achieve the goal having overwritten the bkf files after one week.
Thanks again for your help and regards,
Stefano
03-25-2011 05:50 AM
Are they writing to the same media set...?
03-25-2011 06:20 AM
If both jobs are set to Start as Overwrite - then they should not append no matter what your media sets are configured for.
However if your jobs are set to start as overwrite and your overwrite protection is set to 0 then you will keep using the same media - but it will be overwriteen not appended to.
03-25-2011 03:53 PM
Thanks for input. Both jobs are set to overwrite and OPP ist set to 6 days.
03-25-2011 03:55 PM
Yes, Craig, there is only one media set.
03-29-2011 10:30 PM
Hi Stefano,
I think your second job is overwriting the bkf file created by first job (It should). Check it clearly.. It may not be appending. But as you can see only one .bkf file after completing two backup jobs, you may be thinking as second job is appending. As you set both the jobs to overwrite only, appending will never happen.
In the job configuration settings itself "overwrite media" is activated, which is necessary to achieve the goal having overwritten the bkf files after one week.
To achive a overwrite protection of one week, you must set your jobs to Append to media, overwrite if no appendable media is available. As you have no append period configured for your media set, two .bkf files will be created with your two backup jobs and will be overwritten during the next run of the jobs.
hope this helps.
Regards...
03-31-2011 01:51 AM
Well with job starting as Overwrite and OPP set to 6 days, then I hope you also don't have
Tools --> Options --> (Settings) Media Management -->
"Media Overwrite Protection Level" set to None
As that could cause the second job to overwrite the first and might look like is has appendedas teh same media name woudl be used.
Does the job log for the second job say that it overwrote or appended?
03-31-2011 02:46 AM
03-31-2011 03:27 AM
03-31-2011 05:33 AM
If OPP = 6 days and AP = 0 Hours, and job is set to start as Overwrite and Media Protection is set to Full then there should be no way you can use the same piece of media for a job until after 6 days have passed.
If you are seeing the same media be re-used earlier than that either as an append or as an overwrite then you need to log a formal support case with us as either:
- something is not working as intended
- or our forum advice is being misunderstood and you need more specific help (possible with a form of remote control)
03-31-2011 07:48 AM
03-31-2011 09:04 AM
@ ken,
Depends on the media overwrite protection level he sets.
If it is set to FULL, then in job it should be overwrite only (Even append to medai overwrite if no appendable media will work here with no append period configured for the media set). But by default it will be set to NONE.
With NONE, job must be set to append to media, overwrite if no appendable media available. (With none append period)
With NONE, Overwite only then BE will not try to create second bkf file, it will throw a media overwrite alert and overwrites the first one. (Whatever OPP set with media set no matter)
Hope this is clear...
Thanks...
03-31-2011 10:35 AM
I'll have to take your word for the behavior of BE with NONE as the Global Overwrite Protection setting and Overwrite of BKF files. I saw way to many other strange behaviors way back before B2D was introduced to ever consider running that way.
03-31-2011 10:06 PM
@kiran,
I don't think you get the concept of media overwrite protection level correct. Here is what the Admin Guide says.
============================
The media overwrite protection level specifies whether to
overwrite scratch, imported, or allocated media, regardless of the media’s overwrite
protection period.
Use the media overwrite protection level to specify the type of media, such as
scratch or imported media, that you want to be available for overwrite backup
jobs.
The options for the media overwrite protection level are as follows:
■ Full - Overwrites scratch media, which are media that contain data you are
willing to discard, and recyclable media, which are media that are associated
with media sets and have expired overwrite protection periods.
■ Partial - Overwrites imported media, which are media that was created by
another installation of Backup Exec or some other backup product, and
overwrite scratch media.
■ None - Overwrites all media, including those that have current overwrite
protection periods (allocated media).
Caution: The None option is not recommended. It does not protect data from being
overwritten.
============================
First off, the default setting is Partial, not None. It would be irresponsible for BE to set the level to None as media would be overwritten even if their OPP has not expired.
Once you have set the protection level to None, then any media can be overwritten. Once the job wants to overwrite something it will use an existing media since all media can be overwritten. Whether the job is set to append, otherwise overwrite or just overwrite does not not matter.
04-03-2011 10:35 PM
Thanks Pkh..
I know anout media overwrite protection levels well and the same discussion happend between me and other members already some times.
But one thing which differs is, tape and disk backups will be treated differently when it comes to overwrite protection.
I tested it. You can prove it to yourself.
With protection level None and job not starting as overwrite only, BE will not overwrite anything which is not overwritable.
None - Overwrites all media, including those that have current overwrite protection periods.
This statement is true against tape backups and disk backups with jobs starting as overwrite only.
Thanks....
04-04-2011 02:31 AM
Colin,
I've combined these two jobs so my problems regarding appending and/or overwriting are obsolete. I divided system backup into two jobs because Symantec tells you to do if there is an Exchange backup involved. But since Exchange backup works there is no need to do so - I have to admit that I'm far away of understanding OPP an AP concepts in BE. As the discussion in this thread shows, I'm not the only one. :)
Thanks a lot also to Ken, Kiran and PKH for their interesting comments.
Regards,
Stefano
04-04-2011 02:40 AM
> With protection level None and job not starting as overwrite only,
> BE will not overwrite anything which is not overwritable.
04-04-2011 06:33 AM
The second option is Append to media, overwrite if no appendable media available. As you don't have any append period configured for backups will not be appended. But as the other members already said, symantec recommends Overwrite only with B2D jobs. Because remaining options showed some odd behaviour. (Today i also experienced it while trying with all the options for confirming to myself.)
Choosing append period to 0 Hours means NONE.
Thanks...