Assistance with backup strategy/settings

[sjthomp]

I backup six servers in two large backup jobs which cannot be combined into one job, plus a separate Exchange backup job. I run a full backup of everything to tape starting Friday night (which takes about 26 hours), and a nightly differential backup.

I am trying to transition to a backup-to-disk-to-tape plan. I want all the backup to disk jobs to occur first, then back up all the data from all jobs to tape. (The goal is to get the servers backed up overnight to disk, then run the backup to tape during the day, since that job won't slow down the servers or the network.)

My plan was to create separate backup-to-disk folders for the two fulls, the two differentials, and Exchange (i.e. five folders total). I had hoped for a schedule like this...

Full or Differential Job #1 to disk

Full or Differential Job #2 to disk

Exchange to disk

Full or Differential Job #1 disk to tape

Full or Differential Job #2 disk to tape

Exchange disk to tape

I wanted to keep only the most recent backup in each backup-to-disk folder, and have it overwritten by the next backup-to-disk job. However, I can't figure out how to limit the number of backups kept in a backup-to-disk folder. I can schedule a batch file to clear out the folders after the tape jobs run, but according to Symantec doc 252975, this isn't advisable. For that matter, backing up to disk and then separately backing up the backup-to-disk folders to tape isn't a good idea, either.

I guess I need to set up duplicate jobs, but as far as I can tell, this will result in a schedule like this:

Full or Differential Job #1 to disk

Full or Differential Job #1 disk to tape

Full or Differential Job #2 to disk

Full or Differential Job #2 disk to tape

Exchange to disk

Exchange disk to tape

Is there any way to accomplish my goals:

* Consolidate all backup-to-disk jobs to run consecutively, then run all backup-to-tape jobs afterward

* Limit the number of backup copies on disk to only the most recent full and the most recent differential

I'm also a little unclear on how to set up duplicate jobs. Any advice on this would be appreciated.

Message Edited by sjthomp on 04-11-2008 10:34 AM

[Aprazeth]

Hi,

What you could do is have your normal backups run towards disk (as you wanted to) Then once a week or per given time you run an Archival Job (with deletion after verification) on the folder/disk/storage where you place the B2D jobs.

Might be a solution for your problem I suppose. Give it a whirl and let us know how it worked out.

[Ken_Putnam]

* Limit the number of backup copies on disk to only the most recent full and the most recent differential

If you set the global option at Tools\Media Management\Overwrite to "use overwriteable media in the target media set before scratch media" and have a media set OPP of the B2D media set to 1 hour, each night's job should re-use the same BKF files

* Consolidate all backup-to-disk jobs to run consecutively, then run all backup-to-tape jobs afterward

I'd use polices to kick off the DUPLICATE jobs as soon as the B2d jobs finish, and schedule the jobs to follow each other

See  the Admin Guide for help with Policies