Back-up Exec 2012 Functionality

[Mick_S]

Hello, I wish to discuss Back-up Exec 2012

What have Symantec Done?  I have been an avid supporter of Symantec for over ten years; Back-up Exec 2012 is bringing this into question.  We can see what Symantec maybe trying to achieve but it has increased our work load and proved more difficult to manage.

The problem areas we have are:

• The configuring of individual server back-ups as opposed to individual jobs is time consuming whenever a change is required!

Are you able to provide reasoning for this change and how it is meant to improve the product?

• Overwrite protection

Overwrite protection selections are only effective if your media is not over-writeable.  It would appear that even though you can allocate media to a Media Set, if the media (even though allocated) becomes over-writable, Back-up Exec may steal that media regardless if it is not the configured Media Set to utilise.   Why then do we make the effort to create Media Sets?

Allocated Media; this it seems is media that IS NOT in an over-writable state. Once the media is over-writable it is deemed as recyclable media, and although it is in a media set, any job may reallocate it to any other media set. This means, the Storage overwrite protection settings do not allow you to enforce media to be kept in the allocated media set. Therefore, why have it!  The three settings in operation, achieve the same outcome.

Even selecting “Prompt before overwriting Allocated Media” will provide no assistance as once your media is over-writable it is no longer allocated. 

What would be the likelihood of a modification being made to Back-up Exec to provide a selection that protects Allocated Media?  Therefore, if the media is not over-writable, and there is no scratch media, then fail the job, like the old days.

In regard to the overwrite protection support have suggested partitioning, this will not work for us!

• Tape libraries

If you have two tape drives and the first tape drive fails all back-ups are suspended and fail.  Why is Back-up Exec smart enough to move on?

[pkh]

For the overwrite protection part, read the first few paragraphs of my article below.

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/must-mondays-backup-be-monday-tape

[Larry_Fine]

If you have two tape drives and the first tape drive fails all back-ups are suspended and fail.

If you target your jobs to a pool, they will use whichever drive is available.  As far as I know, this is consistent across all BE versions, nothing changed here in BE 2012.

[Mick_S]

Hi PKH,

I read your article and I can understand your logic to a point, that who cares where your data is as long as you can recover it, why label it?  Let's say you loose your back-up appliance, and you require Tuesday's tape, you now need to do an inventory on each tape until you locate the one you require!

With so many programming geniuses out there, there must be a way of protecting data allocated to a media set even if it becomes overwriteable.  As it stands now, if your tape becomes overwritable you have no protection available to you!

We don't direct all our jobs to a pool in case a tape drive gives undetected bad writes.

[pkh]

 if your tape becomes overwritable you have no protection available to you!

It is up to you to set an OPP so that the data is protected until the time it can be overwritten.  Once, the OPP is over, the media can be overwritten.  How can it be protected beyond the OPP?  If it can, for how long more?  Suppose you say 2 weeks more, then why can't you increase the OPP by 2 weeks?

[Mick_S]

I understand how the OPP works, but it's not always a perfect world!  You set your OPP and all goes well for a period, then your back up fails while you are away.  This failure disrupts the following backups and now you have miscellaneous tapes that are overwritable, as Backup Exec does not care about media sets only OPPs it will take what ever is available!

None of the current protection selections will stop this from occuring!

All I am saying is that, with a little extra code from the developers a new selection can be generated to protect media in an allocated Media Set, similar to do not use tapes in the Retired Set.

[pkh]

I think you should lay out your case on how you want to tapes to be protected beyond the OPP.  It has to practicable and not just a wish.  You should include more details on what you want, then put it up as an Idea in the Ideas section.

FYI, the retired media set is for you to delete the media from BE.  It is not meant as a container to keep your media.

[Mick_S]

I realise the Retired Media Set is for deleting media, I simply used it as an example because it is the only location BE does not go scavaging in!

Thank you for your suggestion, I had not noticed the Ideas section.  I will try and provide more clarity to support its practicality in my request.