Backing up the Backup Exec Server

[Automation]

Hi

Any thoughts on when the best time is to backup the Backup Exec server.

Are then any thoughts on running the backup at a time when no other backups are running so that the server is not creating files while it is being backed up?

Which files should I definitely be backing up?

Many thanks for your time

Karl

[pkh]

You should avoid backing up the media server when it is doing the BEDB maintenance.  Go to Click on the BE button ---> Configuration and Settings ---> Backup Exec Settings and check the maintenance time under Database Maintenance.  By default, it is 4 a.m. daily.  You can change this to a more convenient time.  I change it to 4 p.m. when I don't have anything running during the day.

It is a good idea to backup the media server when there is no backup tasks running.  Make sure you backup the Data and Catalog directories under the BE installation directory.

[Sym-cr]

Hi Karl,

Non-Productive hours are the best to backup any server and the strategy remains the same for backing up Backup Exec Server too.

What should you backup?

All critical components of a system should be selected.

About selecting data to back up

http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO73353

As per my understanding from you post, I think your concern is about backing up the B2D (Backup-to-Disk) folders where the BKF files are stored after backup.

I would suggest you NOT to backup the B2D folder. You should exclude the B2D folders from your backup selection. Please check the link below:

Reasons why backing up or copying backup to disk data files is NOT recommended.

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH176061

Now, if you are using BE 2012 and your Disk storage is configured on C:\ drive, excluding the storage folder (BEData) where all the BKF files reside will turn off the SDR option (SSP). In this case, I would suggest you to change the storage location to any other drive or a remote server (network location). Reason behind this is storing the data on the same drive which is getting backed up is not a good idea. If the drive is crashed, then both the drive data and the backed up data is lost. Leaving you empty handed!!

Thanks!!

[Automation]

Hi

Thanks for the replies

BEData currently resides on a datastore on a different server so that's covered

An SDR backup of the BE2012 occurs every friday at 23H00. Included is all of C:\ , D:\ , System State , and Microsoft SQL Server Instances.

The database maintenance occurs at 00H10 and lasts for about 45 seconds after which the Weekly full followed by daily incremental runs at 00H30 and includes the following files:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C:\Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec\Catalogs

BE2012 Catalog path = C:\Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec\Catalogs

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C:\Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec\Data

BE2012 Job Log Path = C:\Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec\Data

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C:\Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec\sdr

BE2012 sdr path = C:\Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec\sdr\Data\

BE2012 sdr alternate path = \\10.200.183.12\Symantec\Backup Exec\sdr\Data

??? Should I have the sdr data file on a different drive???

??? If I change the path, should I just copy the files to the new path???

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AND

C:\ProgramData\Symantec Shared\Licenses

D:\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.BKUPEXEC\MSSQL\DATA (includes all the database files)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry to blow you away with data , can you see if I am missing anything obvious from what I have written above

Would you change anything if you were doing the setup?

Really appreciate your help.

[pkh]

The alternate SDR path should be on a different server so that if one crashes you still have the other.  It is not necessary to copy the .dr files if you switch path because they are updated after each backup.

There is no point backing this path because AFE will automatically exclude any .mdf and .ldf files.

D:\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.BKUPEXEC\MSSQL\DATA (includes all the database files)

It is not a good idea to have the BEDB on a separate server.  It makes the recovery of the media server more difficult.  You now have to recover 2 servers before you can use BE>

[Automation]

Thanks

"It is not a good idea to have the BEDB on a separate server. It makes the recovery of the media server more difficult. You now have to recover 2 servers before you can use BE>"

I am new to all this so please bare with me

Not sure what you are refering to with the statement re the BEDB.

[pkh]

If your BEDB is on the media server then you only need to recover your media server to get back you're media server with all the previous BE settings. If your BEDB is on another server then after you recover your media server you will not have all your previous job settings, etc because the BEDB is missing

[Sym-cr]

Hi Karl,

I have listed few reasons why it is suggested to have BEDB on the Media Server and not on a seperate SQL Server:

1. During any troubleshooting with Backup Exec, if we need to stop and start the SQL Server Services then other databases on the SQL server will also get affected.

2. You need to have a proper network connectivity between the Media Server and the SQL server for BE application to work properly.

3. One of the most common reasons why users prefer a seperate SQL server instead of SQL Express provided and installed by default with Backup Exec is the database size limit. 

SQL 2005 Express Edition Database maximum size limit = 4GB.

But in fact BEDB size generally never grows more than few MB until something has gone wrong with BEDB. So it's pretty safe and easy to use the default SQL Express Edition provided with BE download package rather than a dedicated SQL Server for BEDB.

Please refer this TECH Article:

Best Practice: Location for Backup Exec Database (BEDB)

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH176343

Thanks!!

[pkh]

For point no. 1, this is not true if the BEDB resides in its own instance

[Automation]

Think someone has misread something, my BEDB is on the BE2012 server and have not mentioned otherwise, that is why i did not understand the statement below.

"It is not a good idea to have the BEDB on a separate server. It makes the recovery of the media server more difficult. You now have to recover 2 servers before you can use BE>"

[Sym-cr]

Is your media server also a SQL server?

[Sym-cr]

If your media server is just a file server then please refer my previous post. It mentions what exactly to backup. However, once again - System drive, System State, Utility partition (if available). You don't need to backup the storage where you store the BKF files. If the storage is configured in your system drive itself, then consider changing it to another drive because excluding any file or folder from system drive will turn off SDR.

[Automation]

Yes

[CraigV]

...if you post within minutes of a previous post, please edit that instead.

Thanks!

[Sym-cr]

In that case, apart from all those mentioned in my previous post, you also need to backup your SQL databases. However, it's generally suggested not to have SQL,Exchange etc to be installed on media server because it becomes difficult in case of server crash. If the media server crashes where SQL is installed, recovery becomes difficult as you lose the backup and recovery application along with SQL.

[CraigV]

...to be honest, the only selections I made on my BE servers were the BEDB via the SQL agent I had installed (because I could load the agent!, otherwise the bedb.bak file created nightly at 4AM by default will also work), the Data and Catalogs folders. I wasn't worried about the System State or anything else.

Those 3 selections made sure i could reinstall my BE media server if need-be.

Thanks!

[CraigV]

...well, you'd lose everything in fact. However, if the backup has been set up correctly, and you have the selections needed to recover BE, then you're good to go. You have everything you need to restore the server to the last working state, albeit manually.

So I don't quite know what you're getting at with this...?

Symantec have TNs dealing with manually recovering BE...

Thanks!

[pkh]

In an ideal world, each application/database would have its own physical machine, but in the real world, this would be prohibitive, cost-wise.  Having other applications/databases on the media server does not make it any more difficult to recover.  Each application/database is recovered separately.

To recover the media server so that BE can be used, involve restoring the entire C: drive (assuming that all the data that BE needs is on it) and the system state.  Whether the other applications/databases are recovered at this stage is immaterial.

[Artegic]

I read this discussion with great interest but am still unsure what exactly to select on the self backup job of my BE2012SP4 media server.

The server has two disk volumes C: and G:, with C: containing the Windows and Backup Exec installation including BE's SQL Server instance, and G: containing the deduplication storage folder. Right now I have selected

C:
Microsoft SQL Server Instances
Shadow Copy Components
System State

ie. everything except volume G:. I notice however that the volume it backs up exceeds by far the capacity of the C: drive, and if I watch it in the Job Activity window I see the lion's share accumulating while it processes

Source: \\SERVER\Shadow?Copy?Components
Current Directory: User?Data\Backup Exec Deduplication Storage

So it seems that somehow the deselected deduplication folder sneaks back in through the "Shadow Copy Components" item.

HOWTO73353 doesn't even mention "Shadow Copy Components". What does that include? Should I deselect it? What do I need in order to have disaster recovery capability for the BE server?