cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Backup Exec 12.5 First Incremental Job

ActlabsITGuys
Level 2

Hi Guys,

I've just setup a server for backup purposes only to backup our file server (over 6 TB of data).  We want to be able to keep two years worth of data to go back on if need be (auditing purposes) and feel that incremental backups will provide us the best option (most space saving vs. differential).

The problem I am running into is after a fresh install of BE 12.5 and setting "Incremental - Using Archive Bit (clear archive bit)" as the backup method and starting the job, it does not perform the first full backup.

It ends up creating an incremental backup.  How does it know what files were backed up from the last full if a full was never done?  Isn't the first backup regardless if its incremental or differential supposed to be a full?

The incremental jobs are completing without error and when looking through the datasets, I am able to recover data, but only what users are actively working on day by day.  Any data from a few months ago to years ago doesn't "exist" in the eyes of Backup Exec because a Full Backup was never done to let it know the files exist.

 

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

pkh
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP    Certified

When you run an incrementa/differential backup using the archive bit method, it will backup only the files that happen to have the archive bit turned on.  Not all the files will have the archive bit turned on. For this reason, you need to run a full backup to establish a baseline BEFORE you run any incr/diff backups.  Running a diff/incr backup without a full backup will not backup all the files, i.e. the first incr/diff backup is NOT EQUAL to a full backup.  See my videos below for proof of this.

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/videos/must-do-full-backup-after-modifying-selection-list-part-1

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/videos/must-do-full-backup-after-modifying-selection-list-part-2

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/videos/must-do-full-backup-after-modifying-selection-list-part-3

This is why in BE 2012, you cannot do an incr/diff without doing a full backup.

You should also note that your scheme to just use incr. backups will not work in the run.  When you need to do a restore, you would need to restore the last full backup + ALL the subsequent incr. backups.  Imagine restoring a full backup and 2 years worth of incremental backups.  You must always run full backups on a periodic basis to shorten your recovery.

Normally, people keep a monthly backup for longer periods.  If you want to keep daily backups for 2 years, then you would need an enormous amount of storage

View solution in original post

1 REPLY 1

pkh
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP    Certified

When you run an incrementa/differential backup using the archive bit method, it will backup only the files that happen to have the archive bit turned on.  Not all the files will have the archive bit turned on. For this reason, you need to run a full backup to establish a baseline BEFORE you run any incr/diff backups.  Running a diff/incr backup without a full backup will not backup all the files, i.e. the first incr/diff backup is NOT EQUAL to a full backup.  See my videos below for proof of this.

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/videos/must-do-full-backup-after-modifying-selection-list-part-1

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/videos/must-do-full-backup-after-modifying-selection-list-part-2

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/videos/must-do-full-backup-after-modifying-selection-list-part-3

This is why in BE 2012, you cannot do an incr/diff without doing a full backup.

You should also note that your scheme to just use incr. backups will not work in the run.  When you need to do a restore, you would need to restore the last full backup + ALL the subsequent incr. backups.  Imagine restoring a full backup and 2 years worth of incremental backups.  You must always run full backups on a periodic basis to shorten your recovery.

Normally, people keep a monthly backup for longer periods.  If you want to keep daily backups for 2 years, then you would need an enormous amount of storage