Backup Exec 2012 - do scheduled duplication jobs supersede each other?

[fsbofh]

Hello all,

another scheduling question from my part!

This is the scenario:

• Multiple servers are scheduled to be backuped on Sa 1 AM (weekly full).
• On first Sat 1 AM there's an additional schedule to do a monthly backup (monthly full)
• (There's also a yearly schedule, but I leave that out for now)
• Both are stored on a dedup machine
• Both should get duplicated to tape (library available)
• Both should use their own media set (one for weekly, one for monthly backups)

To ensure enough data flow to the library, I'd like to configure the duplicate jobs (one for weekly full, one for monthly full) to run 1 PM, so there's no concurrent use of the dedup while streaming (or at least less so).

Would Backup Exec be so smart to only run the appropiate job, which is the duplication corresponding to the last backup run?

I have the same question with verification jobs on the dedup - I like to schedule them to the middle of the week, outside the backup window, because they take a lot of ressources and I'm not quite convinced they do any good, as the data should be verified as per duplication jobs...

Thanks in advance for ideas!

[CraigV]

Hi,

Your duplicate job would run after its parent job has run. If the parent job is superceded, it therefore doesn't run, and neither should the duplicate job as no data has been backed up.

Thanks!

[Kiran_Bandi]

Would Backup Exec be so smart to only run the appropiate job, which is the duplication corresponding to the last backup run?

You will have two different stages for duplicating weekly & monthly fulls to tape, with respective sources linked to stage schedules. No worry about BE choosing wrong source. Please see the attached image (Do not mind retentions configured in that).

Coming to verify, if you get the tape duplicates to get verified immediately no need to worry about verify not runnig on dedup. Can be moved as you wish. 

[fsbofh]

Well, yeah, for clarification: two full backups, one supersedes the other. Two duplications, not configured as "Duplicate data immediately..." but with "According to schedule..." on the same day, at a fixed time.

I did a test, which confirms that the "right" duplication job starts (the one corresponding to the monthly backup in my test). I just wanted to confirm that that is no coincidence...

Thank you all!

[fsbofh]

Oh, man, the scheduler really drives me crazy some day!

If I change a Backup to do the duplicate-to-tape jobs by schedule instead "immediately after" and I save them - then the duplication jobs just start with some date in the past. This happens although I explicitly schedule them to start not before tommorrow!

This is really annoying, I have to cancel each job after another, scratch the tapes and so forth, just to change my schedule.

Is there any way to prevent this fine piece of software not to start jobs which are not scheduled to run, yet?

[fsbofh]

Oh no...

Just for your information: the Duplicate Jobs do not supersede each other. I there's something to duplicate, the all Duplications will start at the same time, regardless.

I've had this problem this weekend, come time for duplication then both monthly and weekly scheduled duplication started and fought over the tape library. This was no fun.

Regards, Manuel

[Kiran_Bandi]

Can you post a screenshot of job properties of job in question (including stages)?

[Colin_Weaver]

Ok I am reasonably sure that this is correct,  in that the inbuilt supersede rules only apply to initial jobs and not duplicates. You should probably log a formal support case so we can confirm exactly what you are doing against a possible engineering escalation.

[fsbofh]

Thanks, will do - I've changed the rule back to start the Duplication to Tape "immediately after the initial job" to avoid that problem until there's a solution, so I have no screenshot. But I'm sure that this is no fluke, as multiple servers showed that behaviour.

[mmattmann]

Hello Symantec

Any news about this issue?
 

I have the same problem:
One backup to disk job, but two duplicate to tape jobs at the same "level". One is running every sunday, the other one on every first sunday of every month.

At the moment, Backup Exec runs both jobs on every first sunday of a month.

And no, create an additional B2D job for every first sunday of every month is not a solution.

Thanks