Backup Exec 9 how can I keep a history of restorable backups on a USB device?

[VC91]

Hi, I have a client that I recently took over the IT support of who are using Backup Exec 12 Rev 1364 to backup their SBS2003 server. I know what I would like to make Backup Exec do but are struggling to figure it out (I normally use a competitor product). I would be very grateful if someone could help me.

The client used to backup to tape but this was not working for several reasons (which I won’t bore you with) so we have bought 2 external 2.0TB USB Drives to replace all tapes.

How I would like Backup Exec to work:

The Server only has 2 local disk partitions (C & D) that total about 150GB usage so with having 2.0TB drives to backup to; I would like to be able to keep some form of backup history as we have the space. To clarify, if a file has been deleted I would like to be able to restore it from any of the last (let’s say) 10 nightly backups (5 days over 2 weeks). E.g. Today is Tuesday but I want to restore a file that is updated on a daily basis back to as it existed at backup time on the previous Wednesday.

What I have currently:

I have a Device called “USB Backup Folder” created under “Removeable Backup-to–disk Folders. It’s path is set to F:\ (the relevant drive for the USB devices, only one is connected at a time), Pause is not checked, Enable is checked, Online is greyed out but checked and the Maximum number of backup sets per backup-to-disk file is set to 20.

I have a media set called USB DISKS. Its Overwrite protection and Append Period are both set to 13 Days. Note: When I click on the Vault Rules tab I get a popup saying “The overwrite protection level of Backup Exec is set to NONE. The media set’s overwrite protection period will be ignored and media will not be protected as long as the overwrite protection is set to NONE”. On the Media Vault tab the “Select the media vault to use with this media set” is set to NONE as that is the only available option in the drop-down.

The backup jobs Device and Media Section is as follows:

“Device:” = USB Backup Folder, “Media Set:” = USB DISKS, “When the job begins” = Append to media, overwrite if no appendable media is available.

When this job ran the first time it used about 100GB on the USB drive then only a little more each night since then. I have run a test restore but only the latest version of a file seems available for restore not multiple versions.

Hopefully I have explained everything but if you need any other info please just ask.  I am very grateful for any help you can offer.

Thanks,

Paul.

[Ken_Putnam]

I have a media set called USB DISKS. Its Overwrite protection and Append Period are both set to 13 Days

You should never append to a Disk backup, so change APP to 0 (Never)  This is because all the BKF files in an "append family" share the same OPP, and this is reset each time an Append job finishes.  Basically, this means that NONE of your data will ever expire

When I click on the Vault Rules tab I get a popup saying “The overwrite protection level of Backup Exec is set to NONE. The media set’s overwrite protection period will be ignored and media will not be protected as long as the overwrite protection is set to NONE”.

From Tools\Options\Media Management set the overwrite option to either Full or Partial (If you only have one BE server use Partial, it you have two or more use FULL)

Full protects all media it can see using the info in the header record, so data backed up on another system is still protected)  Partial treats all foreign data (created on a different system) as scratch  ie immediately overwriteable

It also sounds like you did a single full and have done incrementals since.  Generally one does periodic fulls (every week or every other week) with intervening incrementals.  If you ever get into a Disaste Recovery situation, you would need that FULL and EVERY subsequent incremental to get back to where you were.  By doing weekly fulls, you would only need 7 backups - the last full and the last six incrementals

[pkh]

You should be using a normal B2D folder for your disks.  Removable B2D folders are for things like RDX and  Jaz drives.

[NeerThadarai]

If you are running FULL/Incremental backups than you need to check the file in the incremental backup set from a particular day to restore. If you select the file from Last Incremental, it would restore the latest version of the file.

[Ken_Putnam]

Neer

What has this got to do with the OP's question abount media set settings??

[VC91]

Ken,

Firstly let me apologise for how long it has taken me to get back to this issue (been rather busy with system downs).

Thank you very much for your response. 

Re: Generally one does periodic fulls (every week or every other week) with intervening incrementals.

I totally agree and in the software I normally use this setup is default but in Symantec do I need to create 2 separate jobs with appropriate schedules i.e. a Full job (that runs say once a week) and then an incremental job (that runs on the other days of the week). Assuming I do this over a month I will end up with 4 full backups and 4 sets of incrementals.

As I am backing up up to an external hard drive - 2 actually that are rotated from time to time - there is obviously a finite amount of space so really I need older backups to be deleted automatically before new ones are created. I assume this is what the OPP is?? If so and I wanted to keep what I mention above 4 weeks cycles, would I set the OPP to 27 days? (I know about knocking 1 day off due to job start and finish times)

User pkh says: You should be using a normal B2D folder for your disks.

Would you agree with this statement?

I think I need to reset all jobs and media I have created and want to make sure I set it up correctly next time.

Thanks again,

Paul.

[Ken_Putnam]

but in Symantec do I need to create 2 separate jobs with appropriate schedules i.e. a Full job (that runs say once a week) and then an incremental job (that runs on the other days of the week). Assuming I do this over a month I will end up with 4 full backups and 4 sets of incrementals.

That is correct

I need older backups to be deleted automatically before new ones are created. I assume this is what the OPP is?? If so and I wanted to keep what I mention above 4 weeks cycles, would I set the OPP to 27 days?

Correct  OPP stands for Overwrite Protection Period.  Along with this you need to Verify from Tools\Options\Media Management that the option to "Reuse overwriteable media in the target media set before scratch media" is selected.  If the alternate "use scratch before overwriteable' is used BE will continue creating new BKF files until the volume fills up before it starts re-using/overwriteing old files

User pkh says: You should be using a normal B2D folder for your disks.

Yes.  R-B2D is for devices where the chassis stays connected, but the media is removeable, like Jazz or RDX drives