Backup Exec always deletes expired disk backup datasets, even when there is free space available

[informatica-cat]

My question is why Backup Exec always deletes expired disk backup datasets, even when it's not necessary because there is free space available on the same disk? I wanted to have as many copies as possible and this behavior prevents it. I am using Backup Exec 2012 version 14.0 Rev.1798 (64-bit) Thanks for your help

[pkh]

This is by design.  DLM will groom backup sets that has expired.  See the blog and my article below on how your backup sets are managed.

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/fr/blogs/data-lifecycle-management-be-2012

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/when-backup-sets-are-deleted-under-dlm

If you want to retain more copies of your backups then you need to increase the retention period.

[informatica-cat]

IMHO this is a bad design decision. I want to have as many disk backups as possible, by using all the available space. Of course, when there is no more space available for a new backup, then BE must delete the expired data sets, but no before.

[pkh · Accepted solution]

No. This is correct. BE has no way of telling how big your backup sets are and whether the next backup set will fit into the disk, so how does BE know when the disk is "full" and to delete some backup sets? What happens if BE deletes yesterday's backup set and this is needed. The control of how many backup sets to keep is always the responsibility of the backup administrator. You should know how many backup sets you can keep on your disk and set the retention period accordingly

[CraigV · Accepted solution]

No, it isn't bad design. Every backup application on the market has retention times, and doesn't offer the ability to "think for itself" and simply increase that to fill up disk space.

pkh's advice is correct...it would be correct for Veeam, ARCserv etc.

Thanks!

[maurijo]

It is possible to have as many as possible, just count it out by yourself and increase the retention accordingly. Backup exec has no artificial intelligence to predict how much backup sets it can keep on disk...

[informatica-cat]

Thanks for your replies!

[CraigV]

No problems!