Configuring Backup Exec 2010 R3 for Agentless Enterprise Vault 10.0.2 backup

[mthorpe]

Our current solution for backing up Enterprise Vault 10.0.2 is BE 2010R3 via BE Agent does not perform at an acceptable speed.

I've been advised it may be quicker to peform an Agentless backup by using scripts to put the Vault Stores in and out of backup mode - is there a detailed guide\template on how to go about this?

Presumably as partitions close and new ones open I will need to amend the job to include/exclude as appropriate?

[SaurabhK_BE]

Have you tried enabling the collection for partitions and then back it up ?

Please follow the steps mentioned in the below mentioned link to enable collection:

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/blogs/configuring-enterprise-vault-give-you-better-backup-pe...

By the way, BE 2010 R3 does not officially support EV 10.0.2.

[mthorpe]

Hi SaurabhK_Be,

Yes collections have been enabled since our EV solution was implemented.

According to http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH38537 on page 23 it states that EV10 is supported (with a specifc hotfix), however, it doesn't mention specific version numbers, this document was published on 28th Feb 2013 a few months after 10.0.2 was avaliable so the assumption was made it would be. Could you confirm which versions are officially supported?

[ZeRoC00L]

If you make use of the Enterprise Vault Agent for Backup Exec EV will be put in backup mode.

But it won't make any difference. EV is a large collection of small files and small files are much slower to backup than large files. As Saurabhk already suggested, you may want to look into enable collection.

Another option may be to do a partition rollover. If the current partition is closed nothing will be changed in it, and there is no need to create a backup of it every day.

[mthorpe]

My reply to Saurabhk has submitted to forum moderators so has yet to appear.

I've tested backing up a closed partition with and without the EV Agent so far:

Closed partition of 250GB takes over 5 hours to backup using EVAgent

The same closed partition takes just over 2 hours to backup not using the EVAgent (but via backup exec).

Partitions are set to roll over once they hit 250GB (for mail vaultstore) and 500GB for Journal vaultstore.

A full backup of only the Live data which begins on a Friday evening is sometimes still running 5 days later.

Due to potential savings not using the EVAgents I'll like to try it without, however, there seems to be not easy way of selecting the Index locations, BackupExec greys these out and won't let me select them.

[mthorpe]

Not sure if my early reply will appear or not, it was made 50 minutes ago but said it had to be moderated.

We are using collections.. according to an article I tried to link in my earlier post says EV 10 is support but doesn't go into details as to which versions that is.

[SaurabhK_BE]

BE 2010 R3 supports EV 10.0.1. please see below mentioned link:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH137682

If you want to backup Index without EV Agent, you could try below mentioned steps:

1. On your index server, stop 'Backup Exec Remote Agent Service'

2. Go to path where remote agent is installed (for ex. Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec\..)

3. Rename bedsev.dll (for ex: bedsev_renemed.dll)

4. Start 'Backup Exec Remote Agent' service.

Hope it helps.

[mthorpe]

I'll give that a try once the current backup job is complete.

Will stopping the service, re-naming the file back to bedsev.dll and starting the service revert back to using the EV agent?

Out of interest, what is the recommended way to backup EV 10.0.2?

[SaurabhK_BE]

renaming it back to bedsev.dll will enable EV agent.

Meanwhile, could you let us know if you are facing this slow backup problem after installing any hotfix on your BE 2010 R3 ?

[mthorpe]

I don't recall the last time we applied any BE2010R3 hotfixes... so can't be sure one way or the other.

If it helps qe currently have the following applied to our CAS and Backup servers:

- Service Pack 2

- Hotfix 180429

- Hotfix 176937

- Hotfix 191248

- Hotfix 194471

The backup has been slow for some time - when we upgraded from EV 9.0.3 to EV 10.0.2 it got quicker for 3 weeks or so where incrementals were taking 6 hours to complete then has been taking 18 hours to perform an incremental backup (sometimes as small as 71GB this includes the SQL backup)... A full backup of just the live data (1.2Tb - 2.5Tb depending upon partition rollover) which we run every Friday night takes anywhere between 55 and 90 hours

When we had EV 9.0.3 it was taking around 12-14hours to peform an incremental.

[SaurabhK_BE]

I would suggest to open a support case as the issue requires proper investigation.