Full backup after BE hotfix - is it a must?

[dori_bashan]

Hi all

We a running BE 2012 SP1a and i want to apply this hotfix:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH189571&actp=search&viewlocale=en_...

According to the tech note -  A full backup is required after installing this hotfix.

But - Full back is not an option now as we just finish the full backup that was required after the installaion of SP1.

We got 5 backup jobs, each are running on incremantal method beacuse each job covers over 10TB of data.

to process the full backup of all backup job all over again is a madness.

My qeustion - is the full backup is really a MUST?

Dori

[CraigV]

Nope, I suspect they're trying to protect themselves. SP1a is quite a serious patch release so they just want you to make sure your data is capable of being backed up, and restored if need-be.

I've never done this immediately after patching BE.

Thanks!

[dori_bashan]

So you are patching BE without doing the full backup?

[pkh]

When you apply a hotfix, you don't know what exactly are the changes that are made internally.  Perhaps ther are some additional meta-data (data about the backup) that is written to the media.  Otherwise, there may be some subtle changes to accommodate the fix.  If you don't do a full backup, you will end up with the full backup without the changes and the incremental backups with the changes.  The prudent way to go is to follow the instruction and do your full backup as soon as possible.  If you do not do a full backup as instructed and is unable to restore your entire chain of backups, then Symantec can disclaim responsibility because you have been warned and ignore the warning.