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Help! Newbie ready for first backup session...

JerryL
Level 3
Hi all –

I’m brand new to Backup Exec and about ready for my first major session.  Running this on XP Pro, with a Sony 81b autoloader (using 400 gig carts).

I have approximately 1500 gig of files I hope to backup to tape.  These span approximately 10 different external drives, 5 of which are on a separate machine on the network and shared out to the machine hosting the autoloader.

The software appears to be properly installed and working.  A 400 gig test session was recorded and verified without issue.

Files to be backed up are all data outside the OS; no files that are open (i.e. these are all various photography projects).

Some fundamental questions…

  1. Can the above scenario, with files on many different drives, be backed up in one recording session?
  2. Is having about half of the files on network shares an issue?
  3. Assuming this scenario works, is there a way to have Backup Exec create two sets of backup tapes (the autoloader can hold a total of 8 400 gig carts, so this is large enough even w/o compression)
  4. Are there any best practices recommended for this scenario
  5. Are there any suggestions for how to simply label the tapes prior to the session so I know how to keep them straight later on (especially if I’m able to have BE create two sets in one recording session).
  6. What if the session is interrupted before it’s complete (realizing this will take a few days to run)?
  7. What other things should I be aware of before launching into this?
Many thanks in advance for your help!

Message Edited by JerryL on 07-25-200712:30 AM

8 REPLIES 8

JerryL
Level 3
Hi -

Just a bump, as I have all the disks and data ready for my first backup session, but need to find out if this scenario will work.

Thanks!

Ken_Putnam
Level 6
One driveon the loader? If so, then yes you could do everything in one job, but if any server has a problem, the entire job will be flagged as FAILED.  If you don't mind wading through job lofs  ...
 
 
Network share vs local are no problem, as long as you have installed a RAWS serial on the media server, adn as long as the BERemote services is started and running on the remote machines
 
With only one drive you will have trouble DUPLICATING the backup set to a second set of tapes
 
 

JerryL
Level 3
Hi Ken - thanks for the reply.

Still very new to this, so thanks in advance for additional answers.

One drive on the loader?  Yes, there's a single drive unit, around which is a carousel that holds a total of eight 400 gig carts.  I'm hoping that BE can at least automate the tape feed when the session needs to move to the next tape...

I don't know what a RAWS serial is, nor do I know how to install BERemote.  Are either of these items/licences I need to purchase in addition to the original 11d full version I already have?

The plan is to load eight 400 gig carts in the autoloader.  That would be enough tapes for two backup sets, since the data set is comfortably under 1600 gig.  Is there a way to have BE simply run two backup sessions, once for tapes 1 through 4, and again for tapes 5 through 8?

Thanks again!

Ken_Putnam
Level 6
RAWS - Remote Agent for Windows Systems  And yes, for server OS machines it is a purchased serial (for Workstation/Desktop OSes it is still required,  but is not licensed)
 
Install from Tools\Options\Serials and Licenses (or whatever it is called in v11d)
 
Yes, using a loader/library, when a tape fills up, BackupExec should automatically return the tape to it's slot and mount another "Overwritable" tape. 
 
With only one tape drive, you will probably have to run the backup job twice, since you probably don't have enough disk space to Duplicate to disk and then back to tape
 
You can either just let BE grab tapes itself,or you could Partition the loader and point the first job at partition 1 and the second job at partition 2. 'Course this wil lonly work as long as all your data will fit onto four tapes  Smiley Tongue

Hywel_Mallett
Level 6
Certified

JerryL wrote:
Hi all –

I’m brand new to Backup Exec and about ready for my first major session.  Running this on XP Pro, with a Sony 81b autoloader (using 400 gig carts).

I have approximately 1500 gig of files I hope to backup to tape.  These span approximately 10 different external drives, 5 of which are on a separate machine on the network and shared out to the machine hosting the autoloader.

The software appears to be properly installed and working.  A 400 gig test session was recorded and verified without issue.

Files to be backed up are all data outside the OS; no files that are open (i.e. these are all various photography projects).

Some fundamental questions…

  1. Can the above scenario, with files on many different drives, be backed up in one recording session?
  2. Is having about half of the files on network shares an issue?
  3. Assuming this scenario works, is there a way to have Backup Exec create two sets of backup tapes (the autoloader can hold a total of 8 400 gig carts, so this is large enough even w/o compression)
  4. Are there any best practices recommended for this scenario
  5. Are there any suggestions for how to simply label the tapes prior to the session so I know how to keep them straight later on (especially if I’m able to have BE create two sets in one recording session).
  6. What if the session is interrupted before it’s complete (realizing this will take a few days to run)?
  7. What other things should I be aware of before launching into this?
Many thanks in advance for your help!

Message Edited by JerryL on 07-25-200712:30 AM



1. Can the above scenario, with files on many different drives, be backed up in one recording session?

As Ken said, yes. You'll require the Remote Agent for Windows Servers license.
 
2. Is having about half of the files on network shares an issue?
 
Not at all.
 
6. What if the session is interrupted before it’s complete (realizing this will take a few days to run)?
 
It depends on why it's interrupted really. If it's interrupted, then it'll just stop.
 
3, 4 and 5. (Recommendations)
 
I would do the following:
Load your autoloader with tapes, and inventory it. BE will give the media a logical label (assuming you're not using barcodes). Give the media a physical label that corresponds to the logical label. OK, so the media names might not be pretty, but it makes you realise that the tapes aren't really in sets, and they're not really in any order - they're just 8 tapes.
Unless you need to, I'd keep things simple, so no need to use policies for this. Let's assume you're going to do a full backup once a week.
Ensure your Media Protection settings are set to Full media protection. Create a media set, called Weekly Backups. Give it an append period of 24 hours (though this won't really matter), and an Overwrite Protection Period of 8 days (i.e. once data's on there, it can't be overwritten for 8 days)
Next create a Selection List. Call it something nice. Select the data you want to back up in the list.
Now create a new backup job, using your newly-created selection list. Set the backup device to be your autoloader. Set the media set as Weekly Backups. Set the job to overwrite existing data on themedia. Set the job to run every Friday. Submit the job.
 
Now every Friday, the job will start, the autoloader will load any overwritable media, and backup the files you selected. When it fills the first tape, it'll start on the next one, until it's finished.
The next Friday, it'll start again, but all the media used the first week will be protected (since they were written to in the last 8 days), so it'll start using a new tape.
The next Friday, the media used in the original job will now be overwritable, while the media in the second job won't be, so it'll overwrite the tapes used in the first job.
 
That's a simplification. You are of course free to change anything, especially if I've forgotten anything - it's late!

JerryL
Level 3
Hi Hywel, and Ken!

Many thanks for the answers; very much appreciated.

Ken - I appear to be stuck rather early in the game.  When trying to install the remote agent on to the target machine, after proceeding to the dialog to enter remote credentials, I keep getting a failure dialog box when using the correct username and pw (it correctly displays the remote computer's domain name corresponding to the machine name).  It's probably important to note that there is no actual domaing, the current and remote machines are on the same workgroup. The error dialog says,

"You are logged into \\machinename as a user other than machinename\username.  Please close existing connections to \\machinename and try again.

System message: Multiple connections to a server or shared resource by the same user, using more than one user name, are not allowed.  Disconnect all previous connections to the server or shared resource and try again."

\quote

 My local machine name and remote machine name (which has the shared drives I need to connect to) each have the same user name and logon password.  To repeat, there is no domain, they're just part of the same workgroup.

At this point, I'm blocked from continuing.  I've ensured I've disconnected all drive letter assignments to the shares on the remote machine, but don't think that's what this dialog's talking about.

Again - thanks in advance for your help...  I'm about ready to simply move the remote drives, and connect them to the local machine so I can continue.  Not getting the remote agent installed obviously is a block to finishing this off.

Thanks!!!!!!!!

Message Edited by JerryL on 07-31-200712:29 AM

Message Edited by JerryL on 07-31-200712:31 AM

JerryL
Level 3
Another simple bump...  Trying to get more info regarding installation of remote agent, and the error dialog I keep encountering...

thanks!

Ken_Putnam
Level 6
Sorry - this was far enough down that it got lost
 
For a workgroup, when you connect specify the id in the format
 
machinename\userid
 
Do you have a print mapped that is shared from that machine?  Any shared folders mapped?
 
 
Try logging in as the BackupExec Service Account and running the job manually