Inherited Backup Exec 12 Sp5 Environment

[AAGMark]

Recently our backup admin left the company and the task of taking over the backup management has fallen to me, and now I come here for assistance.

Currently we are managing our backups via 1 policy. The Policy has 3 tasks which are performed daily, weekly, and monthly backups then all of those jobs are linked to immediately run a copy to tape process to duplicate the backup set. We currently have two environments we back up one is out Microsoft servers which use the remote agents and advanced open file options, we also have backups that run against a CIF share from an EMC Cellera. Unfortunantely the advanced open file options are not applicable, and we are currently unable to back up our pst files on that location.

I am looking for suggestions of ways to improve this, or if there is a prefered solution I would love to hear it... I am total newb here and just starting to learn.

[CraigV]

Hi,

2 ways...license AOFO in order to backup those open files are create a script to disconnect users from those files in order to back them up.

AOFO is a cost to your company but worth it in the long-run. Later versions of BE came with AOFO as part of the media server incurring no costs for it...

Thanks!

[Ken_Putnam]

Unfortunantely the advanced open file options are not applicable, and we are currently unable to back up our pst files on that location.

As Craig says, If you cannot use AOFO (wasn't AOFO included in the base license for v12.x? or did you mean that you cannot install the RAWS on the NAS?), your only other option is to ensure that whatever ID is using the PST files is logged off before the backup starts

[teiva-boy]

PST's are NOT suported on a network share period.  There is no way to reinvent the wheel here.  Do it right, or suffer the consequence of backing up an open file.

You could try NDMP, but that would possibly mean that the file might need to be rebuilt using the PST Analyzer repair tools if you had to restore them and access them.

Best bet, get rid fo the PST's. From a legal standpoint they are a bad idea, from a storage standpoint they are a bad idea, and from a backcup standpoint a bad idea.  Just a bad idea in general.