Job is not completing correctly

[Bruno_Villeneuv]

Hi guys,

for the record, i have BE 2010 R2 and every day, have a backup job that consists in taking the data of the server and another job backing up Exchange databases. This first job is called Mon-Wed because it's running Mondays and Wednesdays and the exchange's is called Exchange (wow!).

My problem or maybe my question is regarding the fact that the Exchange job, running at 02:00am is started but doesn't end up. Is it possible because the tape is full, it ejects and ask for another media before completing the Exchange job? I'm not used with BE but that would make sense to me.

If i put the tape back in, BE shows 376.3Gb over 390.9Gb. So the tape is indeed full... That would mean the backup files totalize more than 375Gb ? So i need to do some cleanup to make it pass the Exchange job...

Thanks

[CraigV]

Hi,

You can open up your selection list and put in exclusions for files like *.mp3, *.wav, *.mpg, *.vob etc...all illegal files that shouldn't be sitting on a company server. I've done this to a fair measure of success...

Then check to see if there is any other selections that you don't need and deselect that.

Check to see what sort of compression you're getting on your tapes. Normally 1.0 --> 1.4:1 is a good indication of decent compression.

The more expensive way is to upgrade to an LTO4 drive which will allow your backups to fit onto 1 tape.

Thanks!

[Kiran_Bandi]

That would mean the backup files totalize more than 375GB

....if the tape was empty when the job started to run.

Is it possible because the tape is full, it ejects and ask for another media before completing the Exchange job?

Yes, an alert might be waiting for you to put in an overwritable tape and respond. 

[Bruno_Villeneuv]

Thanks for the inputs guys.

Kiran, i'm don't have any sort or protection on the media. It's always a erase media and backup sequence.

CraigV, can you explain a bit or send me a link regarding the compression recommendations? Here is what i see from my medias:

Monday: 1.5:1
Tueday: 1.6:1
Wednesday: 1.6:1
Thursday: 1.5:1
Friday1: 1.7:1
Friday2: 1.5:1

What does that means example 1.6:1 ? That means 100Gb of "real" data size will be compressed 1.6 times? It's gonna show 62.5Gb on tape?

[Bruno_Villeneuv]

For excluding, i already did that on jpg and bmp but that's a good idea for the videos too. According to the help file of BE tho, it says that i need to add double ** before the extension. Is that right or a simple *.jpg is alright?

[CraigV · Accepted solution]

Compression is dependant on the type of data you're backing up. Data such as image files, movies, zip files etc. are already compressed (there are times where backing up compressed data causes it to rehydrate making your backups larger!).

Those rates are incredibly good...you probably won't get any better than that.

With regards to your question, yes...that is what it means. So what you're getting on a 400GB tape on a friday is essentially 600GB compressed. not quite the 800GB that LTO3 is capable of, but those are marketing blurbs and you hardly ever get that in a real-world scenario.

The only option is to eliminate data being backed up that shouldn't be, or purchasing an LTO4-based drive. Check the HCL for your version of BE to make sure it is supported!

[CraigV]

...I used *.jpg and it worked. Try both...

[Kiran_Bandi]

What does that means example 1.6:1 ? That means 100Gb of "real" data size will be compressed 1.6 times? It's gonna show 62.5Gb on tape?

Exactly... and your backups are acheiving a decent compression ratio....

As you have done exclusions already and you are getting a decent compression ration, there seems to be no other option than inserting the tape when requested by BE or upgrading the tape drive and medias to fit backup to a single media.

[Bruno_Villeneuv]

I have an LTO Ultrium-3 showing in BE and have another tray available on my rack mount. So i took out the LTO from another server that's out of usage but don't have the right connections inside. I think i'll consider buying an adapter for taking 2 tapes at a time during backup jobs. Let's say the original tape is backing up data and the new one does Exchange jobs.

Thanks for the precisions guys.