Multiple Daily jobs to One tape

[Tony_Mongiello]

Hoping someone can help me. Here is how I currently have my 4 daily jobs set up to run. I THOUGHT it was a good strategy but now am having doubts as I just started to think about it:

Veritas: version 10d for Windows Servers
Device: Dell External LTO3 400GB drive (single tape)

Job 1 runs at 12:00am direct to tape backing up data on server 1
Job 2 runs at 1:00am direct to tape backing up data on server 2
Job 3 runs at 2:00am direct to tape backing up data on server 3
Job 4 runs at 3:00am direct to tape backing up data on server 4

All jobs run with these paramaters:
When job begins - Overwrite media

I have timed it out so that I know job 1 finishes before job 2 starts, job 2 finishes before job 3 starts, etc.... I am concerned that after each job finishes that the next job overwrites the previous job so that, when all is said and done, if I HAVE to go back to that tape, only the data from Job 4 will be obtainable.

What I want to do is: Have a tape for each day and have all 4 jobs run each day, all the while being sure that I can restore data from any of those jobs if i need to.

For example. Today I put in Monday's tape (It's labeled MONDAY). The 4 jobs run tonight and tomorrow morning I remove that tape and put in Tuesday's tape (labeled TUESDAY).....and so on for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Come the following Monday when I put in the MONDAY tape, I want it to overwrite all data on the tape with the 4 jobs that run that night.

Am I doing this correctly? Lordy I hope so, if not, I have a problem. I hope I am explaining this clearly enough. If any more info is needed, please let me know.

Thanks in advance for any and all help

Best Regards,

Tony

[Ken_Putnam]

This is a very common strategy. You just need to set it up correctly

1) All jobs must specify the same media set
2) The properties of the media set need to be
Overwrite Protection Period 6 days
Append Period 12 hours
3) The first job should be defined as Overwrite
4) All subsequent jobs should be defined as Append (Not Append Else Overwrite)

And you are correct, if the OPP is set so that everything DID run, you would indeed have overwritten and be left with only Job 4 data

[Tony_Mongiello]

Ken,

Thank you so much for your quick reply! It's comforting to know that I have the right idea, but I'm just not executing it correctly....

All jobs are currently using the same media set (Media Set 1). Right now, Media Set 1's properties are set to
Overwrite Proitection = NONE
Append Period = NONE

I am able to change the append period, but not able to change the Overwrite period. (at least not any way I know how).

This is done on the Media Set level, correct?

Again, thank you for all help you have given/are giving me!

Tony

[Ken_Putnam]

Should be able to change it from the Media Tab, right click the media set \Properties

[Tony_Mongiello]

I do, but the Overwite Protection is set to NONE and greyed out, nothing to click on to change it. I am able to change the Append Protection and change it to 6 days though.

How can I change the Overwrite Protection? Do I need to create a new media set and move the media to it?

[Ken_Putnam]

Hmmm

is the a job funning, waiting on a response, maybe?

Try creating a new media set "Dailies" (or what ever) Set the OPP and APP, then change your jobs to point to the new media set.

[Tony_Mongiello]

Funny that you mention that...

No jobs are running at all. I tried to create a new media set by right clicking Media Sets then NEW but was unable to specify the OPP, could specify teh APP though...

I then had the idea to create a new media set via the Wizard. This gave me the opportunity to set the OPP (which I set to 6 days as you said) and the APP (to 12 hours). Set was created and iw as happy. I then viewed it's properties in MEDIA and, lo and behold, the OPP is back to being NONE and greyed out but the APP is set to where I set it during it's creation in the wizard.

What else could it be? Will the APP set to 12 hours be enough?

Just as a precaution, I'm going to restart the server and with it, the BackupExec services to see if I can change the OPP.... Stay tuned and thanks for all the help!

Tony

[Ken_Putnam]

Check the Global Overwrite Protection and verify that it is set to "partial" or "Full" , not None (Tools\media management\overwrite I think)

[Tony_Mongiello]

BINGO! That was it!

Before I got your reply, I restarted the server then used the Wizard to edit Media Set 1. I was able to change the OPP to 6 days and the APP to 12 hours. When I went into Media and checked the properties of Media Set 1, OPP was still NONE and greyed out. But then I looked in the details payne below and it showed the OPP set to 6 days and the APP set to 12 hours! Success.

...Then I saw your post and changed the Global Overwrite protection to FULL and lo and behold, in the properties of Media Set 1 I was able to change the OPP to whatever I wanted to.

So, I set everything up as you specified in your first reply:

Jobs:

All jobs use "Media Set 1"

Job 1 - Overwrite - Starts at 12:05am
Job 2 - Append (if not, the overwrite) - Starts at 1:00am
Job 3 - Append (if not, the overwrite) - Starts at 2:00am
Job 4 - Append (if not, the overwrite) - Starts at 4:00am
Job 5 - Append (if not, the overwrite) - Starts at 4:30am

Media:

"Media Set 1"

Overwrite Protection Period - 6 days
Append Protection Period - 12 hours

All tape media is in Media Set 1

So, this setup should give me the ability to run all 5 daily jobs to one tape and the ability to restore data from any one of those jobs. Media on the tape should be stored like this:

Monday (for example)
Start of tape - >Job 1 data - Job 2 data - Job 3 data - Job 4 data - Job 5 data - ----- End of tape

Same for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

Come next Monday, the process should start all over again and start writing from the begining of the tape overwriting the previous Monday's data.

Correct?

Ken, again, thanks for all of your help! I do believe you saved me some serious trouble if I ever need to restore form tape in the future.

best regards,

Tony

[Ken_Putnam]

Looks good.

Only comment I would have is, "Is one week of backups sufficient for your business needs?"

If not you could alter your strategy by adding a second media set (Weeklies) OPP of 27 days, and setup a separate Friday job. 'Course this would require four more tapes, but ...

[Tony_Mongiello]

Thanks for your concern, I actually DO have a weekly strategy in place. I have it set up exactly as the daily. The only difference is the selection of what I backup. (Some I grab only on the Friday backup but don't grab on the Daily backup).

It's just like the Daily but I have a total of 4 Friday tapes, 3 quarterly and 2 yearly. On the last Friday of each quarter (March, June, September) I place a Quarterly tape in the drive and let the Friday job run (as the Friday jobs backup everything on all of my servers) . On the last Friday if the year, I place a yearly tape. So I can go back 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 1 quarter or 1 year to get data if I need it.

Again, thanks for all of your help in setting this up. I was doing it all wrong before but now, with your help, I'm on track!

Thanks!

Tony