I'm getting Duplicate Backups

[jmanini]

I'm configuring a new Netbackup 7.1 Windows Environent. I'm noticing that If I have a start window before 12 midnight (10 pm) and that the start window goes into the next day  (8am) that I'm get another backup that starts at 12am so I end up with 2 backups?? If I don't configure a large start window machines that are queued will fail once the window is over with a status 196 (Window closed) I know this must be an easy fix but I'm blanking here..

[J_H_Is_gone]

are you using frequency or calendar to schedule your backups?

[jmanini]

Calendar...we used frequency in the past and had no issues but were told that calendar was the way to go and it seems in theory that it is more controlable with calendaring..Thx

[jmanini]

Here are screens shots showing my settings for one of the policies in question

[jmanini]

This is happening on the policies that the start windows cross over midnight into the next day...

[jmanini]

I think I may have figured it out.... I was taking the wrong approach I think...I should have a small start window then enable "Retries allowed after runday" This may fix the issue??? Any thoughts

Enable Retries allowed after runday to have NetBackup attempt to complete the

schedule until the backup is successful. With this attribute enabled, the schedule

attempts to run, even after a specified runday has passed.

[J_H_Is_gone]

It is a know issue using calendar with with windows that cross midnight - search this forum and you will find many entries.

Ad calendar vs frequency - you will find plenty of people for both sides.

It all depends on your requirements.  Some don't need the "special" scheduling that you can do with calendar.

[jmanini]

Yes I see by doing that search that this feature does not work as designed and causes much agggg I appreciate your advice and for pointing me in the right direction. I switched the dailys to frequency based and I'll see how that works next week..I'll update this thread to let all know what I find.

Thx

[Andy_Welburn]

frequency was not able to do & you've encountered one of the things that calendar does do that has caused much angst in the community. As J. says, there's a lot about calendar (vs frequency) on the forum, about how it does work & how it did work when it was "broken".

We use frequency in the main, with calendar to enable FULL backups to be run on the last Saturday of the month.

There was an interesting article extolling the virtues of frequency based scheduling but it appears that the URL I have is no longer valid http://blogs.netapp.com/barandgrill/2008/10/frequency-based.html - even when  Googling for netapp frequency based, the first "hit" is the one, but is "Not Found. The item does not exist. It may have been deleted."

[jmanini]

Thanks for you comments Andy, I did try link before as well but it is gone. Anyway I have found alot of weird things like this with this product but I'm glad for this forum otherwise I'd be lost. Thank you

[Andy_Welburn]

Would be nice if someone had a copy of it or could get the author to post it as an article on Connect (nudge).

[jmanini]

At this point I just switched my daily & weekly backups to frenquency and left the monthly as calendar based...It would be nice to hear Symantecs take on this since it is a weird bug?

[jmanini]

I'm still fuzzy with the frequency based backups. The part that is confusing is the frequency, We use daily_cinc, weekly, and full. Sometimes our windows cross over midnight and on the weekends it could go from Friday to Monday. So that being said what would be a typical frequency guideline?

Daily_cinc frequency = 1days

Weekly_Full frequency = 7days (exclude 1st sat)

Monthly_Full calendar = 1st sat

[J_H_Is_gone · Accepted solution]

your frequency should be longer than your window but shorter then what you require.

Daily - by saying a frequency of 1 day - that would be 24 hours from when it last finished - this could cause "creeping"

 started at 10 pm finished at 11 pm

next night start at 11 pm finish at 12 pm

next night start at 12 pm finish at 1 am  (this is just a crude example of creeping")

To get around this.....

if you backup window is 8 hours long - than your frequency should be longer than 8 hours ( so it does not try to run twice in that 8 hour time frame) but shorter than you requirement of 1 day  .   from 9 to 16 hours  (I would go with 9 or 10).

What this does is it starts at 10 pm the first night - does a good backup and finishes at at 11 pm.  the Frequency says do not try again until 9 hours from the start - by that time the window has closed.... so when it looks it say I CAN run a backup but I do not have an open window so I WONT.  but come 10 pm when the window does open, the next time the scheduler looks it says I CAN ( it has been longer than 9 hours) AND i have an OPEN WINDOW so I WILL.

Same thing for the weekly your open window might be 2 days long so it should be longer than 2 days but shorter then 7 days - so 3 to 6 days I would go with 4.

Now you also have a calender in the same policy - and that has always been a no no in the past - you can search on that a well  frequency calender mixed in a policy.

I have never mixed so I am not sure what would happen if you do - or why they have always said to not mix.  But you can try it and see if you have no issues.  Should be - come the first sat - that the schedule should run your calender job instead of your weekly.

[Andy_Welburn]

Actually "official" which I've just come across:

DOCUMENTATION: Mixing calendar and frequency based schedules in the same policy in NetBackup™ 6.5.x and 7.x
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH129503

Problem

DOCUMENTATION: Mixing calendar and frequency based schedules in the same policy in NetBackup™ 6.5.x and 7.x

Solution

Manuals:
Veritas NetBackup™ 6.5 Administrator's Guide for UNIX and Linux, Volume I (p. 128)
Veritas NetBackup™ 6.5 Administrator's Guide for Windows, Volume I (p. 134)
Symantec NetBackup™ 7.0 Administrator's Guide for UNIX and Linux, Volume I (p. 559)
Symantec NetBackup™ 7.0 Administrator's Guide for Windows, Volume I (p. 495)

Modification Type: Correction

Modification:
A policy can contain more than one schedule.  Calendar-based and frequency-based schedules can be mixed in the same policy.

We do similar to "jmanini".Ours:

Monthly Full - calendar based, last Saturday of the Month.
Weekly Cumulative - frequency (1 day) , every other Saturday.
Daily Incremental - frequency (1 day), every other day (individual schedules/day, but some policies have 1 schedule covering same "periods" and a frequency of 11 hours)

But there did used to be issues (examples are probably out there somewhere & the Admin Guides did not originally recommend they be mixed - hence the correction T/N above).

[J_H_Is_gone]

I started in NB 3.5 days and I have just always had it in my head not to mix - so I never have.  And admit that I never looked it up again when upgrading.

Nice to see that it is no longer a real issue.