cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

How to delete old base of incremental backup point if you can't see it in SSR

BJB
Level 5

I was making a backup of all drives before updating to the most recent version.  I am running SSR2013 R2.

I have a backup job set to incremental for one particular drive.  I made a backup in June 2016.  Since I have other backup strategies on this particular drive I did not update it for quite a while.

I just ran that incremental backup job and since it is now 2017, I know that SSR creates an entirely new backup and does not make it incremental to the one from June.  And based on the file sizes, that is what happend.

So I have a backup from June 2016 that is 850GB and one from April 2017 that is 1TB.

They are labeled D_Drive001 and D_Drive 002.  I can of course see both V2I files on my NAS in the same directory.

However since the one from April 2017 (D_Drive002) is really not incremental (it is a new "base" I believe) I want to delete that one from June 2016.  However when I go into Advanced and right click on manage destinations I only see that one recovery point I just made today.  So I assume the old base is buried in there somewhere?

Now I can right click and there is a clean up and delete option but I certainly want to check before I run that.

Also, I have not had good luck with SSR properly deleting large backups on the NAS when trying to delete from SSR. In the past I have had to delete the file manualy on the NAS.

So bottom line, how do I keep the backup I made today and delete the old one? And verify my assumption that the new one is a new base and not incremental.

Thanks,

BJB

 

 

 

 

11 REPLIES 11

Markus_Koestler
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP   

Which file extension have the D_Drive001 and D_Drive 002 files?

Can you also post screenshoots of the manage backup destination thing?

The file extensions of the D_Drive001 and D_Drive 002  are both v2i.

I need to get back to PC for a screenshot.

It says: "1 Recovery point",

Range: Yesterday

Size: 1.008GB

Drive D

Status:Available

It also lists a recovery point that is "Unavailable" (probably the one I had to delete manually and it is a different date and size from the one I am talking about).

The one above does not list a range of dates as my C backup does, nor is the backup from 6/28/16 of 852GB listed anywhere.  That was the previous backup from this drive set before I executed it again yesterday.

Thanks,
BJB

 

Markus_Koestler
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP   

So by taking into account all information you provided I think you can safely delete the v2i file that is not listed in the manage backup destination dialog. I also should think you can remove the missing backups in this dialog by selecting them and simply delete them. I hope I got all your points answered.

Thanks. Just one more. How can I avoid this in the future? I typically set the incremental number amount high because I don't want a full backup every 2 or 3.
It forces a new restore point base after a year....but that is really ANY new year, not 12 months I think.

Anyway, just wondered if there was a setting that would make this cleaner. It should do incremental and then when it makes a new base it should ask to put it in a new folder or if you want to delete old base.

What I really don't understand is why it lost track that the old base and restore point even exists?

Thanks,
BJB

Markus_Koestler
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP   

Infact if you set the number of backup sets to retain to a certain value, SSR will do the housekeeping automatically by deleting the old backup set. Why SSR looses track - I don't know but it happens sometimes.

Thanks. Is there a checkbox or something that also tells it to delete an old "base" restore point? If not I guess every year the only option is to create a new backup job or manually delete the old base? Or maybe change the backup location, assume that would force a new base..

BJB

criley
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited

@BJB

Let me try and explain what Markus was referring to ..

If you specify 2 (as an example) as the number of recovery point sets to keep, this is what SSR should do:

  1. Set 1 is created (full + multiple incrementals)
  2. Set 2 is created (full + multiple incrementals)
  3. Set 3 starts (full is created)
  4. Once the full for set 3 is created, set 1 (being the oldest) is automatically removed. This leaves you with 2 sets.

Hopes this helps.

Markus_Koestler
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP   

Thanks  @criley for you detailed explanation.

Criley,

Ding ding!!!  I think the light bulb just went on.  And after using Ghost and then SSR for....a long time.

So the option that says "Limit the number of recovery point sets saved for this backup" does not refer at all to how many incremental backups I make.  For example if I make one full or base backup, I can run like 7 incremental backups for the next week, and even if the limit is set to1, it will allow that. I always thought it limited how many INCREMENTAL AND new Base backups you could make.  I guess that is incorrect? It just relates to new base backups.

However, if I have "start a new recovery point set" set to "year" (or whatever that setting is), and I have "limit the number of recovery point sets saved for this backup" at ONE, when I go to a new year, it will make a new base backup AND delete the old base. If set to two, it will keep both. Is that correct?  And further, when you create a new "base" it is not really connected to the prior base, they are 2 independant backups and further incrementals are attached to the most recent base.

I guess terminology trips me up. If I make a backup on January 1.....do an incremental update June 1, and run again on January one the following year.  I can restore from any one of those three (what I used to call) restore points. However two of them being called "recovery point sets" and the incremental one is called what....a "restore point"?  

I am getting close... I had to edit this...


Thanks,

BJB

 

criley
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited

So the option that says "Limit the number of recovery point sets saved for this backup" does not refer at all to how many incremental backups I make.

Correct. A recovery point set is the full + all the associated incremental backups. There is no limit to the number of incrementals that I am aware of - it just depends on the schedule you are using.

However, if I have "start a new recovery point set" set to "year" (or whatever that setting is), and I have "limit the number of recovery point sets saved for this backup" at ONE, when I go to a new year, it will make a new base backup AND delete the old base. If set to two, it will keep both. Is that correct?

Yes, correct. If you set it to 1 set, it will first need to create the next full (so new set), then it will remove the old set.

I guess terminology trips me up. If I make a backup on January 1.....do an incremental update June 1, and run again on January one the following year.  I can restore from any one of those three (what I used to call) restore points. However two of them being called "recovery point sets" and the incremental one is called what....a "restore point"?

Yes, you can restore from any recovery point as long as they are still available on disk. As for terminology.....people use different wording but officially they are referred to as 'recovery points'.

Hope this helps.

Yes, I get it now! Thanks!
I still think SSR should list my original base along with the incrementals and new base. Perhaps it is supposed to and that was a glitch.

BJB