10-28-2015 02:22 AM
NBU 7.6.0.3
in our license of NBU, one of the listed feature is "Open File Backup". as i've come to realized in other threads, namely:
https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/cant-open-file-shadow-copy-components-0
https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/how-do-you-restore-files-alllocaldrives-backup
that backup of open files is not NBU responsibility but belongs to VSS, why then are we made to believe that buying the "Open File Backup" feature in NBU will handle backing up of open files?
Solved! Go to Solution.
10-28-2015 02:56 AM
No one buys "Open File Backup" as a distinct licensed feature anymore - there is no specific license anymore. Instead, OFB comes with NetBackup Enterprise Server.
.
This next statement is probably true for all general purpose OS and all general purpose file-systems:
If an application opens a file and places a restrictive lock on a file (aka a blocking lock, or a dis-allow read lock) then there's nothing anyone, even an OS, let alone a backup product, can do about it.
.
The term OFB is old and no longer relevant. It comes from the very early days when Windows was young and didn't have the feature of allowing a file to be "locked for write, allowed for read" - i.e. in the old days, if a file was locked then it was locked, end of story, and no backups could be taken - and so third party backup product developers started looking at how to backup these locked files, and spent much time and effort developing neat tricks to get around the problem of locked files and read them - and so, because the backup software vendors spent so much time and money developing these tricks, they needed to recoup their investment and so made it a chargeable licensed feature, hence the "NeatBackup feature" name of "OFB". All this is no longer relevant.
.
What is relevant these days, is to get your application users to close their files before backups. If NetBackup cannot read a locked file, then some other aplication has placed a very hard lock on a file and there's nothing that you or I or VSS can do about it - and so, one has to change one's working practices (i.e. your users), or go back to the vendor/developers of the application which is placing the hard lock (effectively a dis-allow read) on files - and get them to modify their code.
10-28-2015 02:56 AM
No one buys "Open File Backup" as a distinct licensed feature anymore - there is no specific license anymore. Instead, OFB comes with NetBackup Enterprise Server.
.
This next statement is probably true for all general purpose OS and all general purpose file-systems:
If an application opens a file and places a restrictive lock on a file (aka a blocking lock, or a dis-allow read lock) then there's nothing anyone, even an OS, let alone a backup product, can do about it.
.
The term OFB is old and no longer relevant. It comes from the very early days when Windows was young and didn't have the feature of allowing a file to be "locked for write, allowed for read" - i.e. in the old days, if a file was locked then it was locked, end of story, and no backups could be taken - and so third party backup product developers started looking at how to backup these locked files, and spent much time and effort developing neat tricks to get around the problem of locked files and read them - and so, because the backup software vendors spent so much time and money developing these tricks, they needed to recoup their investment and so made it a chargeable licensed feature, hence the "NeatBackup feature" name of "OFB". All this is no longer relevant.
.
What is relevant these days, is to get your application users to close their files before backups. If NetBackup cannot read a locked file, then some other aplication has placed a very hard lock on a file and there's nothing that you or I or VSS can do about it - and so, one has to change one's working practices (i.e. your users), or go back to the vendor/developers of the application which is placing the hard lock (effectively a dis-allow read) on files - and get them to modify their code.
10-28-2015 06:07 AM
10-28-2015 07:01 AM
WVT have you got a doc/URL which states that?
From what I've seen personally, and I've seen postings on here, is that that isn't always the case, even in the absence of errors from either or both of NetBackup Client and/or VSS.
For plain situations where VSS is not pre-configured for regular rolling (client side) snapshots, then sometimes even VSS fails to give us a consistent view of some files, i.e. files are skipped and not copied. What I'm trying to say is that, if a hard lock is placed on a file before NetBackup calls VSS, then sometimes even VSS cannot rescue the situation and give us a "pre being opened point in time" copy of a file.
10-28-2015 09:01 AM
10-28-2015 11:00 AM
@sdo
I dont want to get too deep into this but there are registry keys that allow for skipping of files from VSS snapshots and backups. There are also windows internals that have this ability.
10-29-2015 04:32 AM
so it seems the industry is still in the 20th century when it comes to backing up open files. this would be hard to explain to management specially vendor sales talked them into this feature.
for the meantime, i have asked my users to close everthing before leaving office to be sure backups are done for all files