2 Retro Groups, 2 scripts, 2 tape sets?

[kshrieve]

I'm looking for some guidance in defining a backup strategy. Thanks in advance for anybody who can help me think this through!

 

 

 

I have inherited responsibility for our Retro Backup Server on a network with about 12 PCs and 4 Macs, backing up onto DDS3 125M tape, which with hardware compression should hold about 25GB each. Several of the PCs are laptops belonging to salespeople who come and go (with their laptops).

 

 

 

Currently we are running a Backup Server script with an ever-growing set of backup tapes. When a machine is restored from a snapshot, many tapes must be fed into the tape reader before the task is finished.

 

 

 

My assignment is to implement a backup strategy that will avoid creating an ever-growing backup tape set.

 

 

 

In trying to think this through, a problem I encounter is the fact that it if I start a fresh Recycle each week, it will be several days before all of the machines are backed up, and this is not acceptable for the salespeoples' laptops or the software development server.

 

 

 

I have first tried to reduce unnecessary backup by 1) creating some filters for cache files and others, 2) splitting large e-mail collections that are modified with every message (e.g. create an Inbox2001 file, etc.), and 3) encouraging users to be aware of what gets backed up (we don't want their mp3 collections).

 

 

 

However, I'm sure that a Recycle backup of all the machines will still take several days.

 

 

 

I'm thinking that I could define different Groups of users in Retrospect, say Priority 1 and Priority 2, and use different scripts to back them up to different tape sets.

 

 

 

Priority 1 volumes (the backup files created by the development database, salespeoples' laptops, desktop PCs) would get backed up daily with a Backup Server Script that recycles every week (working with a few sets, for history and off-site security). I think this could complete its cycle during each work day. I could start a recycle set each week.

 

 

 

Priority 2 volumes (our various database test servers, libraries of versions of our software product, collections of software we develop with -- bulky things that don't change frequently) could get backed up at night and on the weekends, via a different script, to a different tape set. I would have to manually swap tapes (and scripts) each weekday morning and evening.

 

 

 

Questions:

 

 

 

-- Does this make sense, or is there a much better way to accomplish this?

 

 

 

-- In the User's Guide on page 71 I see: "The Backup Server uses only the normal backup action because recycle and new media backups are inappropriate for use with a Backup Server script." A Backup Server script seems most appropriate for catching the laptops that show up on the network. What would my routine be for running the backup server script on a fresh set of tapes each week?

 

 

 

Thanks very much for reading this far!

 

 

 

Kevin Shrieve

 

kshrieve at siteofcare.com