Scanning

[helle]

Hi

 

Setup:

 

Apple Xserve, 2x2,93 Xeon, 96 GB Ram

Engine: 8.2.0 (399)

Client: 7.6.107

Storage: 60 TB FC-Raid

 

Problem:

I try to backup a Windows Server 2008 R2.There is a folder with 1000 subfolders containing about 20000 files each, makes it about 20 000 000 files.Subfolders are numbered from 0-999 and the folder structure can`t be changed (a Database is accessing this folders). During scanning, Retrospect crashes all the time. Scanning takes about 15 h.

 

Question:

 

Is there a way to prevent Retrospect from scanning all this folders, but to tell Retrospect only to back up let`s say 100 folders in one go and only scan this 100folders?

I know that i could do that with 1000 favorite folders, but since there is no way to to define more than one subfolder at the time this is rather impractible.

Besides, that many jobs would fill the console and make it unreadable for me to control other backup jobs running on that machine.

 

I was thinking of doing it with rules, but no matter how i configure the rules, Retrospect always scans the whole Volume, before backing then up the folders i told it to do so.

And this is very bad for my purpose (troubleshooting), since scanning that amount of files takes as I said about 15 h.

 

So, the basic question runs down to the following: when do rules influence the backup? Will there be everything scanned on a given Volume, and then the rules set in and tell Retropsect, what files don`t have to be backedup?

Or is there a way, Retrospect doesn`t touch specific folders and i just couldn`t find it out upto now.

 

thanks for your help

 

tgfn

[twickland]

Is there a way to prevent Retrospect from scanning all this folders, but to tell Retrospect only to back up let`s say 100 folders in one go and only scan this 100folders?

I know that i could do that with 1000 favorite folders...

Unless you can create some arrangement of nested subfolders on the source volume, this is the only available way to do what you're asking.

 

I was thinking of doing it with rules, but no matter how i configure the rules, Retrospect always scans the whole Volume, before backing then up the folders i told it to do so.

That is unfortunately the only way that Retrospect works.

 

Or is there a way, Retrospect doesn`t touch specific folders and i just couldn`t find it out upto now.

Sadly, not.

[Guest Steve Maser]

I'm not 100% sure this works with the current setup, but...

 

On the server, can you set up a series of 10 folders with a symbolic link to "sets of 100" subfolders?

 

You might then be able to set those 10 folders as Favorite Folders and just use them as the Sources?

 

 

(I don't have any references how you do this in Windows, but I have references to doing this back in 2004 and it ended up being possible at that time with whatever version of Windows and Retrospect were in use at that time...)

[helle]

thanks for your answers

@twickland: i was afraid hearing that

@Steve: symbolic links, hmm, i have to try out, whether Retrospect follows SL`s. Problem should be in case of a restore, as far i can see that.

 

cheers

tgfn