Archiving a computer from a backup set

[retro1]

I have a single backup set that holds the backups for a number of computers. Something like this.

 

The following computers…

 

Computer 1

Computer 2

Computer 3

Computer 4

 

..are backing up to…

 

Backupset1

 

Now let’s say Computer 3 has been disposed of and therefore no longer needs to backed up. How do I go about removing that computer from Backupset1 and archiving the data somewhere else?

 

I’ve noticed the Transfer snapshots option which allows me to copy selected snapshots to a new backup set. So I can see how to get the data out but then how do I delete it from backupset1 after I’ve copied it out? Does the forget option simply hide the computer or does it actually remove the data and free up space, which is what I’m after?

 

Is this the recommended way to archive data from backup sets once computers no longer need to be backed up?

 

[Lennart_T]

Provided BackupSet1 is of the type "Disk backup set" (or MEDIA set nowadays), there are two ways of doing this.

 

If computer 3 has many snapshots, I would do it this way:

Transfer computer 3's snapshot to a new media set for archiving.

Create a new Disk media set BackupSet2.

Transfer all BUT computer 3's snapshots to BackupSet2.

Change all scripts to use BackupSet2 instead of BackupSet1.

"Forget" BackupSet1 and reuse the disks to whatever you want.

 

If computer 3 does not have many snapshots, I would do it this way:

Transfer computer 3's snapshot to a new media set for archiving.

Select one of Computer 3's snapshots and "forget" it. This may take several minutes. Repeat this step for all computer 3's snapshots.

Run "groom" on BackupSet1 to retrieve the space.

 

Unfortunately there is no way to "forget" all computer 3's snapshot at once. That's why the first method can/should be used, at the expense of temporary storage when BackupSet1 and BackupSet2 is used together a short period.

 

Now, if BackupSet1 is NOT of type "Disk", please say which type.

[retro1]

Hello again Lennart,

 

The backup set is indeed a disk based type.

 

This all seems fine a bit of a faff, easily solved by allowing multiple snapshots to be forgotten at once (shift-click). The second option certianly sounds better, think i'll go with that.

 

Thanks