Restrospect 6.1.126 strange behaviour

[pbartoli]

I'm backing up some 5 Macs with Restrospect 6.1.126 under OSX 10.4.11 and noticed a strange behaviour.

At the moment I'm working with an historical network backup, that to me means that only new or updated files are being backed up to external HD backup RAID storage.

 

Time by time it happens that some 20/30 Gigabytes of data are being backed up, this mean that Retrospect thinks that the whole HD of one of the Macs in the network has all new data!!

 

Of course this is not the case, since we update realtively small files (we don't work with videos or similar...).

I suspect there's something wrong in the way Retrospect works or/and the way Mac OSX handles the files.

 

Any suggestion?

 

Thanks

[twickland]

Are all client volumes being backed up from the same script?

 

If so, and if the client has ACLs enabled, changes in those data can cause Retrospect to back up more files than you expect. Try deselecting the option "Use attribute modification date when matching."

 

If you're using different scripts, check to be sure that your selection criteria in the script for this client are exactly what you want.

[CallMeDave]

Time by time it happens that some 20/30 Gigabytes of data are being backed up, this mean that Retrospect thinks that the whole HD of one of the Macs in the network has all new data!!

Does it?

 

Have you confirmed that, in fact, Retrospect is matching fewer (or none) of the files on one specific Client? Or is it possible that files are being copied from all five of your Clients? The Operations Log will provide the answer.

 

- What version of the Retrospect Client software is being used on the 5 client Macs?

[pbartoli]

Are all client volumes being backed up from the same script?

 

If so, and if the client has ACLs enabled, changes in those data can cause Retrospect to back up more files than you expect. Try deselecting the option "Use attribute modification date when matching."

 

All the clients are backedup from the same script. I'll go and check the options.

Thanks

[pbartoli]

What version of the Retrospect Client software is being used on the 5 client Macs?

We have 1 OS 9 client and the other macs are OSX with Retrospect client 6.1.107.

Any clue?

[pbartoli]

Try deselecting the option "Use attribute modification date when matching."

 

I just modified the script and rebooted. The backup behaviour has not changed, still backing up 20/30 Giga at a time!!

 

Might be some OSX problem or a conflict with some other application??

[CallMeDave]

Any clue?

 

Can we start with the outstanding question that was already asked?

 

Have you confirmed that, in fact, Retrospect is matching fewer (or none) of the files on one specific Client? Or is it possible that files are being copied from all five of your Clients? The Operations Log will provide the answer.

 

If there is indeed one problem client, what is the version of Retrospect Client software being used on _that_ machine?

 

If it is indeed one problem client, set up an Immediate Backup and click on "Files Chosen." You'll get a Browser window that shows files that are Marked and Matched (check and diamond icons). Are any of the files Marked _and_ Matched?

 

Dave

[pbartoli]

Any clue?

 

Can we start with the outstanding question that was already asked?

 

Have you confirmed that, in fact, Retrospect is matching fewer (or none) of the files on one specific Client? Or is it possible that files are being copied from all five of your Clients? The Operations Log will provide the answer.

 

If there is indeed one problem client, what is the version of Retrospect Client software being used on _that_ machine?

 

If it is indeed one problem client, set up an Immediate Backup and click on "Files Chosen." You'll get a Browser window that shows files that are Marked and Matched (check and diamond icons). Are any of the files Marked _and_ Matched?

 

Dave

 

Dave,

probably because english is not my mother language, I didn't explain correctly the problem I'm facing.

We have some five Macs on ethernet, one is still OS 9. All are network backed up with one single script, everyday at night.

The backup is historical, this mean to me that only new / updated file should go into the backup.

 

The problem is that sometimes I watch Restrospect backup 20/30 Giga of data from a single Mac. This leads me to thinks that Rettrospect is considering that this particular machine has 20/30 Gigs of new data. Of course this is not possible, because we can't produce that amount of new data.

 

The answer should be that something under OSX is happening or within Retrospect.

 

And now what was you question, sorry?

[CallMeDave]

sometimes I watch Restrospect backup 20/30 Giga of data from a single Mac.

 

OK, is it always the same Mac?

 

Is it the OS 9 Mac? Or is it one of the OS X Macs?

 

What version of the Retrospect Client software is on the particular Mac that always gets totally backed up?

[pbartoli]

sometimes I watch Restrospect backup 20/30 Giga of data from a single Mac.

 

OK, is it always the same Mac?

 

Is it the OS 9 Mac? Or is it one of the OS X Macs?

 

What version of the Retrospect Client software is on the particular Mac that always gets totally backed up?

 

Dave, it's not always the same Mac.

Most of the times it is my MacBookPro running OSX 10.4.11 with Retrospect Client 6.1.107.

 

[CallMeDave]

I watch Restrospect backup 20/30 Giga of data from a single Mac. This leads me to thinks that Rettrospect is considering that this particular machine has 20/30 Gigs of new data

 

So while it's always a single machine that is having more data copied then you believe that it should, it is not always the same single machine. Is that correct?

 

The best way to see what Retrospect sees in regards to new/changed files is to setup an Immediate Backup, and click the "Files chosen" (square) button. In the Browser window that displays, look for files that are Marked (check icon) but not Matched (no diamond icon). Select one such file, and select "Get Info" from the File menu.

 

Then visit Reports->Contents->YourBackupSet->SessionWithCorrectSource and click "Browse"

 

Find the same file, and Get Info on that.

 

Bring the two Info windows side by side and look for differences.

 

 

Dave

[pbartoli]

I watch Restrospect backup 20/30 Giga of data from a single Mac. This leads me to thinks that Rettrospect is considering that this particular machine has 20/30 Gigs of new data

 

So while it's always a single machine that is having more data copied then you believe that it should, it is not always the same single machine. Is that correct?

 

The best way to see what Retrospect sees in regards to new/changed files is to setup an Immediate Backup, and click the "Files chosen" (square) button. In the Browser window that displays, look for files that are Marked (check icon) but not Matched (no diamond icon). Select one such file, and select "Get Info" from the File menu.

 

Then visit Reports->Contents->YourBackupSet->SessionWithCorrectSource and click "Browse"

 

Find the same file, and Get Info on that.

 

Bring the two Info windows side by side and look for differences.

 

 

Dave

 

Thankyou Dave, I'll take a look and report.