Using an existing set in a new script?

[ChrisH]

I am the new techy for a small company here. Subcontractor. The previous chap had set up their 20-gig tape backup to backup all the important folders and files from all the boxes in the local domain. This really consists of the local documents and the documents on the 2 servers used by 20-25 people. He created a Backup Set A and a Backup Set B. the scripts were supposed to cause the 2 tapes to be used as follows Tape A inserted on Friday does a full backup Friday night then an incremental each of M-Tu-W-Th then Backup Set B tape goes in on Friday to repeat the process.

 

 

 

Known issues;

 

 

 

1) When I look at the backup set file in her My Documents folder I see Backup set A and Backup set B but they are different size files. One is about 705kb and the other is about 500kb. Are they not supposed to be identical? Do they actually have different sets of data to collect and backup onto the tape?

 

 

 

2) We want to change the schedule. We want to use the same set of folders and files domain wide as used in the previous question without having to recreate it from scratch. We want the schedule to do a full backup every night using a different tape for each day of the week. 5 tapes. How to do this please?

 

 

 

3) Next we want to be able to see and even print a catalog of what is being backed up so that the contents may be reviewed and changed routinely. How to do this please?

 

 

 

4) The current tape seems to contain roughly 9 gigs of data. Roughly how much time should a backup of this magnitude take on a virtually new USB 20gig tape device? 40 minutes, 4 hours, or 44 hours

 

 

[AmyJ]

In reply to:

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1) When I look at the backup set file in her My Documents folder I see Backup set A and Backup set B but they are different size files. One is about 705kb and the other is about 500kb. Are they not supposed to be identical? Do they actually have different sets of data to collect and backup onto the tape?

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This is entirely possible. The amount of data changing on a weekly basis can be different for a number of reasons: newly installed programs, large files changed, backups not completing, etc. While your sources may be the same, other variables can come into play that would affect the total size of the backup on a weekly or daily basis.

 

 

 

In reply to:

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2) We want to change the schedule. We want to use the same set of folders and files domain wide as used in the previous question without having to recreate it from scratch. We want the schedule to do a full backup every night using a different tape for each day of the week. 5 tapes. How to do this please?

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http://www.dantz.com/index.php3?SCREEN=kbase&ACTION=KBASE&id=27482

 

 

 

In reply to:

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3) Next we want to be able to see and even print a catalog of what is being backed up so that the contents may be reviewed and changed routinely. How to do this please?

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With the Express Edition, you can go to Configure > Backup Sets > Properties > Sessions to see the changed/new files backed up in each backup session. This screen can be printed. You won't have the option to Export with the Express Edition.

 

 

 

In reply to:

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4) The current tape seems to contain roughly 9 gigs of data. Roughly how much time should a backup of this magnitude take on a virtually new USB 20gig tape device? 40 minutes, 4 hours, or 44 hours

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The speed is completely relative and will only be as fast as your slowest variable. Variables include processor speed, tape speed, quality of connection between computer and device, etc. Retrospect will write the data at the highest possible speed. You can get a ballpark idea from determining how fast your tape drive can write (this should be available from the vendor or in your documentation) and using that number to divide the amount of data. You'll have to keep in mind that Retrospect does two passes - copy and compare. Also, most likely you won't see the top speeds listed by the vendor. However, doing these calculations will provide you with a rough estimate.

 

 

[ChrisH]

Thank you AmyC,

 

More help please please

 

In reply to:

 

 

 

1) When I look at the backup set file in her My Documents folder I see Backup set A and Backup set B but they are different size files. One is about 705kb and the other is about 500kb. Are they not supposed to be identical? Do they actually have different sets of data to collect and backup onto the tape?

 

 

 

This is entirely possible. The amount of data changing on a weekly basis can be different for a number of reasons: newly installed programs, large files changed, backups not completing, etc. While your sources may be the same, other variables can come into play that would affect the total size of the backup on a weekly or daily basis.

 

 

 

I am not referring to the actual backups but rather to the file, which defines what is to be backed up. Set A and Set B were created at the same time. Each file has been used to create a backup tape many times but the file defining what files and folders to collect has not changed to anyone’s knowledge. At least not deliberately. Each tape is intended to do the same job simply do it on alternate weeks and use a different tape. We would be happy to have the same label on both tapes and have them use the same backup criteria. My understanding is that literally the only difference between the to files (catalog file) on the hard drive is what name on the tape it should be looking for. So why 700kb and 500kb are they not static? Was not one created then the other made as a duplicate? Or does this program require the user to recreate the entire process to create the second job description?

 

This is my point I want to use a good job description already in existence to model from for a daily full backup on each of five tapes. The description should remain reasonable static. I.e. backup everything in mapped drive g:\company\users\*.* including all sub folders. This sort of thing. Is it not possible to create a 5-day rotation in which all 5 days use the same catalog file but different tapes? Do I need to modify each of 5 catalog files each time I desire to make a minor change to the backup routine?

 

 

 

In reply to:

 

 

 

2) We want to change the schedule. We want to use the same set of folders and files domain wide as used in the previous question without having to recreate it from scratch. We want the schedule to do a full backup every night using a different tape for each day of the week. 5 tapes. How to do this please?

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.dantz.com/index.php3?SCREEN=kbase&ACTION=KBASE&id=27482

 

 

 

Your link is helpful, actually I had read this page previlously and still don’t see how to use and existing catalog file to define either the source or the destination. Only how to create a new one in the creation of a new 5 day backup then reuse it. How do I create a new 5-day backup using an existing catalog file in each of the days? Once created following the tutorial you lead me to how do I edit what is being backed up?

 

In reply to:

 

 

 

3) Next we want to be able to see and even print a catalog of what is being backed up so that the contents may be reviewed and changed routinely. How to do this please?

 

 

 

 

 

With the Express Edition, you can go to Configure > Backup Sets > Properties > Sessions to see the changed/new files backed up in each backup session. This screen can be printed. You won't have the option to Export with the Express Edition.

 

 

 

So I can’t use the existing catalog file in a new 5-day script?

 

 

 

In reply to:

 

 

 

4) The current tape seems to contain roughly 9 gigs of data. Roughly how much time should a backup of this magnitude take on a virtually new USB 20gig tape device? 40 minutes, 4 hours, or 44 hours

 

 

 

 

 

The speed is completely relative and will only be as fast as your slowest variable. Variables include processor speed, tape speed, quality of connection between computer and device, etc. Retrospect will write the data at the highest possible speed. You can get a ballpark idea from determining how fast your tape drive can write (this should be available from the vendor or in your documentation) and using that number to divide the amount of data. You'll have to keep in mind that Retrospect does two passes - copy and compare. Also, most likely you won't see the top speeds listed by the vendor. However, doing these calculations will provide you with a rough estimate.

 

 

 

I ask this question because I did manage to erase a tape completely I think then start a backup using the existing job definition. I expected this to take roughly 4-6 hours from what the last guy told me but it ran all weekend and appeared to be only one third done on Monday morning. 9 gigs over 2.5 days, is this even conceivable?

 

 

 

Thanks again

 

 

 

 

[AmyJ]

The catalog file keeps track of the files _already_ backed up. It's an index of what data has been backed up, and where it came from. Each time you run a backup, this file grows.

 

 

 

Using the tutorial is a general guideline. If you have backup sets you wish to use, you can skip the creation step, and instead select existing backup sets.

 

 

 

If your backup is taking longer the expected, look in the Operations log for more information. This will tell you how fast the backup is running. If you're seeing speeds of 2 meg/minute, for example, you've got a problem. Where is the bottleneck? Could be the tape drive, could be the backup computer. Try the tape drive on another machine, make sure other applications aren't running during the backup, etc. Check all the variables involved to determine why the backup is slow.