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backup exec 12 - what am i doing wrong (media sets and devices)

Hi
I have an external hard drive for daily backups, and running backup exec 12 on a server.

Monday i have two jobs running... they're full backups, resetting archive bit.
Monday - databases
Monday - shares

I then have Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday backups, each has a database and a share backup (i.e. Tuesday - databases; Tuesday - shares; Wednesday - databases, etc.)...
Tuesday --> Friday both database and share backups are set as differential backups.

This works with the 'shares' (the Monday backup will be ~80GB, and then Tuesday --> Friday will be ~1.5GB). I've noticed the 'databases' backup is more or less the same size (80GB) each day, Monday to Friday. not sure if you can 'differential' backup a database, so i never really worried about it.

Now it's on a 1TB external hard drive. Assuming 100GB per day databases (500GB for the week), and 100GB on Monday for shares, and then 5GB tuesday --> friday (120GB for the week), we should have AMPLE room to spare.

I'm noticing that some backup jobs are failing though... the external hard drive has 10GB free.

In "Media", each backup job uses its own backup media set (i.e. there's a Monday - Databases media set, a Tuesday - Databases media set, etc. etc.).
Overwrite protection is set to 6 days, and infinite append period.

What ami doing wrong? Why is the drive running out of space?

rindi

Are you also backing up the system state? This would include volume shadow copies and active directory data and this can get quite large. If there is also exchange server, then you are probably also backing up the Exchange store transaction logs etc. As for "Database", what is it you understand under that? If you have SQL server running, and the Backupexec SQL agent installed, then you can do differential backups of the SQL database. If on the other hand you are just backing up the flat "Database" file, you'll always backup the whole file if something in it has changed.

Also, what OS are you running BE on, and what OS are you backing up?

Mystical_Ice

ASKER

I'm not backing up system states. With the database backups - i just noticed under the exchange and SQL tabs, that there's a "differential" option. duh! i was looking at the 'general' tab.
This will probably reduce my tuesday --> friday database backups by ~80GB, but i'm still worried about it not overwriting files, just appending it seems, till it runs out of space.

windows 2003 standard, backing up windows 2003 standards.

rindi

You should backup the system states, as that includes AD data and user accounts etc., Things that are very important for disaster recovery.

Mystical_Ice

ASKER

System states are a different backup - those run every weekend, and back up EEEEEEEEVERYthing (database, shares, system states, the works) but i'm having trouble with these full backups (mondays) and then differentials (tuesday through friday) which back up only databases and shares (two seperate jobs)

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honmapog

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