Immediate BCJ with forward incremental

[HErceg]

Hello,

For some time I was using forward incremental BJs and old Periodic mode for BCJ, with weekly full backups.Every night BCJ were copied to offsite location, and given it was mostly incremental everything was uploading smoothly.

Recently I tested immediate BCJ with source job as forward incremental and no full backups, but this unfortunately is not working as expected.
Full backups are enabled but (last) daily files are still injected as full backups, which means each day I have to transfer all servers * Full backups.Obviously it is not working for my internet connection.

Is there no way with immediate jobs to create one FB on specified day, and rest of the days to do incremental only?

[HannesK]

Hello,
the backup copy job in periodic and immediate mode work very similar. The only difference is, that the immediate mode copies all increments, while the periodic mode only copies the latest restore point (remember that the BCJ does NOT copy files. It copies data of restore points)

Is there no way with immediate jobs to create one FB on specified day

With V11 this will be possible (for both modes. Today that option does not exist for any BCJ mode). Many people struggled with the V10 and earlier design of GFS backup copy jobs... so we simplified GFS full backup creation in V10. V11 will create the full backup on the day you configured it. V11 will be available in a few days.

which means each day I have to transfer all servers * Full backups

no. That's not how a backup copy job works.

Best regards,
Hannes

[HErceg]

Hello Hannes,

In my case immediate BCJ creates one incremental and one full backup every day, while periodic mode created daily incrementals and one FB during week.
First two screenshots are for Immediate, and third one is for Periodic BCJ.

https://imgur.com/5MS86Ij
https://imgur.com/AseEnfw
https://imgur.com/wZUTQDP

[HannesK]

What is your configuration on both jobs? Do you run the periodic BCJ with "read the entire restore point from source..." checkbox enabled?

Looks like there was one increment per day for most of the time. The increment on the same day like the full (22.02. and 19.02.) looks strange to me, if you run only one backup per day.

For a definite answer, why that happened, I need to refer you to support. It's hard to guess why that happened.

Please post the support case number for reference and add logs for the last weeks to the case (https://www.veeam.com/kb1832)

[HErceg]

Hi Hannes,

For Periodic copy I have "read the entire restore point from source..." checkbox enabled, but there is no such option in Immediate mode.
I agree it's strange that each day both incremental and FB are created.Next day old FB is removed and new created.I do run only one backup per day.
https://imgur.com/8AwNMN1

On this server I am using Community edition, so I can't raise ticket.

[Dima P.]

Hrvoje,

Can you please share the screenshot of your primary job configuration (i.e. active full / synthetic full schedule)?

For Periodic copy I have "read the entire restore point from source..." checkbox enabled, but there is no such option in Immediate mode.

Immediate copy mode mirrors restore points from your primary job, however, if you enable GFS it can create additional synthetic full backups. Can you also confirm that GFS is not configured? Thanks!

[HErceg]

Hi Dima,

Sure, GFS is not configured for backup jobs, only for BCJ.As you can guess storage space is an issue, and ReFS in this case is not an option.
https://imgur.com/NCI9ldM

Same setup works well for Periodic BCJ.

[HErceg]

So I have to go back to Periodic mode?

[foggy]

Hi Hrvoje, Immediate mode cannot produce full backups other than GFS ones as it just copies the restore points from the source. Please check your GFS retention settings and backup properties - if those backups are marked as GFS (W for weekly, M for monthly, etc.), then this is it. Otherwise, I recommend taking a closer look at the setup with our engineers - you can open a case with the Community Edition, just expect it to be treated on the staff availability basis.

[HErceg]

Hi Foggy,

Full backups are created in BCJ, but the issue is it happens every day, as per attached screenshots.BCJ are copied via internet link to other location, so it generates large traffic.Source BJ is forward incremental without FB.

In short: Schedule is 1 FB weekly + daily forward incremental.
Periodic BCJ it works as it should.
Immediate mode create FB every day(screenshot), similar to BJ forward incremental routine.Can you confirm this is expected behaviour?I am asking because this logic is ok for BJ, but I don't see the point in generating additional traffic for BCJ, which is usually in remote location or slower storage.

If this is not usual I will check with support.

[foggy]

We do not know your BCJ settings so are not able to judge whether it is expected or not. Generally speaking, Immediate mode is forever incremental so if the job reaches the specified retention, the oldest increment will be merged into the existing full backup daily, which could be the behavior you're seeing and what is confusing you. If your further copy activity is based on the modified date, this is the issue.

[HErceg]

Thank you for the confirmation.In other words Immediate mode is not suitable for situations where traffic is limited.

[foggy]

Actually, this behavior is similar for Periodic mode, unless the 'Read the entire restore point from source...' check box is enabled.

[HErceg]

Seems so.It makes a big difference in my case.
I guess there is no plan to enable something similar for Immediate mode, as it defeats purpose of quickly copying restore points?
Would it be possible to add chain-line option in Periodic mode?After one job is completed other one would start.It would be of great help when copy jobs are limited by internet traffic.