Tape backup of Veeam files using Backup Exec exclusion lists

[gshaw]

Just wondering if anyone is setting up archive jobs like this?

What I'm thinking is to have my Reverse Incremental jobs going into their respective folders then running a tape copy during the day (leaning back towards tape as removable HDDs don't seem to be entirely convincing for one reason or another).

I only want the most recent full backup for that point in time i.e. the VBK but not the rollbacks. In which case if I set up a Backup Exec job for those folders using the exclusion mask *.VRB I'll just get the full backup files I want.

http://www.symantec.com/business/suppor ... =TECH29548

Anyone using this on their jobs or conversely a selection mask to take *.VRB and if so does it work OK? I know there's the post-job script to automatically backup the most recent VRB but if I split the jobs up that becomes more difficult?

[larry]

I started with that but if someone clicks do full backup ( normal before major patch ) you now have two or more vbk files. I switched my backupexec to exclude all files over 2 days old, which for me is one vbk file and one vbr file. This cut the size of the tape job by what I was looking for. I have not found any issue doing it this way yet, but during a patch day there may have 2 fulls on one tape job. This way BE sends to tape 24 vbr files and one vbk for the vm we backup every hour.

[TrevorBell]

I use BE 2010 R3 , i just backup *.vbk , works fine for me.

[larry]

Do not use last accessed date that I wrote above, had issue. A Vbk file showed modified today but not accessed for 7 days so I didnt back it up. Seems like a windows issue but just switching mine back to f:\*.* /SubDir /MODIFIED with second selection for the last few days ofVRB files.

[Gostev]

I believe there is a reg hack that prevents Windows from updating Last Accessed attribute on files, did you use that before for something by any chance?

[larry]

not that I know of. 2 out of 4 of the servers with Veeam do it. thanks for a place to look.

[larry]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate change to zero to fix


Thanks for the info

[chrisbarr35]

We are running Veeam to create a full backup every Friday which takes until Sunday then incremantal Monday through Thursday. If I use Backup Exec to backup the vbk file on Monday and this job is running still when the Veeam incremental backup starts is this going to cause a problem?
thanks

[Vitaliy S.]

Assuming that you're running forward incremental backup mode, it is not going to cause any problems, please take a look at our F.A.Q. topic for more details in (v5 Choosing Backup Mode.xlsx)

[Ratcha]

Is there any particular reason why Veeam 6.5 does not change the "Data accessed" for vrb and vbm files even though the modified date is being change after each backup?

This is causing issues with my tape backup jobs which exclude files not accessed in 16 days. This is also excluding the latest vbk and as the "data accessed is from the date of the last full backup, not the date the file was last modified from a reverse incremental backup.

Both the vbm and vdk have date accessed file attributes identical to the date created attribute.

Is this a fault of Windows? Do I need to run a script after each backup to somehow touch these files thus changing the date accessed attribute?

[foggy]

Please review the topic you've been merged into for the registry key that changes this behavior in Windows. Thanks.

[veremin]

reverse incremental backup.

Additionally, please be aware that reversed incremental mode isn’t recommended in case of copying to tape, and you should use forward one, instead.

Thanks.

[Ratcha]

Please review the topic you've been merged into for the registry key that changes this behavior in Windows. Thanks.

Thanks. Found the reg key and modified it.

Additionally, please be aware that reversed incremental mode isn’t recommended in case of copying to tape, and you should use forward one, instead.

I understand why people recommend this if they want to backup just the latest incrementals every day due to size/storage constraints, but how would it be beneficial if I'm backing up the last 16 days worth of reversed incrementals to tape? If I switch to forward incrementals, then I would have to

a) ensure that I run fulls often enough that I can get at least one on every tape. Some of my larger jobs take a LONG time so I only run a full once per month on those (in addition to the daily reverse incremental full).

or

b) change the inclusion/exclusion to backup at least 1 month worth of full + incrementals every week which would mean more tapes.

I find having at least 1 full backup on tape every week, plus having the ability to go back 16 days with the reverse incrementals, is perfect for me as each tape provides 2 weeks of backup + DR insurance. I don't understand why anyone in a similar situation wouldn't want to do the same.

[dellock6]

The reason to avoid reverse incremental together with tape offload is because it basically creates (from symantec point of view) a new full backup file every day, and so you end up having to save this file (and the vrb of the previous day). So the space on the tape and the time it takes to save it could become an issue.

Luca.

[veremin]

Yep, it’s always advisable to utilize forward incremental mode in case of copying to tape, because such mode guarantees that only small increments will be transferred to tape appliance rather than whole full backup, as in case of reversed incremental method.

However, if your tape copy activity (as you mentioned), takes place only once a week or so, transferring one .vbks and 16 .vrbs, I think, you should be ok with it, since the aforesaid considerations regarding backup modes are applicable mostly to those who are copying to tape each day.

Thanks.