GFS and storage needs-best practices

[scott.edwards]

I just took a position with a start-up company and I am inheriting an established system. The retention policy for backups has just been handed down and the requirements are as follows

Full = Sunday
Incr = Monday - Friday
Weekly = Saturday
Monthly = last Saturday of month retain 12
Yearly = Last Saturday of the year retain 4

I have reviewed the numerous threads about calculation of storage and none of them are clear on the recommendation. I understand that all setups are different but it seems there should be a tool made which would allow certain input and then generate estimates. Beyond that caveat, I want to use the GFS feature of the Backup Copy Job however I am a little confused how it handles the backup files. I think it creates a full backup on the first synchronization then incrementals based on the retention settings. If that is the case how does it handle the differences between weekly, monthly, yearly. Will there be a full backup file for the weekly's (4 full backups), monthly's (12 full backups) and yearly's (4 full backup) or will there be one full from the first synchronization and then 20 incrementals (4+12+4)? How does the backup copy job allow a restore to be performed at a certain point in time if it is all rolled into 1 file/chain?

I have been using the settings the previous admin has in place for the jobs. Each uses Incremental. I am running backups to a SAN connected to the physical Veeam server via iSCSI. Would I want to perform an active full at any point during the retention process?

I know this is hap hazardly worded, I am just putting the ideas down as I am reviewing the environment and the threads I have read.

I appreciate any insight in advance.

http://forums.veeam.com/vmware-vsphere- ... 18568.html
http://forums.veeam.com/veeam-backup-re ... 22935.html
http://forums.veeam.com/veeam-backup-re ... t9300.html
http://forums.veeam.com/tape-f29/best-p ... 18031.html

[foggy]

Hello, Scott. You've actually found the right threads discussing your concerns. However, a couple of considerations follow.

I have reviewed the numerous threads about calculation of storage and none of them are clear on the recommendation. I understand that all setups are different but it seems there should be a tool made which would allow certain input and then generate estimates.

As it is explained in the referenced thread, there's no such a tool. However you could use the provided formula to get rough estimate.

Beyond that caveat, I want to use the GFS feature of the Backup Copy Job however I am a little confused how it handles the backup files. I think it creates a full backup on the first synchronization then incrementals based on the retention settings. If that is the case how does it handle the differences between weekly, monthly, yearly. Will there be a full backup file for the weekly's (4 full backups), monthly's (12 full backups) and yearly's (4 full backup) or will there be one full from the first synchronization and then 20 incrementals (4+12+4)? How does the backup copy job allow a restore to be performed at a certain point in time if it is all rolled into 1 file/chain?

You're correct saying that backup copy job is always incremental. The initial restore point in the chain is full backup, all the subsequent ones are incrementals. Then, each GFS restore point (weekly, monthly, etc.) is a separate full backup as of the day it is scheduled at. So, once the day to create weekly restore point comes, a standalone VBK file is created in the backup repository, not dependent on the regular backup copy job chain.

Would I want to perform an active full at any point during the retention process?

Please review the following topic for recommendations on active full frequency: How often do I need a full backup?