Using Backup Sets

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Overview

Using Backup Sets to Define a Series of Backups for a Client

Using Backup Sets to Define Subclient Groups

Using Backup Sets to Define a Series of Backups for Subclient Groups

Overview

Backup sets are very configurable and provide many options for protecting your data; see the examples below:

Using Backup Sets to Define a Series of Backups for a Client

This section does not apply to the DB2 iDataAgent.

You can use backup sets to establish multiple backup series for the same client computer, each with its own purpose. In effect, you can back up the same client computer in different ways to suit your needs as demonstrated in the following example.

Assume that there is a CommCell client called onyx. For simplicity, assume that the only defined subclients are those that map to the entire data backed up by a specific Agent. These are the default subclients that are established when you create a backup set. In the following table, onyx is shown to have several backup sets, BK1 through BK4. (The backup schedules in the table are provided for demonstrative purposes only.)

Client	Backup Sets	Subclients	Backup Schedule	Storage Policy	Backup Series*
onyx	BK1	default	Daily	Storage Policy A	1, 2, 3
	BK2	default	Monthly	Storage Policy B	1, 2, 3
	BK3	default	Daily	Storage Policy C	2, 3
	BK4	default	Weekly	Storage Policy A	3

* Backup Series

Different Backup Series
Different Backup Series
Different Backup Series

These backup sets, although different, all apply to the same client computer. In these scenarios, the backup set allows you to back up the same client computer, in its entirety, in a variety of ways. Perhaps you need a separate series of monthly full backups (e.g., BK2) that you want to send off-site for archival purposes. One obvious solution is to create a backup set specifically for that purpose. Maybe you need to create another set of backups (e.g., BK3) in another location for redundancy purposes. Perhaps you simply want to create another series of weekly backups (e.g., BK4) on the same media group as the daily backups. Regardless of the associated storage policy, the backup set establishes a unique backup series for each Agent.

Using Backup Sets to Define Subclient Groups

This section does not apply to the DB2 iDataAgent.

If multiple subclients are defined for a given client computer, backup sets can, but need not necessarily, be used to establish different subclient groups for the same client computer. In other words, they can be used to divide and back up the same client data in any number of ways.

The following examples demonstrate this point:

Using Backup Sets to Define a Series of Backups for Subclient Groups

This section does not apply to the DB2 iDataAgent.

In the previous sections, we explored the ways backup sets can be used to define:

One or more series of backups for a given client and
One or more subclient groups for a given client

Here we will demonstrate how backup sets can be used to combine both aspects and allow you to define one or more series of backups for related subclients. (The backup schedules in the following tables are provided for demonstrative purposes only.)

Client	Backup Sets	Subclients	Backup Schedule	Storage Policy	Backup Series*
onyx	BK1	default sub1 sub2	Daily	Storage Policy A Storage Policy B Storage Policy C	1, 2, 3, 4
	BK2	default sub1 sub2	Weekly	Storage Policy D Storage Policy E Storage Policy F	1, 2, 3, 4
	BK3	default sub1	Weekly	Storage Policy A Storage Policy B	2, 3, 4
	BK4	default sub1 sub2	Daily	Storage Policy D Storage Policy E Storage Policy F	3, 4
	BK5	default sub1	Daily	Storage Policy D Storage Policy E	4

* Backup Series

Same subclient grouping, different backup series
Different subclient grouping, different backup series
Same subclient grouping, different backup series
Different subclient grouping, different backup series

The first backup set BK1 contains three subclients, the default and two user declared, each going to a different storage policy: A, B, and C. These subclients back up on a daily basis. The following summaries describe how each of the remaining backup sets compare with BK1, not with each other.

BK2	The second backup set contains three subclients: default, sub1, and sub2. These subclients back up on a weekly basis. If we assume that the subclients in BK1 and BK2 have the same subclient definitions (i.e., they map to the data), then we could conclude that BK2 provides a separate backup series of the same data, organized in the same way as BK1.
	The fact that two subclients in different backup sets of the same client have the same name in no way implies that they back up the same data. Subclient names need only be unique within a given backup set.
BK3	This backup set contains only two subclients. These subclients back up on a weekly basis to storage policies A and B. Since there are only two declared subclients, we know that this subclient group differs from the subclient group in BK1 even though the definition of subclient sub1 may be the same for both backup sets. We can therefore conclude that this backup set provides another view of the data backed up by the Agent.
BK4	This backup set contains three subclients: default, sub1, and sub2. These subclients back up on a daily basis to a different set of storage policies. If we assume that the subclients in BK1 and BK4 have the same subclient definitions (i.e., they map to the same data), then we could conclude that BK4 merely provides another backup series of the same data, like BK2.
BK5	This backup set contains only two subclients; hence, without checking the subclient definitions, we know that this subclient group differs from the subclient group in BK1. These subclients back up on a daily basis to storage policies D and E.