Advanced – Active Directory Backup

Table of Contents

Related Topics

Full Backup

Incremental Backups

Differential Backups

Synthetic Full Backups

Running Synthetic Full Backups

Running an Incremental Backup Before or After a Synthetic Full Backup

Verifying Synthetic Full Backups

Ignoring Errors in Synthetic Full Backups

Accelerated Synthetic Full Backups (DASH Full)

Scheduling a Backup

Managing Jobs

Restarting Jobs

Controlling Jobs

Additional Options

Scheduling

Provides comprehensive information on scheduling jobs.

Job Management

Provides comprehensive information on managing jobs.

Full Backup

Full backups provide the most comprehensive protection of data.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to <Client> | Active Directory | defaultBackupSet.
  2. Right click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
  1. Select Full as backup type and Immediate to run the job immediately.
  2. Click OK.

    You can track the progress of the job from the Job Controller or Event Viewer window.  When the backup has completed, the Job Controller displays Completed.

 

Incremental Backup

An incremental backup contains only data that is new or has changed since the last backup, regardless of the type. On average, incremental backups consume less media and use less resources than full backups. 

The illustration on the right clarifies the nature of full and incremental backups.

Follow steps given below to perform an incremental backup:

 
  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to <Client> | Active Directory | defaultBackupSet.
  2. Right click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
  1. Select Incremental as backup type and Immediate to run the job immediately.
  2. Click OK.

    You can track the progress of the job from the Job Controller.  When the backup has completed, the Job Controller displays Completed.

 

 

Differential Backup

A differential backup contains only the data that is new or has changed since the last full backup. Like incremental backups, differential backups also consume less media and use less resources than full backups. Differential backups are cumulative. This means that each differential backup contains all changes accumulated since the last full backup. Each successive differential backup contains all the changes from the previous differential backup.

The illustration on the right demonstrates the nature of differential backups. For simplicity, assume there is a file system that contains six files as represented in the figure.

 
  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to <Client> | Active Directory | defaultBackupSet.
  2. Right click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
  1. Select Differential as a backup type and Immediate to run the job immediately.
  2. Click OK.

    You can track the progress of the backup job from the Job Controller.  When the backup has completed, the Job Controller displays Completed.

 

 

Synthetic Full Backup

A synthetic full backup is a synthesized backup, created from the most recent full backup and subsequent incremental and/or differential backups. The resulting synthetic full backup is identical to a full backup for the subclient.

Unlike full, incremental, and differential backups, a synthetic full backup does not actually transfer data from a client computer to the backup media. Therefore, they do not use any resources on the client computer.

Synthetic full backups are media-based; they read backup data from one media and simultaneously write (restore) the result to the new active media within the same media group. As a result, synthetic full backups require that at least two media drives for the same storage policy be available at the time the job is started. Synthetic full backups cannot be performed on subclients where the storage policy is associated with a stand-alone drive.

Running Synthetic Full Backups

Synthetic full backups can either be started manually or scheduled to occur at regular intervals. Do not concurrently run more than one synthetic full backup, especially synthetic full backups with multiple streams.

  1. From the CommCell Console, navigate to <Client> | Active Directory | defaultBackupSet.
  1. Right click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
  2. From the Backup Options window, select Synthetic Full for Backup Type.
  3. Select Immediate for Job Initiation.
  4. Click OK.

    You can track the progress of the backup job from the Job Controller. When the backup has completed, the Job Controller displays Completed.

Running an Incremental Backup Before or After a Synthetic Full Backup

An incremental backup can be run either before or after a synthetic full backup.

The sections below describe the steps to run an incremental backup before or after a synthetic full backup:

  1. From the CommCell Console, navigate to <Client> | Active Directory | defaultBackupSet.
  1. Right click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
  2. From the Backup Options window, select Synthetic Full for Backup Type.
  3. Select Run Incremental Backup and then select Before Synthetic Full or After Synthetic Full options.
  4. Select Immediate for Job Initiation.
  5. Click OK.

    You can track the progress of the backup job from the Job Controller. When the backup has completed, the Job Controller displays Completed.

 

Verifying Synthetic Full Backups

This option ensures that files that have not backed up by incremental jobs since the last full backup are backed up by the next incremental.

For example: If you perform the conventional full backup only once for a given subclient and then perform incremental (or differential) backups and periodic synthetic full backups.
After the conventional full backup, a file is added to the subclient and the file has a time stamp older than the time of full backup. In such scenario, the file will never get backed up. Eventually, such files may be pruned and no backup of such  files will be available.

The illustration on the right explains the necessity of verifying synthetic full backups.

In order to overcome this problem, it is recommended to verify the synthetic full backups job periodically as follows:
  1. From the CommCell Console, navigate to <Client> | Active Directory | defaultBackupSet.
  1. Right click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
  2. From the Backup Options dialog box, select Synthetic Full.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. In the Advanced Backup Options dialog box, click the Data tab.
  5. Select Verify Synthetic Full. Click OK to continue.
  6. Click OK.

 

Ignoring Errors in Synthetic Full Backups

Errors encountered in synthetic full backups can be ignored, even if backup media is partially corrupted. Errors such as inability to read data (bad tape, files missing on disk media, etc.) will be ignored when this option is enabled.

  1. From the CommCell Console, navigate to <Client> | Active Directory | defaultBackupSet.
  1. Right click the subclient and click Backup.
  2. From the Backup Options dialog box, select Synthetic Full.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. In the Advanced Backup Options dialog box, click the Data tab.
  5. Select Verify Synthetic Full and then select Ignore Error in Synthetic Full.
  6. Click OK to close the Advanced Backup Options dialog box.
  7. Click OK .

Accelerated Synthetic Full Backups (DASH Full)

When a storage policy copy is deduplicated, synthetic full backups can be created in an accelerated mode to significantly reduce the copy duration. This is done by identifying and transferring the data signatures (instead of the data itself) to the target wherever possible.

Learn more...

Scheduling A Backup

Follow the steps given below to schedule a data protection operation:

1.
  • From the CommCell Console, navigate to <Client> | Active Directory | defaultBackupSet
  • Right-click the Subclient and click Backup
2.
  • Select the Backup type.
  • Click Schedule.
  • Click the Configure button.
3. Select the appropriate scheduling options. 

For example, use the following steps to create a weekly schedule:

  • Type a name for the schedule in the Schedule Name box.
  • Click Weekly.
  • In the Start Time box type or select the schedule start time.
  • Click and select the days to run the schedule.
  • Click OK.
4. When the schedule is run, the Job Controller window will display the job as shown in the sample image.
5. Once the job is complete, you can view the job details from the Backup History.
  • Right-click the Subclient and select View Job Details.

Managing Jobs

Jobs can be managed in a number of ways. The following sections provide information on the different job management options available:

Restarting Jobs

Jobs that fail to complete successfully are automatically restarted based on the job restartability configuration set in the Control Panel. Keep in mind that changes made to this configuration will affect all jobs in the entire CommCell.

To Configure the job restartability for a specific job, you can modify the retry settings for the job. This will override the setting in the Control Panel. It is also possible to override the default CommServe configuration for individual jobs by configuring retry settings when initiating the job. This configuration, however, will apply only to the specific job.

Backup jobs for this Agent are resumed from the point-of-failure.

Configure Job Restartability at the CommServe Level

  1. From the CommCell Browser, click Control Panel icon.
  2. Select Job Management.
  3. Click Job Restarts tab and select a Job Type.
    • Select Restartable to make the job restartable.
    • Change the value for Max Restarts to change the maximum number of times the Job Manager will try to restart a job.
    • Change the value for Restart Interval (Mins) to change the time interval between attempts for the Job Manager to restart the job.
  4. Click OK.

Configure Job Restartability for an Individual Job

  1. From the CommCell Console, navigate to <Client> | Active Directory | <Backup Set>.
  2. Right-click the Subclient and select Backup.
  1. Click Advanced.
  2. In the Advanced Backup Options dialog box, click the Job Retry tab.
  3. Select Enable Total Running Time and specify the maximum elapsed time before a job can be restarted or killed.

    Select Kill Running Jobs When Total Running Time Expires to kill the job after reaching the maximum elapsed time.

  4. Select Enable Number Of Retries and specify the number of retries.
  5. Click OK.
  

Controlling Jobs

The following controls are available for running jobs in the Job Controller window:

Suspend

 Temporarily stops a job. A suspended job is not terminated; it can be restarted at a later time.

Resume

 Resumes a job and returns the status to Waiting, Pending, Queued, or Running. The status depends on the availability of resources, the state of the Operation Windows, or the Activity Control setting.

Kill

 Terminates a job.

Suspending a Job

  1. From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and select Suspend.
  2. The job status may change to Suspend Pending for a few moments while the operation completes. The job status then changes to Suspended.

Resuming a Job

  1. From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and select Resume.
  2. As the Job Manager attempts to restart the job, the job status changes to Waiting, Pending, or Running.

Killing a Job

  1. From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and select Kill.
  2. Click Yes when the confirmation prompt appears if you are sure you want to kill the job. The job status may change to Kill Pending for a few moments while the operation completes. Once completed, the job status will change to Killed and it will be removed from the Job Controller window after five minutes.

Additional Options

The following table describes the available additional options to further refine your backup operations:

Option Description Related topics
Startup Options

The Startup Options are used by the Job Manager to set priority for resource allocation. This is useful to give higher priority to certain jobs. You can set the priority as follows:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | Active Directory | Backup Set.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and click Startup tab.
  3. Select the Change Priority checkbox.
  4. Enter a priority number - 0 is the highest priority and 999 is the lowest priority.
  5. Select the Start up in suspended State check box to start the job in a suspended state.
  6. Click OK.
 Refer to Job Priority and Priority Precedence. 
Alerts

This option enables users or user groups to get automatic notification on the status of the data protection job. Follow the steps given below to set up the criteria to raise notifications/alerts:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | Active Directory | Backup Set.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the Alert tab.
  3. Click Add Alert.
  4. From the Add Alert Wizard dialog box, select the required threshold and notification criteria and click Next.
  5. Select the required notification types and click Next.
  6. Select the recipients and click Next.
  7. Click Finish.
  8. Click OK.
 Refer to Alerts.
Command Line Backups Command Line Interface enables you to perform backups or restore from the command line. The commands can be executed from the command line or can be integrated into scripts.

You can also generate command line scripts for specific operations from the CommCell Browser using the Save As Script option.

Refer to Command Line Interface.
CommCell Readiness Report The CommCell Readiness Report provides you with vital information, such as connectivity and readiness of the Client, MediaAgent and CommServe. It is useful to run this report before performing the data protection or recovery job. Follow the steps given below to generate the report:
  1. From the Tools menu in the CommCell Console, click Reports.
  2. Navigate to Reports | CommServe | CommCell Readiness.
  3. Click the Client tab and click the Modify button.
  4. In the Select Computers dialog box, clear the Include All Client Computers and All Client Groups check box.
  5. Select the client from the Exclude list.
  6. Click the Include > button.
  7. Click OK.
  8. Click the MediaAgent tab.
  9. Clear the Include All MediaAgents checkbox.
  10. Select the MediaAgent from the Exclude list.
  11. Click Include >.
  12. Click Run.

    The generated report is displayed.

Refer to CommCell Readiness Report.
Backup Job Summary Report The Backup Job Summary Report provides you with information about all the backup jobs that are run in last 24 hrs for a specific subclient. You can get information such as status, time, data size etc. for each backup job. It is useful to run this report after performing the backup. Follow the steps given below to generate the report:
  1. From the Tools menu in the CommCell Console, click Reports.
  2. Navigate to Reports | Jobs | Job Summary.
  3. Click Data Management on the General tab in the right pane.
  4. Select the Computers tab.
  5. Click Subclient and select the Edit tab.
  6. Navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | File System | Backup Set | Subclient.
  7. Click Run.
 Refer to Backup Job Summary Report.
Data Path Options

Data Protection operations use a default Library, MediaAgent, Drive Pool, and Drive as the Data Path. You can use this option to change the data path if the default data path is not available. Follow the steps given below to change the default data path:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | Active Directory | Backup Set.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the Data Path tab.
  3. Select the MediaAgent and Library.
  4. Select the Drive Pool and Drive for optical and tape libraries.
  5. Click OK.
 Refer Change Data Path.
Index Cache Server Index Cache Server provides the facility to automatically continue data protection operations when there are job failures due to loss of connectivity to the index. You can configure the Index Cache Server as follows:
  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Storage Resources | MediaAgent.
  2. Right-click the <MediaAgent> and click Properties.
  3. Click the Catalog tab and ensure that the Index Cache Server is configured.
  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | Active Directory | Backup Set.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced.
  3. Make sure that the Use shared profile if present with transaction logging option is selected.
  4. Click OK.
 Refer to Index Cache Server for more information.
Start New Media

The Start New Media option enables you to start the data protection operation on a new media. This feature provides control over where the data physically resides. Use the following steps to start the data protection operation on a new media:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | Active Directory | Backup Set.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the Media tab.
  3. Select the Start New Media check box.
  4. Click OK.
 Refer to Start New Media. 
Mark Media Full

This option marks the media as full, two minutes after the successful completion of the data protection job. This option prevents another job from writing to this media. Follow the steps given below:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | Active Directory | Backup Set.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select Media tab.
  3. Select the Mark Media Full on Success check box.
  4. Click OK.
 Refer to Export Media.
Allow other Schedules to use Media Set

The Allow Other Schedules to use Media Set option allows jobs that are part of the schedule or schedule policy and using the specific storage policy to start a new media. It also prevents other jobs from writing to the same set of media.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | Active Directory | Backup Set.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the Media tab.
  3. Select the Allow Other Schedules To Use Media Set check box.
  4. Click OK.
 Refer to Creating an Exportable Media Set.
Reserve Resources Before Scan Media is reserved for a job when the job is ready to write data. You can use this option to reserve the media during the initial phase of the job. Follow the steps given below to reserve media:
  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | Active Directory | Backup Set.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the Media tab.
  3. Select the Reserve Resources before Scan check box.
  4. Click OK.
  
Extended Data Retention

This option allows you to extend the expiration date of a specific job. This will override the default retention set at the corresponding storage policy copy. Follow the steps given below to extend the expiration date:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | Active Directory | Backup Set.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the Media tab.
  3. Select one of the following options:
    • Infinite - Select this option to extend the expiration date by infinite number of days
    • Number of day - Select this option to specify the number of days to extend the expiration date and then enter the number of days.
  4. Click OK.
 Refer to Extended Retention Rules.
Vault Tracker

This feature provides the facility to manage media that is removed from a library and stored in offsite locations. Depending on your VaultTracker setup, select the required options. Use the following steps to access and select the VaultTracker options.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | Active Directory | Backup Set.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the VaultTracking tab.
  3. Select the required options.
  4. Click OK.
 Refer to VaultTracker  or  VaultTracker Enterprise.