You can use filters to exclude items which consistently fail and that are not integral to the operation of the system or applications. Some items fail because they are locked by the operating system or application and cannot be opened at the time of the data protection operation. This often occurs with certain system-related files and database application files. Also, keep in mind that you will need to run a full backup after adding failed files to the filter in order to remove them.
We recommend that you do not re-configure the content of a default subclient because this would disable its capability to serve as a catch-all entity for client data. As a result, some data will not get backed up or scanned.
Avoid running restores by jobs for jobs associated with the default backup set, if you do not want to restore the operating system files or directories. The entire content of the backed up client will be restored and the client where you are restoring might run out of space.
If you are restoring to a different computer, perform the following checks to make sure the target computer is similar to the source computer:
The CommCell Console requires 256 colors to run. When you open the CommCell Console on a rebuilt computer, you may need to install the correct video driver to increase the color depth of the client computer or run the console from another computer.
If you are performing a full system restore to a computer with a different hardware configuration (mass storage device, network interface card, video card, etc.), do not restore the system state data. Restoring system state data includes restoration of the hardware entries in the registry.
The Active Directory uses a Tombstone mechanism to delete objects from its directory on Windows 2000 and Server 2003 clients. When an Active Directory object is deleted from a domain controller, it is initially marked as tombstoned and is not fully removed from the directory. During Active Directory replication, the tombstone attribute is replicated to the other domain controllers, temporarily deleting the object from all the domain controllers. Once the tombstone lifetime is reached, the object is permanently removed from the directory. The Active Directory Tombstone has a default lifetime setting of 60 days.
When performing restore operations, you must consider the Active Directory tombstone lifetime. Restoring from a backup that was secured more than a lifetime before the restore may result in Active Directory inconsistencies. The restored domain controller may have objects that are not replicated on the other domain controllers. These objects will not be deleted automatically, as the corresponding tombstones on the other servers have already been deleted. Therefore, when you restore from a backup that is older than the tombstone lifetime, you may have to manually delete each unreplicated object on the restored computer in order to resolve inconsistencies.
Windows must be installed in the same directory as that of the original computer; otherwise, full system restores will not work. For machines that have been upgraded to Server 2003 from Windows 2000, Windows must be installed in the WINNT directory.
When you are have enabled VSS for a default subclient, the Locked database files are backed up in an inconsistent state and some system protected data will get backed up.
For example, you may have an Exchange database installed on the client. The Exchange database should not be backed up by the Windows File System iDataAgent because it will not be able to restore the database. Furthermore, this will increase your media usage. It is recommended to use the Exchange Database iDataAgent to backup the Exchange database.
If you have locked files that you would like to back up using VSS, it is recommended that you create a subclient for them and enable VSS on that subclient.
If you want to enable VSS on the default subclient then it is recommended to filter the data from other iDataAgents (For example: Excahnge iDataAgent or SQL iDataAgent) from the default subclient.
The system state restore for Windows Server 2008 may take a long time to complete. All editions of Windows Server 2008 treat more files are System Protected files as compared to any other Windows operating systems. Large System Protected Files backups can require additional disk space for recovery while the files are being moved.
It is recommended to keep at least 10-15GB free space on the following drives:
Windows Server 2012 has a deduplication feature that can be enabled. Data from deduplicated volumes will be backed up in its original state (uncompressed). Therefore, during a restore, ensure that you have enough storage space on the volume to restore the full data size. In addition, make sure that a minimum service pack level of SP9b is installed on the client prior to backing up deduplicated volumes on Windows Server 2012.