How to use Partial Snapshots in Veritas SaaS Backup

Description

For SaaS Backup to make a complete backup of a large amount of data – which means to have a backup copy of every file and object on a tenant – it may take days or weeks. Several times a day during this process, SaaS Backup takes a snapshot of what data has been backed up up to that point. Each one of these snapshots is larger than the one before until it contains the tenant's complete data set. 

Until an entire backup has been completed, these partial snapshots are displayed in the SaaS Backup application, giving users access to the data that is currently in the backup. Users have the ability to import and restore files and objects using these snapshots. 

How partial snapshots are marked

Partial backups are clearly marked so users know what type of snapshot they are browsing or recovering. 

1. Go under any connector with your data.
2. Select the monitor icon top left and then select History Snapshots.

In History Snapshots, partial backups are marked with a special icon:

In the Import and Restore dialogs, snapshots are marked with the word "partial" or "complete":

Warning messages

Users must remember that a partial snapshot might not contain the data they want to recover. 

If SaaS Backup has both complete and partial snapshots, we advise the user to restore or import from a complete backup if they want their entire data set recovered:

If SaaS Backup has only partial snapshots, we advise the user check that the data they want is in the snapshot by browsing the connector using that particular snapshot:

After initial backup

Once SaaS Backup finishes backing up an entire data set, partial snapshots will no longer be shown – only the complete snapshot that contains the user's entire data set will be accessible. After performing a complete backup, new partial snapshots might again appear as SaaS Backup completes the next full backup.