Backup Exec 21 Administrator's Guide

To set default backup options for SQL Server

1. Click the Backup Exec button, and then select Configuration and Settings.
2. Select Job Defaults, and then select a backup option.

   For example, if you want to set up the default options for SQL Server backups to disk, select Back Up to Disk. The options that appear vary depending on what types of storage devices you configure. You can configure different default options for backup jobs that you send to different types of storage.

3. In the left pane, select Microsoft SQL.
4. Select the appropriate options.

   Backup method	Select one of the following backup methods that you want to use for this job: Full - Back up databases This option backs up the entire database. This option is selected by default. Full Copy - Back up databases (copy) This option backs up the entire database without affecting future differential or log backups. Unlike the Full backup method, the Full Copy backup method does not reset the SQL differential baseline that is used to indicate the database blocks that have changed since the last full backup. After making a full backup, you can use the Full Copy backup method to make a copy of a SQL database without affecting the baseline backup set required to run future differential backups.
   Backup method	Select one of the following SQL-specific backup methods that you want to use for this job: Full - Back up databases This option backs up the entire database. This option is selected by default. Full Copy - Back up databases (copy) This option backs up the entire database without affecting future differential or log backups. Unlike the Full backup method, the Full Copy backup method does not reset the SQL differential baseline that is used to indicate the database blocks that have changed since the last full backup. After making a full backup, you can use the Full Copy backup method to make a copy of a SQL database without affecting the baseline backup set that is required to run future differential backups. Automatic - Backup up transaction log if enabled and then back up database changes since the last full or incremental This option lets you back up the entire SQL instance even though some databases may not support log backups. All of the databases are backed up using the Incremental (block level) backup method. In addition, the databases that support log backups are backed up using the Log backup method. Note: If snapshot is not enabled, an Incremental (block level) backup method cannot be performed and the Differential backup method is used. Log - Back up and truncate transaction log This option backs up only the data contained in the transaction log; it does not back up database data. After the transaction log is backed up, committed transactions are removed (truncated). If the databases are configured for the SQL Server simple recovery model, log backups are not supported. To change the recovery model, use the SQL administration tools to set the recovery model to Full. You should run a new full backup if you change the recovery mode before a log backup is run. Alternatively, you can run full backups only, or run full and differential backups of the SQL databases. See Configuring Backup Exec to run a consistency check before every SQL backup. Log No Truncate - Back up without truncating transaction log This option backs up the database when it is corrupt or database files are missing. Since the Log No Truncate backup method does not access the database, you can still back up the transactions that you may not be able to access otherwise when the database is in this state. You can then use this transaction log backup along with the database backup and any previous transaction log backups to restore the database to the point at which it failed; however, any uncommitted transactions are rolled back. The Log No Truncate backup method does not remove committed transactions after the log is backed up. Differential - Backup up database changes since the last full This option backs up only the changes made to the database or filegroup since the last full backup. Because differential backups allow the restore of a system only to the point in time that the differential backup was created, you should also create multiple log backups between the differential backups. Differential (block-level) - Back up database changes since the last full - use with convert to virtual machine job This option backs up all of the blocks of data and logs that have been created or modified since the last full backup. Incremental (block-level) - Back up database changes since the last full or incremental - use with convert to virtual machine job This option backs up all of the blocks of data and logs that have been created or modified since the last full or incremental backup. Database Snapshot - Read-only point-in-time copy of databases This option creates a read only, point-in-time copy of another database. See Using database snapshots for SQL Server. Note: SQL differential or incremental backups are supported for conversion to virtual when you use the Automatic, Differential (block-level), or Incremental (block-level) backup methods. Additionally, Backup Exec runs a full backup when you select the Automatic or Log backup methods if a full backup was not previously run on the database. A full backup also runs for one of the following conditions: A new database is added or restored. Backup Exec did not run the last full backup. Only Full Copy and Incremental backups were run on the database instead of Full backups. See Configuring backup methods for backup jobs.
   Consistency check before backup	Select one of the following consistency checks to run before a backup: None. This option does not run a consistency check before a backup. It is recommended that you always run a consistency check either before or after the backup. Full check, excluding indexes. This option excludes indexes from the consistency check. If indexes are not checked, the consistency check runs significantly faster but is not as thorough. Full check, including indexes. This option includes indexes in the consistency check. Any errors are logged. Physical check only. This option performs a low-overhead check of the physical consistency of the database. This option only checks the integrity of the physical structure of the page. This option is selected by default.
   Continue with backup if consistency check fails	Choose if you want to continue with the backup operation even if the consistency check fails. You may want to continue with the backup when the consistency check fails if you think that a backup of the database in its current state is better than no backup at all, or if you are backing up a very large database with only a small problem in a table.
   Consistency check after backup	Select the consistency check to run after a backup. Because database transactions can occur during or after the consistency check, but before the backup runs, consider running a consistency check after the backup to ensure that the data was consistent at the time of the backup The following options are available: None. This option does not run a consistency check after a backup. It is recommended that you always run a consistency check after the backup. This option is selected by default. Full check, excluding indexes. This option excludes indexes from the consistency check. If indexes are not checked, the consistency check runs significantly faster but is not as thorough. Full check, including indexes. This option includes indexes in the consistency check. Any errors are logged. Physical check only. This option performs a low overhead check of the physical consistency of the database. This option only checks the integrity of the physical structure of the page. This option is selected by default.
   Use checksums on backup (SQL 2005 or later)	Choose to add the checksums to the SQL database data being backed up by Backup Exec. Adding checksums to the data being backed up is required if you want to use the restore option Run verify only and do not restore data. Use this option and the Run verify only and do not restore data option to ensure that you restore from a verified SQL backup during a restore of the SQL database.
   Create on-disk copies of SQL backups to be placed on the SQL server where the database is located	Choose to create an on-disk copy of the SQL database that you want to back up. This option lets you simultaneously back up a SQL database to storage media while also writing a copy of the database to a disk path you specify in the Save to path option. This option gives IT administrators the ability to back up SQL databases while also providing database administrators with copies of the database on disk, which can be used for such things as tests and restores. Note: This option does not support snapshot technology.
   Save to path	Specify a path in which to save on-disk copies of SQL backups.
   SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition software compression	Select a compression setting that you want to use for this backup job: None. Do not use compression. Compress. Use SQL Server 2008 or later compression if it is supported by the SQL Server instance that is installed. SQL compresses the data on the computer on which SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition or later is installed. Therefore, faster SQL 2008 or later backups should occur if you use SQL compression. You can find a list of compatible operating systems, platforms, and applications in the Backup Exec Software Compatibility List. It is recommended that you do not use SQL 2008 or later software compression in a backup job that also uses Backup Exec-initiated software compression. Minimal benefits are gained when you enable Backup Exec compression. In fact, in jobs where both compression schemes are used, backup times may increase. SQL 2008 or later software compression is not used if a backup job that includes SQL 2008 or later data uses Advanced Open File options. Note: You cannot use this option for backup jobs that deduplicate data.
   One-time backup method	Specifies one of the following methods for one-time backups: Full - Back up databases This option backs up the entire database. This option is selected by default. See Backing up SQL databases and transaction logs. Full Copy - Back up databases (copy) This option backs up the entire database without affecting future differential or log backups. Unlike the Full backup method, the Full Copy backup method does not reset the SQL differential baseline that is used to indicate the database blocks that have changed since the last full backup. After making a full backup, you can use the Full Copy backup method to make a copy of a SQL database without affecting the baseline backup set required to run future differential backups. Database Snapshot - Read-only, point-in-time copy of another database This option creates a read only, point-in-time copy of another database. See Using database snapshots for SQL Server. Log No Truncate - Back up without truncating transaction log This option backs up the database when it is corrupt or when database files are missing. Since the Log No Truncate backup method does not access the database, you can still back up transactions that you may not be able to access otherwise when the database is in this state. You can then use this transaction log backup along with the database backup and any previous transaction log backups to restore the database to the point at which it failed; however, any uncommitted transactions are rolled back. The Log No Truncate backup method does not remove committed transactions after the log is backed up. Log - Back up and truncate transaction log This option backs up only the data contained in the transaction log; it does not back up database data. After the transaction log is backed up, committed transactions are removed (truncated). If the databases are configured for the SQL Server simple recovery model, log backups are not supported. To change the recovery model, use the SQL administration tools to set the recovery model to Full. You should run a new full backup if you change the recovery mode before a log backup is run. Alternatively, you can run full backups only, or run full and differential backups of the SQL databases. See Configuring Backup Exec to run a consistency check before every SQL backup.

5. Click OK.