Veritas Backup Exec Administrator's Guide
- Introducing Backup Exec
- Installation
- Methods for installing the Agent for Windows
- Using a command prompt to install the Agent for Windows on a remote computer
- Using a command script to install the Agent for Windows
- Installing the Remote Administrator
- Installing Backup Exec using the command line (silent mode)
- Backup Exec license contract information
- About upgrading to Backup Exec
- Getting Started
- Backups
- Backing up data
- Restores
- How Backup Exec catalogs work
- Job management and monitoring
- Alerts and notifications
- Enabling active alerts and alert history to display on the Home tab
- Adding a recipient group for alert notifications
- Sending a notification when a job completes
- SNMP traps for Backup Exec alerts
- Disk-based and network-based storage
- Configuring disk storage
- Configuring disk cartridge storage
- Backup sets
- Cloud-based storage devices
- Amazon S3 cloud-based storage
- Google cloud-based storage
- Microsoft Azure cloud-based storage
- Private cloud-based storage
- About S3-Compatible Cloud Storage
- About the Veritas Backup Exec™ CloudConnect Optimizer
- Legacy backup-to-disk folders
- Legacy backup-to-disk folders
- Legacy backup-to-disk folders
- Tape storage
- Robotic libraries in Backup Exec
- Creating robotic library partitions
- Managing tapes
- Creating media sets for tapes
- Labeling tape media
- Default media vaults
- Storage device pools
- Storage operations
- Conversion to virtual machines
- Configuration and settings
- Using Backup Exec with firewalls
- Deleting DBA-initiated job templates
- Backup Exec logon accounts
- Reports
- Creating a custom report
- List of Backup Exec standard reports
- Troubleshooting Backup Exec
- Troubleshooting failed components in the SAN
- Generating a diagnostic file for troubleshooting Backup Exec
- Using Backup Exec in cluster environments
- Configurations for Backup Exec and Microsoft Cluster Servers
- Disaster recovery of a cluster
- Simplified Disaster Recovery
- Setting or changing the alternate location for the disaster recovery information file
- Creating a Simplified Disaster Recovery disk image
- Preparing to recover from a disaster by using Simplified Disaster Recovery
- Recovering a computer with Simplified Disaster Recovery
- Integration with Veritas™ Information Map
- Appendix A. Veritas Backup Exec Agent for Windows
- About the Backup Exec Agent Utility for Windows
- Appendix B. Veritas Backup Exec Deduplication Option
- Creating or importing deduplication disk storage
- Selecting storage devices for direct access sharing
- Appendix C. Veritas Backup Exec Agent for VMware
- Backing up VMware virtual machines
- About instant recovery of a VMware virtual machine
- About Recovery Ready for VMware virtual machines
- Appendix D. Veritas Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft Hyper-V
- Backing up Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines
- About instant recovery of a Hyper-V virtual machine
- About Recovery Ready for Hyper-V virtual machines
- Appendix E. Veritas Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft SQL Server
- Backing up SQL databases and transaction logs
- Restoring SQL databases and transaction logs
- Disaster recovery of a SQL Server
- Appendix F. Veritas Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft Exchange Server
- Backing up Exchange data
- Appendix G. Veritas Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft SharePoint
- Backing up Microsoft SharePoint data
- Appendix H. Veritas Backup Exec Agent for Oracle on Windows or Linux Servers
- Configuring the Oracle Agent on Windows computers and Linux servers
- Configuring an Oracle instance on Windows computers
- Viewing an Oracle instance on Windows computers
- About authentication credentials on the Backup Exec server
- About backing up Oracle databases
- About restoring Oracle resources
- Appendix I. Veritas Backup Exec Agent for Enterprise Vault
- About backup methods for Enterprise Vault backup jobs
- Restoring Enterprise Vault
- About the Backup Exec Migrator for Enterprise Vault
- Configuring the Backup Exec Migrator
- About retrieving migrated Enterprise Vault data
- About the Partition Recovery Utility
- Appendix J. Veritas Backup Exec Agent for Microsoft Active Directory
- Appendix K. Veritas Backup Exec Central Admin Server Option
- About installing the Central Admin Server feature
- What happens when CAS communication thresholds are reached
- About job delegation in CAS
- How to use Backup Exec server pools in CAS
- How centralized restore works in CAS
- Appendix L. Veritas Backup Exec Advanced Disk-based Backup Option
- Appendix M. Veritas Backup Exec NDMP Option
- About restoring and redirecting restore data for NDMP servers
- Viewing the properties of an NDMP server
- Viewing storage properties for an NDMP server
- Appendix N. Veritas Backup Exec Agent for Linux
- About installing the Agent for Linux
- About establishing trust for a remote Linux computer in the Backup Exec list of servers
- Editing configuration options for Linux computers
- About backing up a Linux computer by using the Agent for Linux
- About restoring data to Linux computers
- Editing the default backup job options for Linux computers
- Uninstalling the Agent for Linux
- Appendix O. Veritas Backup Exec Remote Media Agent for Linux
- About installing the Remote Media Agent for Linux
- About establishing trust for a Remote Media Agent for Linux computer in the Backup Exec list of servers
- About the Backup Exec operators (beoper) group for the Remote Media Agent for Linux
- About adding a Linux server as a Remote Media Agent for Linux
- Editing properties for the Remote Media Agent for Linux
- Creating a simulated tape library
- Viewing simulated tape libraries properties
- Appendix P. Accessibility and Backup Exec
- About keyboard shortcuts in Backup Exec
- Backup and Restore tab keyboard shortcuts
- Storage tab keyboard shortcuts
Backup sets
A backup set is a collection of the data that you back up from a single source of content. A single source of content can be a server or a Microsoft Exchange data set, for example. If you select multiple sources of content, Backup Exec creates multiple backup sets. When you run a backup job, Backup Exec creates the backup sets and writes them on storage. To restore data, you select the backup sets that contain the data that you want to restore.
Backup Exec keeps the backup sets that are stored on disk storage and disk cartridge media for as long as you specify in the backup job properties. By default, the amount of time that backup sets are stored is based on the type of backup job and its schedule.
For example, you can specify to keep the backup sets from a full backup for two weeks on a disk-based storage device. After two weeks, the backup sets expire and Backup Exec uses the data lifecycle management feature to delete the backup sets and reclaim that disk space. If you later create an incremental backup job, Backup Exec keeps the full backup sets for two weeks, plus the amount of time that it keeps the incremental backup sets. If you keep the incremental backup sets for four weeks, then Backup Exec keeps the full backup sets for six weeks. The data from a full backup job is kept as long as the data from its associated incremental backup jobs. Backup Exec does not reclaim the disk space for backup sets from a job that depends on another job until the data retention expires for all of the associated jobs. Even if the backup set is displayed as expired, the data is available until all dependent backup sets expire as well.
Backup Exec manages the retention of backup sets differently depending on the type of storage to which you back up the data.
Table: Storage types and backup set retention
Type of storage | Backup data retention |
---|---|
Disk storage, disk cartridge devices, deduplication disk storage, storage arrays, cloud storage, and virtual disks | Backup Exec uses data lifecycle management to automatically delete expired backup sets from disk-based storage. By default, Backup Exec keeps the most recent backup sets that are necessary to restore any backed-up component of a server, even if the backup sets expire. Even if the backup set is displayed as expired, the data is available until all dependent backup sets expire as well. For disk-based storage and any disk cartridges that you reattach to the Backup Exec server after a specified number of days, you can prevent Backup Exec from reclaiming that disk space. A global setting limits Backup Exec to read-only operations on disk-based storage or a disk cartridge if it has been detached for a specified number of days. You can also limit Backup Exec to read-only operations per disk storage or disk cartridge by enabling the setting on the device properties. See How data lifecycle management (DLM) deletes expired backup sets on disk-based storage. See How to restore data from a reattached or reinserted disk-based storage device. |
Tape cartridge media | Backup Exec uses the Advanced Device and Media Management (ADAMM) feature to manage data retention on tape cartridge media. ADAMM expires the backup sets that are stored on media according to a set of rules that you apply to the media. Backup sets are not automatically deleted from tape cartridge media, but they can be overwritten, depending on the rules that you specify. The set of rules that manages tape cartridge media is called a media set. You create media sets that specify append periods, overwrite protection periods, and vaulting periods. |
You can perform the following actions on backup sets that are on disk-based storage:
Change the expiration date of backup sets to keep them longer or expire them immediately.
Extend the amount of time that you keep backup sets by retaining them.
Release any backup sets that are retained to let them expire automatically.
For all backup sets, including those on tape cartridge media, you can perform the following actions:
Catalog backup sets so that you can view the data that is contained in the backup sets and search for files to restore.
View the contents of backup sets and browse the backed up data that is contained in them.
View the system properties and job properties of backup sets.