KEDB: ITIL Compliance

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Description
Backup Types and Methods in Netbackup

Platform
Windows and Unix

Model
All versions of Netbackup

Problem description
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Types of backup:
Backup Type

Description

Full Backup

Backs up all of the files that are specified in the backup selections list for the policy.
The files are backed up, regardless of when the files were last modified or backed up.

Cumulative
Incremental Backup

Backs up the files that are specified in the backup selections list that changed since the last full
backup.
All files are backed up if no previous backup was done.
A complete restore requires the last full backup and the last cumulative incremental backup.
Do not combine differential incremental backups and cumulative incremental backups within the
same Windows policy when the incremental backups are based on archive bit (default).

Differential
Incremental Backup

Backs up the files that changed since the last successful incremental (differential or cumulative) or
full backup.
All files are backed up if no previous backup was done.
A complete restore requires the last full backup, the last cumulative incremental, and all differential
incremental backups that occurred since the last full backup.

User Backup

A user initiates a user backup through the Backup, Archive, and Restore client interface. A user
backup backs up all files that the user specifies.

User Archive

A user initiates a user archive through the Backup, Archive, and Restore client interface.
A user archive backup first backs up the files that the user indicates. Then it deletes the files from
the local disk if the backup is successful.

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There are 2 Methods to take backup in Netbackup.

1) Backup based on Archive bit
2) Backup based on Timestamp

Backups on Archive bit on windows:

Full Backup

NetBackup backs up files regardless of the state of their archive bit. After a full backup, the
archive bit is always cleared.

Differential Incremental
Backup

NetBackup backs up the files that have the archive bit set and have therefore changed.
When the client receives a response from the server that indicates that the backup was
successful (or partially successful) the archive bits are cleared.
The clear archive bit lets the next differential incremental backup back up only the files that
changed since the previous full or differential incremental backup.

NetBackup backs up the files that have the archive bit set.
Cumulative Incremental However, NetBackup does not clear the archive bits after the backup.
Backup
Without a clear archive bit, the next cumulative incremental backup backs up changed files and
the files that were in the cumulative incremental backup.

Backups on Time stamp on windows:

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Full Backup

NetBackup backs up files regardless of the datetime stamp.

Differential Incremental Backup

NetBackup compares the datetime stamp of the file against the last full or incremental
backup.

Cumulative Incremental
Backup

NetBackup compares the datetime stamp of the file against the last full backup.

Note : If files are installed or copied from another computer, the new files retain the datetime stamp of the originals. If the
original date is before the last backup date, the new files are not backed up until the next full backup.

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Problem with Timestamp:

The Microsoft NTFS Master File Table does not update the Create Time or Modified Time of a file or folder when the
following changes are made:

File or directory rename operations

File or directory move operations on the same volume
File or directory security changes
File or directory attribute changes (read only, hidden, system, archive bit)

Therefore for MS-Windows-NT Incremental backups, use Archive Bit for backup selection criteria .

Backups based on Archive bit on Unix:

UNIX clients do not use the archive bit to determine when a file is due for a backup. Instead, UNIX uses the datetime
stamp of the file

Backups on Time stamp on Unix:

Incremental backups on UNIX clients consider all files and directories to determine if a backup is due based on a
reference date.

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Mtime

The file modification time.

The file system updates the mtime for a file or directory each time the file is modified.

Atime

The file access time.

The file system updates the atime for a file or directory each time the file is accessed (read or write).

Ctime

The inode change time.

The ctime for a file or directory is updated each time the file or directory's inode changes. (For example, changes
due to permissions, ownership, and link-counts changes.)
The ctime of a file or a directory changes when the mtime and atime is reset.

Problems:

NetBackup saves the atime and mtime of the file before it reads the file.
When a file is moved from one location to another, the ctime of the file changes, but the mtime remains
unchanged.
If NetBackup uses the mtime and atime to determine the files that are due during an incremental backup, it
does not detect these moved files.
Therefore use the ctime to determine files due to be included in an incremental backup. The ctime is used
if the bp.conf file contains the USE_CTIME_FOR_INCREMENTALS.

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Note :
When a directory is moved from one location to another, the ctime of the directory changes, but the mtime remains
unchanged.
Neither the mtime nor the ctime are changed for the files or directories within the moved directory. No reliable method
using file timestamps can determine that files within a moved directory need to be included in an incremental backup.
In either case, these moved files and directories are included in subsequent full backups.

Backups based on Archive bit on NDMP:

The archive bit is a Windows specific file attribute and is not used by the NetApp filer. NDMP backups are
performed using ndmpd process on the NetApp filer which uses its own method of determining which files to backup.

References
http://www.symantec.com

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