NetWorker's Save Set Recover feature provides the ability to retrieve data whose file index entries have expired and to quickly restore large amounts of data.
The Save Set Clone feature provides an ideal solution for making identical copies of selected data for storing offsite, sending to another location, or verifying backed-up data.
You can also clone entire NetWorker backup volumes for offsite storage. See “Cloning Backup Volumes” for details.
When an index entry for a file passes its browse time period, the index entry is removed from the online file index to conserve disk space. This means that you cannot recover the data through the NetWorker Recover window. However, as long as the backup media the data was stored on has not been relabeled, you may still be able to recover the data.
To recover data from the backup media when the browse period has expired and the index entry has been removed, use the Save Set Recover window. When you recover by save set, you recover only the data; you do not recover file index entries for the data.
Recovering by save set makes the process of restoring large amounts of data, or data lost due to a disk crash, efficient and straightforward. System administrators who are familiar with the setup of their system disks can easily determine which save sets they need to recover a disk partition or an entire disk.
 | Tip: Recover data whose entries have been removed from the online file index with the save set recover feature in NetWorker Administrator (nwadmin command). Recover data whose index entries are still in the online file index with NetWorker Recover (nwrecover command). |
This section describes the contents and use of the Save Set Recover window and its associated windows.
To open the Save Set Recover window, choose Recover from the Save Set menu. The Save Set Recover window appears, as shown in Figure 5-1.
The Save Set Recover window contains the following items:
Client field—enter the name of the client system for which you want to recover a save set, or use the arrow button to select the client from the Client scrolling list. The list contains the clients known to the current NetWorker server. If you do not enter a client name, NetWorker searches for all client save sets.
Save Set scrolling list—contains the save sets for the selected client. Click one save set at a time to see its versions in the Instances scrolling list.
Instances scrolling list—contains versions of the selected save set. The list includes the save set Date, Level, Size, and Status. The save set status also includes clone information. If the save set has a clone, it is marked has clones and the actual cloned copy is marked cloned date time.
To select a save set, click once. To deselect a save set, click again. The following describes the save set status choices:
browsable—the save set still has an entry in the online file index.
recyclable—all the save sets have passed both the Browse and Retention policy time periods, and the volume is available for relabeling and overwriting. The data is still recoverable as long as the volume has not been relabeled.
scanned-in—the save set was scanned in using the scanner command.
recoverable—the entry for the save set has been removed from the client file index, but the save set is still recoverable from the media.
in-progress—the save set is in the process of being backed up.
aborted—the save set was aborted manually by the administrator during backup or by a system crash.
You may select an unlimited number of versions of the same save set for recovery at the same time. If you do not choose a save set, NetWorker automatically selects the last save set version from the bottom of the Instances scrolling list.
Details button—click to open the Save Set Recover Details dialog box for more detailed information on a specific save set version. Details for the last save set selected will be displayed.
Recover button—click to open the Save Set Recover Status dialog box to begin the save set recover process.
The Save Set Recover Details window provides detailed information, including the size of the data you are recovering and the name and location of the backup volume.
To open a Save Set Recover Details window, click the Details button in the Save Set Recover window. The Save Set Recover Details window appears, as shown in Figure 5-2.
The Save Set Recover Details window contains the following items:
name—the save set name.
date—day and time the save set was backed up.
files—number of files in the save set. If the save set is an incremental backup and the files were not changed since the last backup, the number of files is set to zero.
ssid—internal number assigned to the save set by NetWorker for purposes of tracking the data.
size—the size of the save set.
pool—name of the pool to which the backup volume belongs.
status—the status of the save set.
volume—backup volume name and its location, if it has one.
The Save Set Recover Status dialog box allows you to customize save set recovers. It offers you a chance to select individual files rather than entire save sets and allows you to determine where and how to locate recovered data. To open the Save Set Recover Status dialog box, click the Recover button in the Save Set Recover window.
The Save Set Recover Status dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 5-3.
The Save Set Recover Status dialog box contains the following items:
Save Sets scrolling list—contains the save sets selected for recovery. After you open the Save Set Recover Status dialog box, you may continue adding or deleting save sets to the Save Sets scrolling list by selecting and deselecting them from the Instances scrolling list in the Save Set Recover window.
Paths to recover field—recover individual files or directories by entering their complete pathnames. Press [Enter] to add them to the Paths to recover scrolling list. Entering an individual file or directory automatically excludes all other data in the save set from being recovered.
If there are no entries in the Paths to recover list when you start the recover, the entire save set is recovered.
Example 1: The save set pathname in the Save Sets scrolling list is /nsr/index/cutey. You need to recover only a single file named help from the save set.
To recover the file help, enter the following in the Paths to recover scrolling list:
/nsr/index/cutey/help
Press [Enter] to add help to the list. NetWorker recovers only the file help.
Example 2: The save set pathname in the Save Sets field is /usr/src/pubs. You want to recover only the directory Templates from the save set. To recover the directory Templates, enter the following in the Paths to recover field:
/usr/src/pubs/Templates
Press [Enter] to add Templates to the list. NetWorker recovers the Templates directory and all of its data, including any directories and files. It does not recover any data above the Templates directory level.
Delete button—click to delete a file or directory selected from the Paths to recover scrolling list.
Status scrolling list—displays messages that report on the status of the recover. The Messages display of the NetWorker Administrator window displays the same information.
Volumes button—click to open the Save Set Recover Volumes Required window, shown in Figure 5-4. This helps determine which backup volumes are needed to recover data. NetWorker displays all the volumes required to recover the save sets listed in the Save Sets scrolling list. This information may be useful, especially if you discover that a backup volume is located offsite and you must make special arrangements to retrieve it.
Options button—click to open the Save Set Recover Options dialog box, shown in Figure 5-5. Use this dialog box to control where and how you will recover data.
The Save Set Recover Options dialog box contains the following items:
Relocate recovered data to field—enter the full pathname of the directory where you want to locate the recovered data. If you do not enter a pathname, NetWorker automatically recovers the data to its original location.
Duplicate file resolution choices—select one of these items to determine what NetWorker should do if a file with the same name already exists. If you do not select one of the choices, NetWorker automatically selects the Rename recovered file choice.
Rename recovered file—renames the recovered file with a .R extension when a filename conflict occurs. If the .R file exists, NetWorker adds another .R extension. For example, a file named document.R will be renamed to document.R.R.
Discard recovered file—discards the recovered file. The existing file remains current.
Overwrite existing file—replaces the existing file with the recovered file. The existing file is lost and the recovered file becomes current.
Always prompt toggle button—select for prompts when there is a filename conflict, and turn off if you do not want prompts when there is a filename conflict. If the toggle button is not selected, the Duplicate file resolution choice is applied without confirmation.
This section provides two examples of how and why you would recover a save set.
In this example, a user needs to recover several files and has not been able to locate them in the NetWorker Recover window. The files have passed their browse period, so they are no longer included in the online file index. Consequently, the files do not appear in the NetWorker Recover window. The user wants to know if the files still exist and whether or not the system administrator can recover them.
Before the search can begin, the user needs to provide the administrator with the name of the filesystems, the filenames, and the dates of the save sets to be recovered.
To recover the needed files, the system administrator needs to do the following:
Open the Save Set Recover window by choosing Recover from the Save Set menu.
Enter the name of the client system in the Client field, or click on the arrow button to select a client from the Client scrolling list.
Caution: If the system administrator cannot find the client that needs to have files recovered in the Client scrolling list, it means the client is backed up by another NetWorker server. Open the Change Server dialog box from the Server menu and select the correct server. Select the save set in the Save Sets scrolling list that contains the appropriate filesystem. Once selected, different versions of the save set appear in the Instances scrolling list.
Select the save sets with the correct dates from the Instances scrolling list.
Click the Details button to see how many files are in the save set. Click Ok when finished with the Save Set Recover Details window.
The system administrator continues the recover process by opening the Save Set Recover Status dialog box.
Click the Recover button. The Save Set Recover Status dialog box appears.
Enter the entire pathname of each file to be recovered in the Paths to recover field. The user does not need to recover the entire save set, only a number of files. Press the [Enter] key to add the file to the Paths to recover scrolling list.
Click the Volumes button to open the Save Set Recover Volumes Needed window to determine the backup volumes needed for recovery.
Click the Options button to open the Save Set Recover Options dialog box. Enter the full pathname of the home directory for the user in the Relocate recovered data to field.
Select Rename recovered file or Discard recovered file from the Duplicate file resolution choices to prevent any existing files from being overwritten with recovered files. Click the Always prompt button to be notified every time NetWorker finds an existing file with the same name. Click Ok to apply the choices and to close the dialog box.
If you are uncertain about which files you want, select the Rename recovered file option to get all of the files back during recovery.
Begin recovery by clicking the Start button in the Save Set Recovery Status window.
As the recovery process begins, messages that provide information on the progress of the recover appear in the Status display.
An engineering company developed software for a federal government project with the hopes of signing a lucrative contract. The project was cancelled because an agreement could not be reached on the terms of the contract. The engineering team was uncertain about when or if the project would resume. Consequently, the engineering team had the company's MIS personnel back up the project files and remove the original data from the disk.
Six months later, an agreement was reached over the terms of the contract. The project has been rescheduled, and the engineering team needs to retrieve the data so it can finish developing the project software.
The MIS personnel need to follow these steps to recover the data back to the original location on the disk partition:
Properly prepare the NetWorker client disk partition where the data was originally located.
Open the Save Set Recover window by choosing Recover from the Save Set menu.
Enter the name of the NetWorker client where the data was originally located in the Client field.
Select the save set containing the original project software from the Save Set scrolling list. Different versions of the save set appear in the Instances scrolling list.
Typically a save set is comprised of data from a single disk partition because NetWorker does not automatically cross over mount points when backing up data.
Choose the most recent full backup and any incremental backups performed since the last full backup from the Instances scrolling list. The incrementals are necessary because the engineering team needs any changes to the software since the last full backup.
Click the Details button for one save set at a time to determine its size and the number of files it contains. The Save Set Recover Details dialog box appears. Click Ok to close the window.
The MIS personnel continue the recovery process by opening the Save Set Recover Status window.
Click the Recover button. The Save Set Recover Status window appears. The Save Sets scrolling list contains the save sets selected for recovery. Do not enter a specific file or directory name in the Paths to recover field because the entire save set is needed for recovery.
Click the Volumes button to determine the volume(s) needed for recovery. The Volumes Required for Recovery dialog box appears. Click Ok to close the window.
Click the Options button. The Save Set Recover Options dialog box appears.
Enter the full pathname of the disk partition in the Relocate recovered data to field where the files will be recovered. Leave the field blank if you want to recover the files to their original location.
Select Overwrite existing file from the Duplicate file resolution choices to overwrite any files that still exist on the original disk partition.
Deselect the Always prompt button. There is no need to be notified every time NetWorker finds an existing file with the same name.
Click Ok to apply the choices and to close the Save Set Recover Options dialog box.
Begin recovery by clicking the Start button in the Save Set Recovery Status window.
As the recovery process begins, messages appear in the Status display that provide information on the progress of the recovery.
Use this section if you are an experienced NetWorker user or after you have reviewed the save set recover examples in this chapter.
Follow these shortcut steps to recover a save set:
Choose the Recover command from the Save Set menu.
Enter or select the client system whose save sets you want to recover.
Select the versions of the save sets you want to recover from the Instances scrolling list. You will probably want the last full and any subsequent incrementals to recover the latest version of the files.
Click the Recover button. The Save Set Recover Status dialog box appears. If you need to relocate the files, click the Options button, and enter a pathname in the Relocate recovered data to field, then click Ok. If you want to recover a specific directory or file, enter the complete pathname in the File to recover field. If you do not enter a pathname, the entire save set is recovered.
Click the Start button to begin recovery. Unless you choose to relocate the recovered save set, the data is restored to its original location. You will be notified if any file conflicts occur.
Many variations exist for recovering save sets. The steps above are the minimal number of steps required for recovering a save set.
Files recovered with the save set recover feature do not include index entries for the file. Consequently, the file index is not repopulated with old entries. This has the distinct advantage of reducing the amount of disk space required to maintain the online file index. NetWorker generates new index entries the next time it backs up the recovered save sets.
NetWorker preserves your operating system access control list when it backs up and recovers files. NetWorker restores the access control list as long as you recover a save set to the same type of filesystem from which it was backed up.
| Caution: If you do not recover a save set to the same type of filesystem from which it was backed up, NetWorker does not preserve the access control list. |
Save set recovery provides an effective method for retrieving data whose index entries are no longer browsable in the online file index.
All data backed up by NetWorker has both a browse and a retention policy. The browse policy determines how long index entries for backed-up files remain available in the file index. The retention policy determines how long a file is tracked in the media index and recoverable from the backup media. You can retrieve data from a backup volume as long as it has not been recycled (relabeled).
For more information on browse and retention policies, see “Creating Index Policies”.
You do not need to keep index entries online any longer than necessary because you can easily retrieve the data directly from the backup volume with the save set recover feature. Index entries take up disk space on your server, so by removing them sooner, you free up more disk space and keep your online indexes from growing too large.
Save set recover helps streamline the recovery process for large amounts of data needed to repair a damaged disk or disk partition.
System administrators who are familiar with their system disks can easily determine which save sets they need to recover a disk partition or an entire disk. Typically, a save set is comprised of data from a single disk partition because NetWorker does not automatically cross over mount points while backing up data. Consequently, often only a single save set is required to restore a disk partition, and depending upon the setup of your disk, you may need only two or three save sets to restore the entire disk.
If the index entries are still in the file index you do not need to recover by save set to retrieve data. However, when you are restoring large amounts of data, save set recovery is a more straightforward process. NetWorker simply needs to locate the individual save sets to accomplish the recovery, rather than having to search through and select every single file and directory from the file index.
For more information about the NetWorker Recover program, refer to the IRIX NetWorker User's Guide.
Cloning save sets provides an ideal solution for making identical copies of selected data for storing offsite, sending data to another location, or verifying backed-up data.
Besides cloning individual save sets, NetWorker also clones entire backup volumes. See the section “Cloning Backup Volumes”.
Cloning data provides additional security for the data on your network by creating identical copies of your backed-up files. You can automatically clone save sets immediately after a backup completes, or manually on an as-needed basis.
The save set cloning feature provides you with a high degree of flexibility for determining which data to copy. You can clone a single save set or configure NetWorker to clone only full backups for an entire group.
The original backup volume is the source volume, and the volume you clone the data to is the destination volume. The destination volume must be different from the source volume, and it must belong to a clone pool. NetWorker tracks cloned save sets individually and marks them as cloned in the media index. NetWorker indicates whether save sets are “clones” or “has clones” in the Volumes and Save Set Clone windows.
You must have two backup devices to clone data. Use one backup device for the source volume and use the other for the destination volume. If you have an autochanger (jukebox) with two devices, NetWorker mounts the volumes required for cloning automatically. If you have standalone devices, you need to mount the volumes manually.
NetWorker determines which volumes are required, both destination and source, and displays a message in the Messages display to inform you which volumes to mount. If you want to keep the cloned data separate, you may need to premount a blank destination volume.
Cloning save sets requires the following:
NetWorker server edition, network edition, or power edition
multiple backup devices
Active devices value in the Server window set to 2 or more
source and destination volumes
For information on cloning save sets automatically, see “Automatic Cloning”.
This section describes the contents of the Save Set Clone window, its associated windows, and how to use them.
| Tip: Use the Save Set Clone window to clone save sets manually. Use the Groups window to enable automatic cloning. See “Configuring Backup Groups” for more information about automatic cloning. |
Use the Save Set Clone window for browsing and selecting individual save sets for cloning. To open the Save Set Clone window, choose Clone from the Save Set menu, shown in Figure 5-6.
The Save Set Clone window appears, as shown in Figure 5-7.
The upper portion of the window contains fields for selecting the save sets you want to browse and select for cloning. You can fine-tune the save sets you select by entering information in as many fields as necessary. The more selection fields you use, the faster NetWorker locates and displays save sets for browsing. If you do not enter a value in the Client field, NetWorker displays all client save sets on the selected server.
When you click the Query button, the lower portion of the window displays the save sets selected for browsing. The lower portion of the window also contains buttons for viewing save set details and for cloning save sets.
The list below describes the portions of the Save Set Clone window used for selecting save sets to browse for cloning:
Client field—enter the client name whose save sets you want to browse. If you do not enter a client name, NetWorker locates and displays all of the client save sets.
Save Set field—enter the name of the save set you want to browse.
Volume field—enter the name of the volume whose save sets you want to browse.
Date field– enter the range of dates when the save set was created. By default, NetWorker has yesterday in the Start field and today in the End field. Enter the date when you want to begin the search in the Start field and the date when you want to end the search in the End field. You may enter the dates in a variety of ways:
completely written out—October 1, 1995
numerically—10/1/95
with a phrase, for example—two weeks ago
Open the Volumes window to locate information for the Save Set, Volume, and Date fields.
More button—click for additional browsing choices in the Save Set Clone window. The window changes by adding more choices for selecting criteria for browsing. See “Additional Browsing Choices” for more information.
The list below describes the portions of the Save Set Clone window used for selecting and cloning save sets:
Query button—click to display the save sets chosen for cloning in the Save Sets scrolling list.
Caution: The save sets selected for browsing do not appear in the Save Sets scrolling list until you click the Query button. Save Sets scrolling list—displays the save sets currently selected for browsing, including the Client name, Volume name, Date, Level, and Save Set name.
To select a save set for cloning, click once. To deselect a save set, click again.
Details button—click to open the Save Set Cloning Details window to view more details about a specific save set before cloning.
Clone button—click to clone the save sets you selected in the Save Set scrolling list. The Save Set Clone Status window appears. You may clone an unlimited number of save sets in one session.
The Save Set Clone Details window contains more detailed information about the save set selected in the Save Sets scrolling list. Select only one save set at a time to view its details. The window displays information for the last save set selected. Information in this window helps prepare for cloning selected save sets. The Save Set Clone Details window is shown in Figure 5-8.
The Save Set Clone Details window displays the following items.
name—save set name.
date—day and time the save set was backed up.
files—number of files in the save set. The number of files could be zero if the save set was an incremental backup and the files have not changed since the last backup.
ssid (save set ID)—internal number that NetWorker assigns to the save set to help track the data.
size—size of the save set.
pool—name of the pool to which the backup volume belongs.
status—status of the save set; also indicates if a save set is a clone or has clones.
volume—backup volume name and location.
The Save Set Clone Status dialog box displays the save set selected for cloning. Use this dialog box to enter the name of the clone pool to which the data will be cloned, and then to view the progress of the cloning operation. The Save Set Clone Status dialog box is shown in Figure 5-9.
| Caution: Volumes used for cloned data must belong to a clone pool. Use either the preconfigured clone pools, or a clone pool you have created yourself. For details, see the section “Using Clone Pools”. |
The Save Set Clone Status dialog box contains the following items:
Save Sets scrolling list—displays save sets selected for cloning.
Clone Pool field—enter the name of the clone pool. If you do not specify a clone pool, NetWorker uses the appropriate clone pool for the pool type assigned to the volume. For example, if you are cloning backup volumes and leave Clone Pool blank, NetWorker automatically selects the Default Clone pool.
Status scrolling list—displays the status of the cloning operation.
Start button—click to start the cloning operation.
To view additional choices for selecting save sets for cloning, click the More button in the Save Set Clone window. The Save Set Clone window changes to display additional fields, as shown in Figure 5-10. To return the window to the previous (simpler) view, click the Less button.
Additional choices for browsing save sets to select for cloning include the following.
Pool field—enter the name of the pool whose save sets you want to browse.
Status choices—choose the status of the save sets you want to browse. By default, Browsable, Recyclable, Scanned-in, and Recoverable are already chosen. The following list describes the save set status choices:
Browsable—the save set still has an entry in the online file index.
Recyclable—all the save sets have passed both the Browse and Retention policy time periods, and the volume is available for relabeling and overwriting. The data is still recoverable as long as the volume has not been relabeled.
Scanned-in—the save set was scanned in using the scanner command.
Recoverable—the entry for the save set has been removed from the client file index, but the save set is still recoverable from the media.
In-progress—the save set is in the process of being backed up.
Aborted—the save set was aborted manually by the administrator during backup or by a system crash.
The Status choices, by default, already have Browsable, Recyclable, Scanned-in, and Recoverable chosen for selecting save sets. If you do not select any Status choices, NetWorker selects all of the client save sets for browsing. You can only browse In-progress and Aborted save sets; you cannot clone them.
Maximum Level choices—choose the levels of the save sets you want to browse. By default, incr is chosen, which searches for all levels of backups. NetWorker searches for and displays all the levels dependent upon your level choice. For example, if you select Maximum Level 5, NetWorker will browse and display the following save set levels: full, one, two, three, four, and five. If you select full, NetWorker searches for and displays only level fulls. You must select at least one level; however, you may not select more than one level at a time.
Sort by field—click one or more of these buttons (shown in Figure 5-11) to sort the save sets listed in the Save Sets scrolling list. NetWorker displays the selections you made in the Sort by field and sorts the save sets in that order.
This section contains three different examples of how and why you would want to clone save sets.
In this example, a user asked the system administrator to manually clone several save sets that are not included in an automatic cloning schedule.
The user wants to send the data to another company location out of state that also uses NetWorker to back up network-wide data. To accomplish this task, the system administrator must clone the most recent full backup and any incrementals since that last full backup to make sure the most current data is sent.
 | Note: An offsite location will not have the file and media indexes for the cloned data. Therefore, the company location receiving the cloned data must use the scanner command to retrieve the data. See the scanner(1M) reference page for information about scanner command line options. |
To clone the save set for the user, the administrator must have the following information:
NetWorker client name
name of the filesystem or directory
date of the backup to be cloned
To clone the individual save sets, the system administrator follows these steps:
Open the Save Set Clone dialog box by choosing Clone from the Save Set menu.
Enter the following: client name in the Client field, filesystem name in the Save Set field, and starting and ending dates to search for in the Date field.
Accept the default Status choices: Browsable, Recoverable, Recyclable, and Scanned-in.
After choosing the browsing criteria, the system administrator sorts, views details, and selects the save sets for cloning, following these steps:
Click the Query button; the Save Sets scrolling list displays all save sets that meet the criteria entered in the upper portion of the dialog box.
Sort the save sets by date by clicking the Date button in the Sort by field to make sure that the correct dates have been selected.
Select the save set versions for cloning.
Click the Details button to determine the size of the data and which backup volume contains the save sets.
Click the Clone button. The Save Set Status Clone dialog box appears.
Enter the name of the clone pool to which the backup volumes will belong. Click the Clone button in the Save Set Status Clone dialog box. The Status field displays the progress of the cloning process.
Using the Save Set Clone window is useful for occasionally cloning individual save sets or for regularly cloning a small number of save sets.
In this example, a system administrator wants to clone data automatically on a daily basis for a new system, Shakespeare, that manages electronic documentation for the company. Shakespeare performs an incremental backup every night of the week, except on Friday, when it performs a full backup.
To automatically clone backups for Shakespeare, the system administrator must accomplish the following tasks:
Create a group named Documents to which the client Shakespeare will belong.
Make the appropriate selections for the client Shakespeare, which includes assigning it to the group Documents.
To automatically clone data for Shakespeare, the system administrator follows these steps:
Open the Groups window by choosing Groups from the Customize menu.
Create the group Documents. See “Configuring Backup Groups” for more information.
Select the appropriate choices in the Groups window. The following are critical choices:
Autostart choices—Enabled
Clones choices—Yes
Clone pool field—Default Clone
Open the Clients window by choosing Client Setup from the Clients menu.
Select the appropriate choices for Shakespeare. The following are critical choices:
Schedule field—Full Every Friday
Group choices—Documents
With this set of instructions, the system administrator creates a group for just one client so only data for that client is cloned daily.
This example illustrates the level of control you can achieve cloning data with NetWorker. You can create an unlimited number of automatic cloning configurations with the aid of the Groups, Schedules, and Clients windows.
In this example, the system administrator wants to automatically clone the data for a small group of NetWorker clients that have valuable accounting information. The administrator wants to clone only full backups to store in an offsite vault. Two different groups and schedules need to be created and applied to two identical sets of individual clients in the Clients window.
Below is an overview of the tasks the system administrator needs to accomplish:
Create two schedules: one to perform incremental backups for the clients and one to perform full backups and clones. Create one schedule named Acct Incr and another named Acct Full Clone. By creating two schedules and selecting them for the appropriate set of clients, you avoid cloning all of the incremental backups.
Table 5-1. Sample Acct Incremental Schedule
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Skip
incr
incr
incr
incr
incr
incr
Table 5-2. Sample Acct Full Clone Schedule
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Full
skip
skip
skip
skip
skip
skip
Create two groups: one group named Acct Incr and another named Acct Full Clone.
Note: Cloning is applied to a group. Consequently, two groups are necessary: the Acct Full Clone group for performing full backups and clones, and the Acct Incr group for performing incremental backups. Add each client name twice to the Clients window. Two names are needed because only one schedule can be applied to a NetWorker client at one time. One entry for the client name uses the Acct Incr schedule, and the other entry uses the Acct Full Clone schedule.
Select the appropriate group and schedule for each set of clients, using the Clients window.
Automatically clone the data by following these steps:
Open the Schedules window by choosing Schedules from the Customize menu. (For complete instructions on creating schedules, see “Setting Up Backup Schedules”.)
The Acct Incr schedule (see Figure 5-13) performs incremental backups every day of the week except Sunday, when it skips the backup.
The Acct Full Clone schedule (see Figure 5-14) skips a backup six days of the week, but performs a full backup and clones the data automatically on Sunday.
After creating the two schedules, choose Groups from the Customize menu to open the Groups window.
Create the first group, Acct Incr. For detailed instructions on creating a group see “Creating a New Group”.
Click the buttons for the following critical choices:
Autostart choices—Enabled
Clones choices—No
The window with the Acct Incr group looks similar to Figure 5-15.
Create the second group, Acct Full Clone. Click the buttons for the following critical choices:
Autostart choices—Enabled
Clones choices—Yes
Clone pool field—Default Clone
Tip: Using two different entries for Start time for the backups helps reduce network traffic. The Acct Full Clone group looks similar to Figure 5-16.
Next, you create two sets of identical clients and select their schedules and groups:
Open the Clients window by choosing Client Setup from the Clients menu. (For complete instructions, see “Adding a New Client”.)
Select the first set of clients, one at a time, and assign them to the Acct Incr group. Make the other appropriate selections in the Clients window. Click the buttons for the following critical choices:
Schedule scrolling list—Acct Incr
Group choices—Acct Incr
Click the Apply button after making the choices for each client.
Select the duplicate set of clients, one at a time, and assign them to the Acct Full Clone group. Make the other appropriate selections in the Clients window. Click the buttons for the following critical choices:
Schedule scrolling list—Acct Full Clone
Group choices—Acct Full Clone
Click the Apply button after making the choices for each client.
The previous set of instructions is just one example of how a system administrator might fulfill automatic cloning requirements for clients.
Use this section if you are an experienced NetWorker user or after you review the example of manually cloning save sets.
To clone a save set, follow these steps:
Choose Clone from the Save Set menu. The Save Set Clone window appears.
Enter or select the criteria you want to use for browsing save sets to select for cloning.
Click the Query button; the Save Set scrolling list displays all of the save sets that meet the criteria you entered.
Select the save sets you want to clone from the Save Set scrolling list.
Click the Clone button. The Save Set Clone Status dialog box appears.
Click the Start button in the Save Set Clone Status dialog box.
Cloning save sets allows you to create identical copies of backed-up data quickly and easily. You may want identical copies of your data for storing offsite, or for sharing valuable engineering data with another company location.
NetWorker assures the safety of your data by copying clones of the save set to a different backup volume. Source and destination media can be of different types and capacities.
Cloned save sets span the destination volumes just as they span source volumes. Save sets that fit on one backup volume may spill over to two backup volumes, simply because the destination volume is a different size or has a different capacity. The opposite is also possible, where the original save sets required two volumes and the cloned save sets require only one volume.
By default, save sets on the source and destination volumes have the same retention policies. However, you can override the preselected retention policy by applying the man mode to the cloned volume in the Volumes window. When you apply the man mode to a volume, it means that you have to change the volume manually to the recyclable mode before NetWorker will overwrite the backup volume.
To help minimize network traffic, NetWorker clones save sets after a backup is complete. Allow time to complete the cloning process before scheduling another backup. By providing adequate time to complete either backing up or cloning of data, you help reduce network traffic.
NetWorker creates index entries for the cloned save sets and volumes in the online media index (Volumes scrolling list). However, both the original and cloned volumes use the same set of entries in the online file index. If you eliminate either the cloned or original volume from the media index, NetWorker will not let you remove the index entries from the file index as long as one of the volumes still exists.
Cloning data helps verify the integrity of backed-up data. You receive a message telling you which save sets could not be read, if any, after cloning has completed. If NetWorker performed an automatic clone, you receive a savegroup completion notification by e-mail. If NetWorker performed a manual clone, you receive a message in the Status portion of the Save Set Clone Status dialog box.
Typically, it takes the same amount of time to back up and clone data. The cloning process may take less time, simply because the tape drive does not have to wait for the client disk to send data. CPU speed and the operations taking place on the NetWorker server affect the time required for cloning data. However, generally it is the backup device that controls the speed with which data is backed up or cloned.
| Tip: For example, cloning data to a 5 GB tape on an 8 mm tape drive, backing up at a rate of 500 KB per second, should take approximately 2.75 hours. |
Use the Schedules and Groups windows to determine the number and kinds of save sets to clone automatically.
The most important thing to remember about automatic cloning is that it is enabled and set up using the Groups window. Select Yes to clone data for a group, and enter or select the name of the Clone pool.
Follow these suggestions for setting up your groups, with the aid of different backup schedules, to accomplish automatic cloning:
Set up a group with only those clients whose data you want to clone every day of the week.
Set up a group whose clients perform level full backups and clones one day a week and another group whose clients perform incremental backups every other day of the week.
Set up a group whose clients back up and clone specific save sets every day of the week.
NetWorker allows you to create a variety of backup schedules and groups that help in setting up automatic cloning. You can easily accomplish automatic cloning of selected save sets by following the suggestions above, or by developing your own configurations.
The volumes chosen for cloning must belong to a clone pool. Assigning cloned volumes and nonclone volumes to separate pools helps you manage and identify cloned and noncloned data.
NetWorker provides the following preconfigured clone pools: Archive Clone, Default Clone, Migration Clone, and PC Archive Clone. These clone pools are listed as choices in the Pool type scrolling list in the Pools window. The Pools window also allows you to create your own clone pools if you do not want to use the preconfigured clone pools. Use descriptive names for the clone pools you create to help identify the data they contain.
For complete instructions on creating pools, see “Using Volume Pools”.