Setting Drive Backup Server Edition/Enterprise Edition to save a weeks worth

Hey Tony, I have the 5x Backup Server Edition and 1x Enterprise Edition...
I scheduled a backup on each server to backup each weeknight Mon - Fri. However when I try to look around for logs..and as I monitor the Dell PowerVault NAS drive space..which is where all the backups go and the Enterprise Edition Console is installed...I don't see it grow by what it should grow each night.

Which makes me think the nightly backup is simply overwriting the prior backup.

I'd like to keep at least 5x days worth of backups of each server.

 

So in look at one of the servers, ther Archives tab..it appears that the size remains the same, 200.1 GB, and the comment remains at "Backed up on 08/06 blah blah"...even though the "creation date" seems to follow the nightly backup schedule. So I'm guessing that it's just checking the archive instead of doing another full backup each night?

My desire is for a full backup of each server Mon-Fri...and to keep at least 5x days of backups for each server.

 

Hi YeOldeStonecat,

When scheduling backups the default is to use 'Generate unique names for scheduled backups' which places puts a timestamp in the filename and creates a new backup each time. If you disable unique names it will always overwrite the previous backup. When you're in the Archive database, if a backup has been overwritten or deleted the entry for it should have faded text.

To schedule 5 full backups on M-F you would run the Scheduled Backup Wizard once for each day of the week and disable unique names.

If you want to try something a little fancier using a combination of full & differential backups, this will give you more retention and use less storage. You will create two full backups that alternate weekly with differentials in between. Since the base images are refreshed weekly the differentials stay small.

When scheduling the following backups, please name the archives according to Set A & Set B with the day that they run. A container folder matching the archive name will automatically be created; make sure the path for each differential backup is different.

1. Launch ‘Schedule Backup’ under ‘Basic Backup Tasks’. Click Next.
2. Select the desired disks and/or partitions to backup. Click Next.
3. Select Save data to local/network drives. Click Next.
4. Select the location for Set A and specify the Archive Name. Click Next, Next.
5. Schedule the backup for ‘Weekly’ and choose every 2 weeks on Saturday only.
6. Uncheck ‘Generate unique names for scheduled backups’.
7. Click Next, Next, Finish.
8. Open the ‘Scheduled Tasks’ tab. Right Click the Task and choose ‘Run Now’
9. Let the backup run, the base image must be created before you can schedule the differential backups.
10. Launch ‘Differential Partition Backup’ under ‘Advanced Backup Tasks’. Click Next.
11. Select your base archive. If it is not listed, click ‘Switch to File View’ and browse to the base image. Click Next.
12. Ensure all necessary partitions are checked. Click Next.
13. Select your backup destination and archive name. Click Next.
14. Choose ‘Schedule Backup’. Click Next.
15. Schedule the backup for ‘Weekly’ and choose every 2 weeks on Sunday only.
16. Uncheck ‘Generate unique names for scheduled backups’.
17. Set the ‘Active From’ date to 6 days in the future.
18. Click Next, Next, Finish.
19. Repeat Steps 10-18 and schedule the task for Monday only.
20. Repeat Steps 10-18 and schedule the task for Tuesday only. Etc…
21. Repeat steps 1-6 for the Set B
22. Click Next, Next, Finish.
23. Open the ‘Scheduled Tasks’ tab. Right Click the Task and choose ‘Run Now’
24. Repeat steps 10-16 for Set B and schedule the task for Sunday only.
25. Set the ‘Active From’ date to 6 days in the future.
26. Click Next, Next, Finish.
27. Repeat steps 24-26 for Set B and schedule the task for Monday only.
28. Repeat steps 24-26 for Set B and schedule the task for Tuesday only. Etc…

Basically, you are creating 1 scheduled task for each backup, on a 2 week interval. Feel free to change the days for the scheduled tasks as desired. The ‘Active From’ selection is very important so that the 2nd set waits 1 week before beginning to run. Active From does not have any bearing on when the task runs, only that it is able to run if it’s backup time occurred. The 2nd set will become “Active” on the following Saturday, but won’t actually run until Sunday. If you enter 7 days here, it may not become Active until after it’s time has come up, in which case it will wait an additional week to run.

 

Also, the comment field doesn't change for the scheduled task, so each backup created from that task will always have that same comment. It would be better used if you change it to identify the backup according to the PC name, backup selection, reason for the backup, etc.

 

OK I'm revisiting this....been a while, been doing alternate NT backups of core data til I get this settled.

I really strongly wish to keep full backups on Mon-Fri, and don't want to do any incrementals/differentials. Hard drive space on the NAS is almost 3 TB....I doubt space will be an issue for a while.