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Chapter 5 - Managing On-line Indexes

On-line indexes
Save sets
Examining the contents of an index
Checking an index
Reclaiming space for an index
Removing cycles from index save sets

Examining the contents of a backup volume
Changing its location and mode
Removing a volume from the media set

On-line Indexes

Create policies for automatic index management
Monitor the contents of the indexes
Select entries for removal, and
Mark backup volumes as recyclable

Save Sets

Figure 5-1. Incremental and Full Backups

Index Actions

Managing the Indexes Manually

Figure 5-2. Indexes Dialog Box

Size - The current allocated size of the client's file index
Used - The percentage of this space actually used by the entries in the file index

Note: If you see 100% displayed in the Used column, it does not mean that the index is full and no other file entries can be added. It means that 100% of the currently allocated space is used. Index size may increase as needed, up to a maximum of 2 gigabytes per client.

Viewing Save Sets

Figure 5-3. Index Save Set Dialog Box

Size - The amount of index space used by the save set group in the client's file index, in kilobytes.
Cycles - The number of cycles of the save set contained in the client's file index. A cycle starts with a full backup and ends just before the next full backup. Cycles include all the incremental and level 1 to 9 backups, if any exist, between the two full backups. Zero cycles indicate that a full cycle has not yet completed.

This message appears before you start an index operation:

Reclaiming space may take considerable time.

These messages appear after you commit to the operation.
Day of the week is Monday through Sunday and hh:mm uses the 24 hour clock for hours and minutes:

Started removing oldest cycle at day of week hh:min
Started reclaiming space at day of week hh:min

This message appears when another index operation is in progress:

Index is currently busy

Removing the Oldest Cycle

Tip: The previous full cycle may not be removed using Remove Oldest Cycle, because recent backups depend upon it.

Figure 5-4. Removing Old Cycles

Reclaiming Index Space

Important: You may not simultaneously Reclaim Space and Remove Oldest Cycle for one client. The index will be busy during both operations.

Figure 5-5. Reclaim Space Message Box

Figure 5-6. Reclaim Space Dialog Box

Figure 5-7. Reclaim Space Procedure

Tip: Reclaim Space requires extra disk space to operate because it makes a reduced-size copy of the file index. In general, you need a little more than the percent Used of total index Size (both shown in the Indexes dialog box).

Managing Backup Volumes

Viewing Backup Volumes

Figure 5-8. Volumes Dialog Box

Viewing the Save Sets

Figure 5-9. Volumes Save Sets Dialog Box

The name of each Client machine in the save set.
The Date that the save set was backed up.
The Level of backup that generated the save set. Backup levels apply only to scheduled backups. If no level is listed, the save set was generated by a manual backup.
The Status of the save set. The save set status may be either browsable, retrievable, recyclable, or incomplete. (See the following descriptions.)

Browsable status means that the save set has an entry in the file index for the client because it has not passed the time period specified by the Browse policy for the client. The files contained in a browsable save set can be browsed and marked for recovery.

Retrievable status means that the entry for the save set has been removed from the client's file index, either automatically due to the client's Browse policy or manually using the Remove Volume or Remove Oldest Cycle commands.

Recyclable status for a save set means that it has passed both the Browse and Retention policies time period, and is now eligible for overwriting.

Incomplete status means that the save set was canceled while in progress, or failed to complete successfully.
The Path of the save set.

Setting the Location for Your Backup Volumes

1. Highlight a backup volume in the Volumes dialog box.

2. Click the Set Location button. The Set Location dialog box appears:

Figure 5-10. Set Location Dialog Box

If the backup volume already has a location, it appears in the Location field and you may then change it.

3. Enter the location of the backup volume, or select a location from the list. The list shows all the previously set locations for volumes.

4. Click OK or press the [Enter] key to designate this location for the selected backup volume. The Volumes dialog box is updated to reflect the location for that backup volume.

Tip: When an EBR service requests that you mount a backup volume during a recovery, you can find it by referring to its location in the Volumes dialog box.

Changing the Mode of a Backup Volume

Appendable - There is space on the backup volume for more backups. The EBR service can append data to the backup volume and will use this backup volume for backups.
Full - The capacity of the backup volume has been reached. The default capacity is used unless a different capacity is specified. Default capacity is determined by the device type.
A backup volume may also be in full mode if an "end-of-tape error" is encountered during a backup. If this happens, the EBR service marks the volume as full and then continues the backup on the next appendable volume or requests a new writable volume.
Recyclable - The volume is eligible to be re-labeled and re-used, but its name remains in the media index. You can manually mark a volume as recyclable by changing its mode. If a backup volume's mode is changed to recyclable, all save sets stored on that volume are marked as recyclable.

Note: A backup volume is automatically marked as recyclable if all the save sets on the volume are recyclable. Recyclable save sets have passed the time period designated by the Retention policy for that client.

Tip: If you really want to overwrite data on a recyclable volume, you need to re-label that volume.

1. Highlight a volume that is in either full or appendable mode in the Volumes dialog box and click the Change Mode button. EBR Administrator displays the Change Mode message box:

Figure 5-11. Change Mode Message Box

2. Click Yes or press the [Enter] key if you want to change the mode of the selected volume to recyclable. Notice that the mode of the volume changes to recyclable in the Volumes dialog box. Click No to leave the mode unchanged.

1. Highlight a backup volume that is in recyclable mode in the Volumes dialog box and click the Change Mode button.

2. Click Yes in the Change Mode message box if you want to reset the mode of the selected volume to its previous mode, either full or appendable. Click No to leave the mode recyclable.

Important: When you manually change the mode of a volume to recyclable from the Volumes dialog box, all of its save sets are given recyclable status, regardless of their relationship to the Browse or Retention policies specified in the Clients dialog box. If you are not certain you want all save sets to be recyclable, do not change the mode.

Removing a Backup Volume

Remove entries from the appropriate file indexes. This changes the status of the browsable save sets to retrievable. At that point, you may no longer browse and recover these files from a server or workstation client.
Remove the name of the backup volume from the media index, thus destroying all record of it. You should remove a backup volume from the media index only if you will never need the volume again, or if the volume has been physically damaged and is unusable.

Tip: If a backup volume is lost or destroyed, you should remove it from both the on-line file and media indexes. Otherwise, the EBR service may request the backup volume to be mounted on the server's device during a recover.

1. In the Volumes dialog box, highlight the volume that you want to remove.

2. Click the Remove Volume button. EBR Administrator displays the Remove Volume dialog box:

Figure 5-12. Remove Volume Dialog Box

3. Under Remove, leave the On-line Index Entries Only button selected, which is the default.

4. Click OK to remove entries for the files stored on the volume from the appropriate file indexes. The status of the save sets containing these files change to retrievable in the Volume Save Sets dialog box. A message box appears during the operation to inform you of progress of the remove operation.

Click Cancel if you do not want to remove the entries from the file indexes.

1. In the Volumes dialog box, highlight the volume that you want to remove.

2. Click the Remove Volume button to bring up that dialog box.

3. Under Remove, click On-line and Media Index Entries button instead of On-line Index Entries Only, which is the default.

4. Click OK to remove the backup volume from the media index for the server. All record of the data on this backup volume is removed from EBR's indexes.

Click Cancel if you do not want to remove the volume from the server's media index.

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