Configuring incremental backups with periodic full backup
  • Art Vandelay
    0
    I'm new to Cloudberry backup and am configuring backup of a Windows server. There are a lot of confusing options, and part of the confusion is that examples found by searching online are apparently for earlier versions of Cloudberry and the options have changed, in some cases substantially. (We're running version 7.2.2.38.)

    So far I have recurring incremental backups running every day that started with an initial full backup and has built up a few weeks worth of incrementals now. I'm looking at also adding periodic monthly full backups and unless I'm missing something it looks like that has to be done by scheduling a second backup plan.

    First point of confusion is that when scheduling it is necessary to check off "Recurring (incremental)", only then is it possible to select "Execute full backup (synthetic if possible)". (This is one of the thing that looks very different from online examples I've found.) So what is going to happen, is the backup plan going to do both, or does the full backup setting override the incremental?

    Since, the 1st backup plan, the recurring incremental, runs periodically every day that appears to be a scheduling conflict. Do I need to schedule them so they don't clash? (There was no warning given.) Will both plans run together, or will one be blocked from running until the other finishes?
    Art Vandelay Options
  • David Gugick
    118
    ↪Art Vandelay
    it sounds like you're using the new backup format, in that case the full will run in place of the incremental that day. But depending on your needs you may also be happy using the legacy backup plan format, is that plan is an incremental forever, but you do lose some of the newer capabilities of the new backup format like deduplication, synthetic full backups in the cloud, GFS, and immutable backups, if you need any of those more advanced features.
    David Gugick Options
  • Art Vandelay
    0
    Thanks, I used the default backup format, which undoubtedly is the new one. There's just a lot that's not clear yet on how things work with MSP360.

    What we're after is long-term data retention with the ability to go back and retrieve different versions of files if needed. (We migrated to MSP360 from Crashplan Pro since that service has now restricted backup history.) It appears that "continuous" backup is no longer available (maybe that's part of the old format?), so I have an incremental backup job running every hour. Of course this will ultimately create a huge list of incremental backups, and I'm not sure yet how one would located different versions of files to restore. (Having a differential backup option would be nice.) The periodic full backups which are recommended may help with this.

    Is there comprehensive documentation on the current version of MSP360? As I mentioned most of the info out there seems to be outdated.
    Art Vandelay Options
  • David Gugick
    118
    ↪Art Vandelay
    What cloud are you using for your backup target?

    Every incremental will contain all the new files / changes. Run the full backup once a month if that works for you. As long as you're on a supported cloud for synthetic full backups, we;ll run a synthetic full and create a new backup set and then the incremental backups will continue for another month. But if you're not using a cloud with synthetic backup support, we'll need to run a new full, which is not something you'll probably want to happen - hence my question at the top of this post.

    You keep backups using two options in the new backup format: Use the Keep Backups For option to determine how long you keep backups on disk (say 90 days) and use the GFS options to determine how many weekly, monthly, and / or annual backups you want to keep for short-term and longer-term retention.

    As I mentioned, the legacy backup format for files is version based and is incremental forever, but you lose many of the newer features. But for some customers, that format is preferred based on their needs. You may want to go through the backup wizard using the legacy format and review the options to see which is best for your particular need. It may be based on your description above.
    David Gugick Options
  • Art Vandelay
    0
    We are using Backblaze B2 storage, which I believe supports synthetic full backups. That seems to be a very desirable feature rather than having to ship everything up the wire for a full backup so I think we'll be sticking with the new format.

    Is it possible to configure the chain of full and incremental backups in a single backup plan, or is it necessary to use two? Is there a way to add the monthly full backup to my existing incremental backup plan? (I did not see an obvious way in a single plan to do this, but being new to MSP360 I could well have missed something.)
    Art Vandelay Options
  • Art Vandelay
    0
    I think I see it now, in the scheduling screen specify BOTH recurring (incremental) and full backup, selecting monthly for full backup, and set desired retention period.
    Art Vandelay Options
  • David Gugick
    118
    ↪Art Vandelay
    You got it.
    David Gugick Options
  • Art Vandelay
    0
    It just took me a while to grok the backup strategy. Thanks for your help!
    Art Vandelay Options
  • Steve Putnam
    35
    So help me understand. If we use the new backup format for a server with 1 million files - 800GB, we have to reupload all of the files periodically? I get that if one uses a Cloud storage vendor that supports Synthetic fulls that it would act like an incremental, but we backup to Google Nearline - not supported for Synthetic fulls.
    Is it true that the entire set of files would have to be reuploaded with each full? Even for Pdf's jpg's etc that never change?
    Steve Putnam Options
  • David Gugick
    118
    ↪Steve Putnam
    Yes. Unfortunately, that's the case. A new full backup would currently need to back up the entire set again since synthetics are not available for Google Nearline. I could make the case that staying with the legacy backup format with Google Nearline might be a better option, for now, depending on data size and bandwidth.
    David Gugick Options
  • Steve Putnam
    35
    That was my plan - stick with legacy for file backups and use the new format for Image/VHDx backups taking advantage of the synthetic full capability. What worried me was the statement (hopefully since rertracted) that there will come a time when legacy format will no longer be supported. Lets hope that day never comes.
    Steve Putnam Options
  • Keith Luken
    0
    If they remove legacy file option then I am not interested in the product. I want to do pure file syncs from one server to another and then from the server to S3 Glacier Deep Archive. I want to able to access and use the files without having to restore them with Cloudberry. Essentially I want to use it as a file sync operation not a pure backup as I need to be able to have the data usable at all times. It would be nice to know their intent before I buy this once my trial runs out.
    Keith Luken Options
  • David Gugick
    118
    ↪Keith Luken
    We're not planning to retire the legacy format.
    David Gugick Options
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