Synthetic fulls, consolidation backups.

[fraxx]

As far as I know, Legato NetWorker has "save set consolidation", where a full and subsequent incremental savesets are merged into a new full saveset. However, I get the notion not many are using this feature. Are there any inherent problems, or is it awkward to manage?

Seems to me a very good option, at least for regular file backups. I notice Veritas has this option in both NetBackup and Backup Exec. Quite easy to use, just schedule a synthetic full and the rest is automatic. Of course, to benefit from it you'd have to use backup to disk to make the performance tolerable.

 

[Chacalinc]

Of course, to benefit from it you'd have to use backup to disk to make the performance tolerable.

this is the issue, the performance. In order to use "consolidated backup" you need at least 2 tapes and you create a full starting with the last full plus all subsequent incrementals. The main problem is the performance, so it's preferable to make a standard full backup, but it's a very good solutions when the link (network) between the NW server and the client has a very low bandwidth (e.g. a remote site with a BW of 1Mbps)

Cheers.

 

[605]

Don't forget that incrementals & differentials are just APPENDED to the full - it is not really a consolidation. However, you must only recoverfrom onbe save set.