Networker Restore Question

[nooch01]

Hi guys,

I'm a total newbie when it comes to networker, so please bare with me. I'm running a Win2k3 environment and have a question regarding restoring a directory (file share). Lets say I have the following backup schedule in place:

Full backup on Monday and Thursday
Incremental Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat and Sunday

If something were to happen to my file share on Thursday prior to my Thurs Full backup running, and I needed to fully restore the file share (OS is fine), how would I go about doing this?

I know I go into the network user, select the client, select the destination, select the directory, but this is where it gets fuzzy for me. It looks like if I click on View/Versions, it shows me the full backups, which is what I think it would restore to (Monday in this scenario), but what happens to any changes that were made to any files or files that were added on Tues, or Wed? That's where I'm confused.

Thanks in advance!

-Mike

I'm using vesion 7.6

 

[denisfr]

Hello,

in the networker user, you can select a 'browse time' (maybe 'changetime' menu).

After the choice, this date/time shows you an 'image' of your file system at this particular time (but this image is the one found while saving data before this date/time, because networker is not updated at every file change on the client, just when performing a backup)

So, you tell networker to restore the files you want at this date/time, and after this, that's networker's problem (finding the right tapes among the incremental or full saves).

By default, the date/time is 'now', so it goes into a restore of the last backuped file structure (which can be incremental, but completed with the previous incremental or full saves, as needed).

More clear ?

Denis

 

[nooch01]

Hi Denis,

Thank you for your response. I greatly appreciate it. As I said, I'm new to this and want to make sure I really grasp this..Sorry for being thick headed...

So, by using the browse time, are you saying that networker automatically determines the last full backup, restores that, and also updates the directory with the incremental backups?

Specifically, if my system backups up at 5:00pm with a Full on Mon, and Incremens Tues thru Sun but needs to be restored Thurs 9:00am, would doing the browse time (restore now ) on Thursday at noon provide me with the the results of My Monday full backup as well as incrementals of Tues and Wed? I realize this wouldn't provide me with any changes after Wednesdays incremental because Thursdays backup hasn't run yet.

Thank you Denis. I Hope I'm not being to complicated here. I appreciate you helping me understand this!

-Mike

 

[denisfr]

Networker saves whole files, not chunks (excepts on special request), so if a file has been modified on monday, 4:00pm, it will be totally saved at 5:00pm. If it is modified on tuesday 10:00am, it will be saved totally at 5:00pm, and so on.

If you request a file, Networker will restore the last full save performed before the browse time.

Incremental saves are intended to be 'incremental directory saves' but always 'full file saves'.

Denis

 

[denisfr]

<Edit>
Incremental saves are intended NOT to be 'incremental files saves' but always 'full files saves', resulting in 'incremental directories saves'...

Hoping that my explanations are clear

 

[nooch01]

I believe I got it. So basically, Networker, performing the restore will provide you with the latest full version of the file with the default browse time. Networker does a bulk of the work behind the scenes for you. It's like you said earlier in your post ("it's networker's problem). I told you I'm a bit thick headed!

I've used Veritas Backup exec, and with that software, you have to restore the full backup, and then any incrementals since to get the most recent version of your file. Legato seems much easier.

Thank you again for your time and patience!

-Mike

 

[denisfr]

I told you I'm a bit thick headed !
We were all novice, one day...