[ ... ] > > So is there any way I can tell Amanda to automatically start dumps > ahead > > of schedule if output space permits it. Or is there anything else I can > do > > to get the desired effect? I guess I could try with a shorter dump > cycle, > > but that might mean that the same data would be backed up twice during > the > > same week, which I don't want. > > She does already do this. > > The objective is not to schedule "Monday's stuff" for "monday". > > The objective is to make each of the 5 runs that occur in your 1 week > dumpcycle dump the same amount of data. Yes. Someone else told me that, too. I'm not sure if it makes a lot of sense, though. _My_ objective is to back up all data with as few tapes as possible, I think. Is there a way I can tell Amanda that's what I want.
Related question: What happens if I set runspercycle to 3 or 4, but still run amdump all 5 weekdays? > Reaching and sustaining that > goal is only attained after several dumpcycles. It is done by early > dumps if needed, but never by delaying a full dump beyond the dumpcycle, > runspercycle limits. > > > The objective may never be attained if you only have a few file systems > and/or some of them are massive, the rest small. I broke up one file > system into 5 pieces for that very reason. I did something similar, and also had a few small file systems already, so now I have 3 or 4 large directories and a decent number of small ones. That too is giving me a bit of headache right now, because the compression ratio of the large file systems tends to be overestimated, and as they are usually put last on the tape, they won't be fully written ;-( - Toralf
