I think that's sorta what Symantec's Netbackup does too. More of a deduplication backup, but it's also more expensive. Sounds fun to play with though!!
Original Message: ----------------- From: Kurt Buff [email protected] Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:25:44 -0700 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Restores from Incremental backups As I said, a highly dynamic set of data will hurt your cause with Differentials - they grow in size until the next Full. You'll have to calculate that for your environment by looking at the size of your Incrementals, and seeing how much of the data on the Incrementals is due to multiple changes between Fulls. I don't have your particular problem - we're using Tivoli Storage Manager, which only ever does an initial Full, then it does the daily changes, and uses an internal SQL database to keep track of the backed up data - forever. Kurt On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 14:10, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > I understand the whole differential versus incremental pros/cons.  But, > with the files changing in some cases as much as they do, especially the > backing up of flat database files, and other things, differentials would > hurt us in relation to the amount of disk/tape space required to back those > up with differentials. > > So, that's why I was wondering about an easier method to restore > incremental backups. > > Regards. > > Original Message: > ----------------- > From: Kurt Buff [email protected] > Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:05:44 -0700 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Restores from Incremental backups > > > Yes, there is a much easier way. > > Do your Full, then don't do Incrementals. Do Differentials instead. > > A full Restore from Full/Differentials only requires that you have the > latest Full and latest Differential. > > A full Restore from Full/Incrementals requires that you have the > latest Full, plus all of the Incrementals since then. > > Differentials are superior in almost every instance. The only > exception is if you have an incredibly dynamic file set. > > Kurt > > On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 12:47, [email protected] > <[email protected]> wrote: >> Currently my backup plan consists of doing Incrementals Mon-Thu, and a > Full >> on Friday. àThis has worked well. >> >> IF I switch to a Full once a month, and Incrementals each day for the >> remainder of the month how difficult does this make my restores? àLets > say >> on October 1st I do a Full backup. àI have Incrementals from October 2nd > to >> October 28th. àOn the 29th, a user's home folder is completely wiped, for >> example. àWhen I create the Restore Job, I am using "View by Resource" > and >> I find the (for example) \\server\share\path\path\username folder from the >> Full backup on October 1st. àNow, I also have to find each instance of >> \\server\share\path\path\username under "View by Resource" for EACH date, >> October 2nd through October 28th, to make sure all files are restored > since >> the Full backup. >> >> That should successfully restore all the users data to the latest date, >> October 28th. àBUT..... Is there an EASIER way to do this? àHaving to >> navigate through "View by Resource" for 29 different days and selecting >> each day is, cumbersome... àIs there an EASIER way to way incremental >> restores I'm not thinking of??(we're on version 12.5) >> >> (I was hoping there's some option for "restore the entire contents of this >> particular folder going back to such and such date")??? >> >> >> Thanks >> >> >> -------------------------------------------------------------------- >> mail2web LIVE ââ¬â Free email based on Microsoftî Exchange technology - >> http://link.mail2web.com/LIVE >> >> >> >> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ >> ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> à~ >> >> > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/>  ~ > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > mail2web LIVE â Free email based on Microsoft® Exchange technology - > http://link.mail2web.com/LIVE > > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/>  ~ > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ -------------------------------------------------------------------- myhosting.com - Premium Microsoft® Windows® and Linux web and application hosting - http://link.myhosting.com/myhosting ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
