Tag: Distrubuted File System
Backup DFS Files with Backup Exec
by admin on May.09, 2008, under Software, Systems
I found out an interesting quirk when backing up DFS (Distributed File System) files using Symantec Backup Exec 11D. I have a full backup setup, basically selected the entire drive to backup, finishes every night with no errors.
You go back into the job in Backup Exec and try to do a restore, what do you find? The folders that contain the DFS files are empty, 0 bytes. My first thought is what the hell is this all about. Was scared for a minute or two thinking I have no backups on tape of any of my DFS files.
I looked into it more and found that starting in Backup Exec 10d SP2 and continuing through 11d you cannot performance a backup of DFS files directly like you would normally do. You need to use the “DFSR Writer” which means using the Shadow Copy Components backup.
If you go into your server selection in Backup Exec, drill down into Shadow Copy Components -> User Data you will see the DFS info. Make sure to select these to backup your DFS files.
Things to keep in mind about backing up DFS in this manner:
-Backup Performance is greatly affected, could double the time needed for backing up those files.
-DFS Backups in this manner cannot be redirected to another location on restored like a lot of people including myself like to do when restoring files.
One workaround for the speed issue I have found but not tested is to run a Net Stop command for the DFS Replication service before the backup starts then a Net Start for that service when done.
