Backup plans

Backup plans are the rules that the management console uses to define how often to back up application data, how long to retain the application data backups, and where and how to replicate the application's data backups. Use the backup plans to create policy templates and resource profiles that each backup/recovery appliance uses to manage data. A backup plans violation occurs when data is not being backed up according to the boundaries you have set in a policy.

The Backup Plans tab provides two easy-to-use wizards to create a data-handling policies that will be applied to your applications:

  • Templates. Use the Templates wizard to control the frequency and retention of data. It also enables you to perform data tiering and replication. For more information, see the Backup template section.
  • Profiles. Use the Profiles wizard to control the physical location and storage pools where data is stored. For more information, see the Resource profiles section.

Refer to the Backup plans best practices section to help you avoid some of the more common mistakes users make when creating and modifying policy templates and their associated policies.

Backup job retries

When a scheduled job fails, the scheduler automatically retries the job up to three more times. The first time a job fails, the status of the first attempt will be marked as Retried and the scheduler will wait 4 minutes before queuing the job again. If it fails a second time, the next retry is queued after 16 minutes. If it fails a third time, a final retry is queued after a holdoff period of 64 minutes. After 3 failed retry attempts (a total of four attempts), the final retry job status changes from Retried to Failed and no further jobs are attempted for that application in that schedule period.

The scheduler treats a job retry like any other available job. If there are more jobs queued than slots to accommodate them, then the queued retry job will need to wait for a slot. If the policy window closes before a retry job can start, then any queued retry jobs will not run and no further retries will be attempted.

Job retries are reported in Monitor > Jobs. To identify job retries all four jobs will have the same Job number in the following format in this order:

  • Job_xxxxx (Status: Retried)
  • Job_xxxxxa (Status: Retried; queued after a 4 minute holdoff)
  • Job_xxxxxb (Status: Retried; queued after a 16 minute holdoff)
  • Job_xxxxxc (Status: Failed; queued after a 64 minute holdoff)

The next time a backup job for this application is attempted is according to the policy's schedule. So, if the schedule calls for one snapshot per day in a window starting at 01:00, the next attempt will be the following day at 01:00.

Backup template

A backup template is a collection of policies defined in the backup plans. Each policy defines how data is backed up, how often it is backed up, and how long it is retained. Specifically, the policies define the following:

  • The types of data backup operation (e.g., snapshot, replication)
  • The frequency of the application data backup operation
  • How long to retain the application data backups
  • The advanced settings related to the application data backup operation
  • Whether to truncate logs. Updates to databases such as Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle are accompanied by creation of logs and metadata. Logs explain the modifications made to the databases.
  • Where the backup data is retained (local backup/recovery appliance, remote backup/recovery appliance appliance or OnVault object storage location)

By mixing and matching policies within a template you can create a single template that defines the shortterm and longterm retention of data, as well as where the data will be retained and how long the replicated data will be retained.

Resource profiles

A resource profile specifies the storage media for protected application and VM data. The policy and the resource profile that make up the backup plan dictate the type of application data backup to perform and where to store the application data backups (which pool of disks can be used). Resource profiles define which snapshot pool (if needed) is used or to which remote appliance data is replicated.

In addition to policy templates and policies, you also create resource profiles in the backup plans. Resource profiles define where to store data. Data can be stored in the following ways:

  • Local. The backup/recovery appliance that the resource profile is created for.

  • Remote. The backup/recovery appliance used for remote replication. This remote appliance must be an appliance that is already paired to the selected local appliance.

  • OnVault. The object storage defined by an OnVault storage pool.

Resource profiles are applied to applications in the App Manager and the resource profiles work in tandem with policy templates:

  • A policy template that does not include a replication policy must be applied to an application along with a resource profile that only stores data locally.
  • A policy template that includes a replication policy must be applied to an application along with a resource profile that stores data either on another appliance or to object storage defined by OnVault storage pool.

You define a resource profile for any backup/recovery appliance that has been added to the management console.

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