> Mike, thanks for the reply.  You said that when I backup the 6th time the
> 1st backup will go away.  Can you explain how the incrementals fit in the
> equation?  I understand that a backup copy group is using versions to
> retain files.  What if 1 DB(file) changes daily and is daily backed up
> first from the select backup, then by the 6 incrementals, wouldn't the
> first version of it drop off so I would not actually have that version
for
> 38 days only for 6 days?  Sorry if this is confusing, the structure is so
> different from a B/A client, I am having a hard time trying to understand
> how the TDP backups work.  Thanks again!

Shannon,

Actually, it is very similar to the BA client.
You should be thinking of the life of a "database" backup to be
similar to the life of a BA client "file" backup.

The Domino client "SELECTIVE" and "INCREMENTAL" commands
work in a similar fashion to the BA client commands of the same name.
That is, for SELECTIVE backups, the file or database is
unconditionally backed up. For INCREMENTAL backups, if there is a
change to that file or database, the entire file or database
is backed up. The definition of "change" is different for a "file"
versus a Domino "database". For Domino "non-logged databases",
a "change" is defined as a change to the "meta data date" or
"data data date" (internal NSF file dates obtained by Domino API calls).
For Domino "logged databases", a "change" is defined as a change to the
DBIID (database instance ID, obtained by Domino API calls).

If you want to base your "expiration" SOLELY on time, you should
set the "VERExists" and "VERDeleted" to "NOLIMIT" and then
set "RETExtra" and "RETOnly" values to the number of days
to keep any backup. This also allows for you to take
adhoc backups at anytime without affecting how far back
you can go to restore any particular database backup.

So you could use these settings:

   VERExists    NOLIMIT
   VERDeleted   NOLIMIT
   RETExtra     38
   RETOnly      38

I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Del

----------------------------------------------------
Del Hoobler
Del Hoobler
IBM Corporation
hoobler AT us.ibm DOT com

Never cut what can be untied.
Commit yourself to constant improvement.