The archive bit is evil ;)

It's just too easy to reset and any admin on the client can perform
functions that will nuke it.  This leads to cases where the backup admin is
in trouble because something wasn't backed up (and can't be restored) but
has no way to determine why something wasn't backed up.  

Your mileage may vary.  The only advantage I can think of is that you can
create a new policy, drop a client into it, and the incremental will still
be an incremental.  If you do that with Unix clients, your first incremental
will be a full because a new policy means a new "last backed up" time, set
to 0 initially.  But how often do you do that?



-----Original Message-----
From: markjessup AT northwesternmutual DOT com
[mailto:markjessup AT northwesternmutual DOT com] 
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 10:34 AM
To: veritas-bu AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
Subject: [Veritas-bu] Using Archive bit vs Modified Date with Netbackup


We are converting to Netbackup and was curious what is the best practice for
backing up changed files on Netware, NT, and W2K platforms.  Do people rely
on the "Archive Bit" or the "Modified Bit".  Is one better than the other or
is there any known issues with one or the other with Netbackup.  Do they
both work fine with incrementals and cumulative differentials?  Any other
info or gotchas you could provide would be great.  Thanks!



Mark Jessup 
IS Manager, Enterprise Storage and Output Management Northwestern Mutual
(414) 665-3968
markjessup AT northwesternmutual DOT com